Gay rights in Syria

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Homosexuality in Syria is a crime, and it can be very dangerous for LGBT people if they are discovered.

Contents 1 Criminal Law 2 Gay Community and Persecution 3 Politics 4 AIDS-HIV 5 References

[edit] Criminal Law

Article 520 of the penal code of 1949, prohibits having homosexual relations, i.e. "carnal knowledge against the order of nature", and provides for a possible three-years imprisonment.

Police have been known to entrap gay Syrians and imprison and torture them.

[edit] Gay Community and Persecution

Because homosexuality is so persecuted in Syria, many gay men use out-of-the-way places to meet each other and have special, unofficial gay bathhouses. Venues may change frequently to avoid knowledge of the authorities. Even the internet, which is frequently used as a way for gay people to meet, is avoided in Syria. According to GayMiddleEast and GlobalGayz, they seldom receive messages from people in Syria, and have had to remove some quotes from gay people in Syria out of fear of persecution, despite the anonymity of the sources.

In 2003, al-Bawaba reported that authorities in Syria routinely persecute gay people. The article stated, "Sometimes the police come and if the guys are doing anything "out of the ordinary" like dancing to music, kissing or looking "too gay" - the police take them for a while." Accordingly, this courageous gay person in Syria ended his letter to GayMiddleEast.com stating: "I think the gays in the middle east sure need protection."

[edit] Politics

In 2003 Syria, in the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, voted to postpone a U.N. 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.

[edit] AIDS-HIV

The AIDS-HIV pandemic remains a taboo topic of discussion in Syria, as in much of the Middle East. The first reported cases of infection were in 1987, and the government has done little to prevent its spreading. The government opened a testing center during the 1990s, but did not report statistics on HIV infection until 2006, when it reported that 377 out of 4 million people who had taken blood tests tested positive for HIV. Non-governmental organizations, however, estimate that there are truly at least five times that many.

In 2005, Syrian Deputy Minister of Religious Endowments, Muhammad Abd Al-Sattar Al-Sayyid said that AIDS patients should be stoned before spreading their disease. He said, "All the diseases that have to do with sexual organs, mainly AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhea, and so on... When these diseases appeared, they killed millions. More people were killed by these diseases than by wars. The only reason for this is the straying from the divine way regarding fornication, and when I say fornication - "Do not even approach abomination" – this means fornication, homosexuality, and all the sexual deviation it entails..."Do not even approach abomination, surely it is a foul thing and an evil way." When Islam set the punishment (for fornication)... This is why there's a hidden desire in one's heart... If only we had stoned everyone who had committed this abomination wouldn't it have been better than letting these diseases infect others, spreading to millions around the world? ... Most certainly. The entire world, from the US to the most distant country, acknowledges that if they had stoned the fornicators, and prevented abomination, things would have been much better. This is the world they want."

IN 2006, the UN chastized Syria and Egypt for their ineffective prevention methods.

[edit] References

• Syrian Same-Sex Society NetWork
• Middle East Gay Journal
• Gay Middle East
• Global Gayz