Is it
possible that the Syrian authorities have threatened gays in
Syria that have corresponded with GayMiddleEast.com? As we
cannot ask the gays in Syria if indeed they really have been
threatened, we cannot present you with a concrete answer.
However, we will present to you the developing situation.
Lately,
following a real "wake up" of the gay community in Syria,
GayMiddleEast.com has received many e mails from readers in
Syria wanting to put up personal ads on the site. However, few
were willing to write a few lines about gay life and
conditions in Syria. The letter we received from one Syria man
on July 8, 2003 invoked many reactions. We also read with
interest the article that appeared on August 7, 2003 on the
internet site of Al Bawada. In this article, the writer speaks
of suppression by the police, arrests of gays in Syria that were
simply to "keep the gays in their place." As he wrote, "Sometimes
the police come and if the guys are doing anything "out of the
ordinary" like dancing to music, kissing or looking "too gay" -
the police take them for a while." Accordingly, this
courageous gay person in Syria ended his letter to GayMiddleEast.com stating:
"I think the gays in the middle east sure need protection."
S. A. Getenio,
manager of GME states, "As soon as I saw the letter from Syria
on our GayMiddleEast.com site, I was concerned that the Syrian authorities
would react negatively. This is basically the reason that we
kept a low profile on the letter. We could have made a red
headline out of it. It isn't everyday when we hear about the
jailing of gays inside Syria. When we saw the Al Bawada
article, we were again concerned for the welfare of our Syrian
readers. Two days after that article appeared, GayMiddleEast.com received an
e mail from the Syrian who's letter we had put up on the site.
He requested that we remove it immediately.
