LGBT rights in Syria
(Syrian Arab Republic)
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Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Syrian Arab Republic may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Article 520 of the penal code of 1949, prohibits "carnal relations against the order of nature", and provides for up to three-years imprisonment.
In Islamic State-held areas, women and the LGBT community in particular are targeted for attacks. As part of its imposition of Sharia law, ISIS punishes those who have "committed the acts of the people of [Prophet] Lot," which they also refer to as "sodomy." This terminology is based on the story of the prophet Lot in the Quran, whose people were destroyed for sexual transgressions.
Mahmoud Hassino, gay Syrian opposition activist, journalist and started the online magazine Mawaleh, notes that regardless of the outcome of the civil war, work needs to be done in the civil right area on behalf of all Syrians, not just the LGBT community. Miral Bioredda, a secular leader of the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, said "Personally I see homosexuality as a private matter. But Syrian society would say "no way" if gays rose to claim their rights. Developing a civil society will take time." Nasradeen Ahme, a leader of the Free Syrian Army which works to bring down the government of Bashar al-Assad, said "If I was in charge I would enforce tougher laws against homosexuals. If someone said homosexuals should be stoned to death as in Iran and Saudi Arabia, I would not object."
LGBT rights timeline
2015 UN Security Council Meeting on LGBT Rights
In August 2015, the UN Security Council met in a session on LGBT Rights co-sponsored by the U.S. and Chile. The council heard testimony from refugees fleeing Syria and Iraq. In ISIS-held areas, the refugees reported increased violence against women and members of the LGBT community. They reported that ISIS had claimed to have executed at least 30 people for "sodomy." This was the first time in its 70-year history, that the UN Security Council had discussed LGBT concerns.
After 2011, the LGBT community in Syria started to demand rights, and campaigns outside of Syria started to spread awareness about LGBT rights. For example, many pages on the social media, like : LGBT بالعربي also known as (MTVSyria - Love Wins).  which has started the first Syrian online campaign for LGBT rights in Syria and the Middle-East under the name أنت لست وحيداً - You're not alone.
In 2010, the Syrian police began a crackdown that led to the arrest of over 25 men. The men were charged with various crimes ranging from homosexual acts and illegal drug use, to encouraging homosexual behavior and organizing obscene parties.
Gender reassignment surgery is legal in Syria. In 2004, a Syrian woman named Hiba came forward as a transgender woman who had been given permission to have a sex change operation.
2003 UN vote
In 2003 Syria, in the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, voted to postpone a United Nations draft resolution on human rights and sexual orientation. The vote was 24-17. The draft resolution would have the Commission express deep concern at the occurrence of violations of human rights in the world against persons on the grounds of their sexual orientation; stress that human rights and fundamental freedoms were the birthright of all human beings, and that the universal nature of these rights and freedoms was beyond question; and call upon all States to promote and protect the human rights of all persons regardless of their sexual orientation.
LGBT life in Syria
Before 2011, a gay tour was organized by Bertho. It was the first and the only gay tour in the middle east, choosing Damascus and Aleppo as one of their main destinations in the middle east. "And it was the best destination ever,” he says. “We’d go on tours of the hammams in Aleppo, and in Damascus it was a paradise for gay people. We never had any problems, never ever.” 
They tour passed by Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Since the beginning of the civil war, the tour stopped its activities in Syria due to the increase of terrorism caused by Islamic extremists.
Furthermore, areas of Damascus that were previously underground hubs where LGBT would meet, and were practically the only places in Syria where an underground LGBT scene could even exist, have been eradicated since the Civil War began and most cultural pursuits have stopped.
LGBT movies and series
On 19 October 2017, Mr Gay Syria was released. Written and directed by Ayse Toprak, the movie follows two gay Syrian refugees who are trying to rebuild their lives.
A Lesbian Tale, a short movie, was filmed in Syria. It was published by Maxim Diab on 16 January 2014.
In 2005, the Deputy Minister of Religious Endowments publicly stated that HIV/AIDS was divine punishment for people who engaged in fornication and homosexuality. That same year, the Health Ministry stated that only 369 people in Syria were infected with HIV and that the government offers such people "up-to-date medicines to combat this disease freely". Non-governmental organizations estimate that there are truly at least five times that many, and the United Nations chastised the government for its ineffective prevention methods.
Beyond tolerating the work of some NGOs, the government has established voluntary clinics that can test for HIV/AIDS and distribute some educational pamphlets, but comprehensive public education, especially for LGBT people, does not exist.
Instead, the government launched a limited HIV/AIDS educational program for youth in secondary schooling.
|Same-sex sexual activity legal|| 3 years imprisonment (Law in de-facto suspended)|
Penalty: Prison sentence up to 3 years (Law in de-facto suspended)
|Equal age of consent|| (Law in de-facto suspended)|
Penalty: Prison sentence up to 3 years (Law in de-facto suspended)
|Anti-discrimination laws in employment only|
|Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services|
|Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech)|
|Recognition of same-sex couples|
|Stepchild adoption by same-sex couples|
|Joint adoption by same-sex couples|
|LGBT people allowed to serve openly in the military|
|Right to change legal gender||Transsexuals allowed to change legal gender. Sex reassignment surgery is allowed for people whose gender is unclear or whose physical features do not match their physiological, biological and genetic characteristics, first case was reported in 2004.|
|Access to IVF for lesbians|
|Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples|
|MSMs allowed to donate blood|
- "Syrian Arabic Republic" (PDF). Equal Rights Trust.
- Timeline of Publicized Executions for Alleged Sodomy by the Islamic State Militias. OutRight Action International. Retrieved from https://www.outrightinternational.org/content/timeline-publicized-executions-alleged-sodomy-islamic-state-militias
- Al-Qa`ida Uncoupling: Jabhat al-Nusra’s Rebranding as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham
- We Don’t Have Rights, But We Are Alive Part 3
- Gays join the Syrian uprising
- Westcott, L. (2015, August 25). Gay Refugees Addresses U.N. Security Council in Historic Meeting on LGBT Rights. Newsweek. Retrieved from http://www.newsweek.com/gay-refugees-addresses-un-security-council-historic-meeting-lgbt-rights-365824
- UN Security Council holds first meeting on LGBT rights: Attacks by ISIL on sexual minorities on the agenda as LGBT rights raised in the council for the first time in 70 years. (2015, August 24). AlJazeera. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/08/security-council-holds-meeting-lgbt-rights-150824201712751.html
- Kassam, Ashifa (July 4, 2016). "Syrian refugee marches beside Justin Trudeau in Canadian pride parade". The Guardian.
- Brekke, Kira (September 6, 2016). "After Years Of Repression In Syria, This Gay Refugee Just Celebrated His First Pride Parade". Huff Post.
- Brocklebank, Christopher (2010-06-23). "Syrian authorities crack down on gay men". Pink News. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
- "Syria: Cleric saves transsexual". Gaymiddleeast.com. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- "Meet 'the First and Only Gay Tour Guide in the Arab Middle East'". Vice. 24 July 2013.
- "LGBT community finds Damascus more open". Al-Monitor. 15 December 2014.
- "369 infected with AIDS in Syria". Arabicnews.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- "gaymiddleeast.blogspot.com". gaymiddleeast.blogspot.com. 16 June 2006. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- "EGYPT-SYRIA: Governments criticised for approach against HIV/AIDS". Irinnews.org. 7 June 2006. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- "un.org.sy". United Nations .sy. Archived from the original on 24 April 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- "asylumlaw.org" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- "Syria - GlobalGayz News Archive". archive.globalgayz.com.