Prepared by: Charlotte, Robin and Ariadna, January 2023
Syrian refugees at the 2018 Instanbul pride which was banned by the authorities but happened anyway in an act of defiance.
From: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/aug/23/its-not-legal-un-stands-by-as-turkey-deports-vulnerable-syrians
2014- Syrian refugees
Study and interviews on LGBTQ Syrian refugee’s experience, there are stats and individual stories, follows a story of a Syrian refugee who moved to Lebanon to get away from homophobic attacks but he was then targeted and attacked in Lebanon. 89% of LGBT Syrians had received threats of violence/intimidation. 56% of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon have been harrassed or abused because of sexual orientation or gender identity since being in Lebanon, 81% didn’t report the crimes.
2021 – challenges facing Syrian refugees
A paper on the amount of LGBTQ Syrian refugees, statistics and difficulties that they faced (scroll down a bit for it) both legal and social, also talks about the different countries they went to.
2016 – being a gay Syrian in refugee camps
Interview with a gay Syrian refugee talks about the experiences for lgbtq people in refugee camps, and what life was like in Syria before. Talks about different experiences in relation to being a gay refugee in various countries such as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Talks about the biases facing trans women sex workers. 97% of people from Jordan believe that homosexuality is unacceptable. Mentions access to gender-affirming care in different countries, Syrian law makes it near impossible to change their legal name and have any kind of gender-affirming care
2017 – film following two gay Syrian refugee
one of the gay refugees lives in Istanbul and has to split his time between his family’s conservative beliefs and his gay experience and the other person lives in berlin and is able to be much more open and is the founder of Syria’s LBGTQ movement
2023- -https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jul/05/four-lgbt-syrian-refugees-arrive-in-uk-in-time-for-prid
Four Syrian LGBT refugees arrive in London, in a state of joy, during pride time after waiting for more than two years to be airlifted from being stranded in Turkey where same-sex relations are legal but negative attitudes still prevail and so many in the group were forced to hide their identities in order to be safe.
2019- https://ahvalnews.com/turkey-lgbti/syrian-lgbt-refugees-sue-britains-home-office-leaving-them-turkey
Fifteen Syrian LGBT refugees sue Britain’s Home Office for leaving them in Turkey where they suffered discrimination despite being accepted onto a refugee resettlement scheme in the UK.
2017- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39128723
A brief story of a gay refugee from Syria starting a new life in the UK talks about the struggles of living a double life so he can keep in contact with his parents but also press his identity in the UK as well as how he made his journey to the UK from Turkey.