Syria: Being Gay in the Muslim World

I noticed them mostly at night. In some corners of the narrow streets of Damascus’ old town, in parks or nightclubs, my attention was drawn to groups of men who looked, dressed and talked differently. Homosexuality in Syria’s capital is becoming more and more visible, despite the fact that it remains a taboo issue.

But my primary interest was not to write a sensational piece about a poorly understood social group in my part of the world. I wanted to show the courage of a group of people who were ready to defy strict social norms and discriminatory laws to assert their right to be different.

It was far from being a straightforward story, however. Between conceiving the idea of my article on homosexuality and actually writing it, I vacillated between excitement and hesitation. I even thought of abandoning the story altogether because I sometimes felt that I wouldn’t be able to enter the world of homosexuality. I was also faced with the difficulty of finding gay men and women who would speak openly to a journalist about their sexuality and their everyday problems.

Full Story from the Global Arab Network
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