| LGBT rights in Syria | |
|---|---|
Syria |
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| Same-sex sexual activity legal? | Illegal |
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Penalty:
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Up to 3 years |
| Gender identity/expression | - |
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) persons in Syria face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity is still illegal in Syria and the government does not allow for a LGBT rights movement to exist. Culturally, traditional religious mores assert that homosexuality and cross-dressing are also seen as signs of decadence and immorality.
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Article 520 of the penal code of 1949, prohibits having homosexual relations, i.e. "carnal relations against the order of nature", and provides for at least three-years imprisonment.[1]
It is not known how often the law is enforced, but there have been recent reports of a possible government crackdown. Syrian authorities have raided more than four different private gay parties over five weeks between March and April, arresting more than 25 men on their last raid. Indictments have been officially submitted against them; most of the arrested men are charged with "having a homosexual act", others are charged with dealing and/or buying and consuming illegal drugs, a few are charged with organising illegal "obscene" parties, facilitating drug dealing and consuming, and encouraging homosexual acts. Many of the arrested men were in a gay party for the first time in their lives, while all of them are still under police custody because their families refused to bail them out or even visit them. The fact that the Syrian secret police has accused them of homosexuality is enough to put them in grave danger from their families and neighbours even if they are released without charges.[2]
In 2004 a Syrian woman named Hiba came forward as transsexual who had been given permission to have a sex change operation.[3]
The Syrian authorities, namely the Secret Service, uses individuals' sexual orientation to blackmail, harass and eventually use members of the LGBT community. Law enforcement officers have zero tolerance to the LGBT community.[4]
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.
The HIV/AIDS 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.
In 2005, the Health Ministry stated that only 369 person in Syria were infected with HIV-AIDS and that the government offers such persons, "up-to-date medicines to combat this disease freely,".[5] Yet, 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.[6][7] The climate of fear and distrust amongst MSM (men who have sex with men) towards State institutions make it difficult to bring about any actual or effective HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention programs targeted at them.
The government has established voluntary clinics that can test for AIDS-HIV and distribute some educational phamplets, but comprehensive public education is still taboo.[8] AIDS-HIV education has become a part of secondary schooling as part of a campaign, working with the United Nations, to target youth and young adults.[9]
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