Website reports police crackdown on Syrian gays

SMN No. 5, July 9, 2010

A website specialising in gay issues in the Middle East reported recently that the authorities had stepped up their crackdown on homosexuals in Syria.

The website, gaymiddleeast.com, reported that during the months of April and March the police had increased raids on private parties. The website said that more than 25 people had been arrested and charged with engaging in “homosexual acts”, which is punishable under Syrian law with up to three years in jail.

The report quoted an anonymous security official saying that the parties were raided only because they encouraged drug consumption. Local news media did not report on the arrests and the fate of the detained men remains unknown.

Homosexuality is a taboo subject in Syria condemned by the religious establishment and society in general. Nonetheless, local media have started reporting on it in recent years. For many Syrian gays, the internet is the only safe haven for them to meet. One Facebook group created in February, and numbering  more than one hundred members, describes itself as an “open space for meetings and friendship”. Most members of the group seemed to go by nicknames and use the site for chatting and meeting purposes

There are also several international dating sites frequented by gays in Syria. One website, Syrian Same-Sex Society, created by anonymous gay cyberactivists offers a platform for discussions and awareness raising about gay issues. The purpose of the site is to “work on activating cooperation on the intellectual and spiritual levels among gays and helping, if possible, to solve problems”.

“Let’s always give a beautiful impression [about gays]… Let’s be innovative but wisely… Let’s be modern but with limits,” reads the site’s mission statement.