Media Diversity Institute

By Maysaa Ajjan 

When Bashar al-Assad’s iron-fist rule over Syria collapsed last December, it was a moment of revelation for all Syrians at home and abroad. Chief among the revellers were members of Syria’s long-repressed LGBTQ+ community. 

“Bashar al-Assad was the biggest violator of the queer community in [Syria],” queer activist Francois Zankih said. “We [as citizens] were part of the revolution that brought down the regime from the very beginning, and we celebrated Assad’s fall.”  

Several members of the queer community echoed his sentiment. 

“It was a euphoric moment,” Syrian queer member Marilyn Qudsi, who lives in Beirut, said. “I had a feeling of pride and victory.” 

However, the community watched with caution laced with fear for what was coming next. Their biggest fear- that the future could be worse than the past- slowly began to be realised as the number of violations to the LGBTQ+ community in Syria rose exponentially in 2025. 

According to the Guardians of Equality Movement (GEM), a pro-queer NGO that helps the LGBTQ+ community in Syria and abroad, these violations come in the form of entrapment through dating apps, home raids, abductions, arbitrary arrests, torture, humiliation, threats of physical violence and disfigurement, as well as other dangerous practices such as forced filming and public shaming—putting victims at increasing and continuous risk. They are perpetrated by groups...Read more