Fact Checking the Arab Media

On June 12, 2022, via its correspondent Wael Issam in Antakya, Turkey, the Al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, reported that the Directorate of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection, which is affiliated with the Syrian government, had confiscated a number of children toys in the governorate of Hamah “under charges of promoting homosexuality.” The report further noted that the toys are rainbow colored kites. The directorate reportedly announced that “the kites promote sexual perversion and carry colors that indicate homosexuality.” The Director of Internal Trade in Hamah, Riad Zayoud, confirmed this and said that the patrols confiscated 600 kites in one Hamah shop. The report also quoted the Syrian penal code, which criminalizes homosexuality without explicitly naming it. Article 520 indicates that any sexual act that does not conform with “nature” is punishable with up to three years in prison provided that the criminal act is committed publicly as per article 208. If this condition is not met, then the elements of the crime are not complete, as per the article.

Fact Check Assessment: True

Indeed, the Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection carried a post on its official Facebook page on June 9, 2022. The post read that "children’s toys reflecting sexual perversion (the symbol of homosexuality) were seized from M.C.” Three photos of the confiscated toys were also posted.

The inclusion of individuals with different sexual identities is still ridden with major obstacles in Arab and Islamic countries, some of which have recently started staging campaigns against all that relates to homosexuality, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar and Turkey according to a report recently published by the Washington Post on June 16, 2022. This report also noted the actions of the Syrian authorities in the city of Hamah, and the systematic oppression campaigns against the LGBTQ community. The harassment escalated in June in particular, which is the LGBTQ community's Pride Month.

Moreover, according to several in-depth investigations, it appears that the actions of the Syrian authorities are not new. A report carried by Human Rights Watch in July 2020 had underlined the Syrian authorities’ torture of homosexual people and the violation of their rights. The report further indicated that men and women were subjected to sexual torture, which led to dire effects on their mental and physical health - all of which were further exacerbated because of the lack of services in war-torn Syria.

According to the 77-page report, headlined “They Treated Us in Monstruous Ways,” sexual violence was practiced against transgender women, transgender men, and non-binary individuals. As Zeynep Erdem, a fellow in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Rights program at Human Rights Watch and the writer of the report, put it, victims were subjected to sexual violence during the Syrian conflict because they were viewed as “soft.”

She added that men and boys, regardless of their sexuality or gender, are exposed to sexual violence in Syria. Often times, nobody cares about them and they do not get the urgent support that all victims of sexual violence need. The report further indicated that the detainees are subjected to extensive interrogations or torture in detention centers if their sexual or gender identity is revealed.

Of course, it is important to note that violations against members of the LGBTQ community, and preventing them from having their personal freedom is not solely practiced by Arab and Islamic countries. Some western countries have refused to grant homosexual individuals the right to marry such as Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Finland as per European reports. Indeed, the equitable treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and non-binary persons is not yet fully guaranteed in most countries in the world.