• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Body
  • Daily Resist
  • POLITICS
  • Travel
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Film
  • TV
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Men
  • Marriage Equality
  • Space
  • Trans Rights
  • Books
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • TowleREAD

A Year On, ‘Mr. Gay Syria’ Feels Under Threat in Istanbul

February 21, 2017 by Luis Damian Veron Leave a Comment

Istanbul Pride

The winner of a contest held in Istanbul last year meant to empower and highlight gay Syrian refugees has reported his situation as deteriorating.

In an interview last week with German public news service Deutsche Welle, Hussein S.—who asked his surname not be used owing to his cautiousness—said he is feeling the glare of the attention the event brought him, feeling exposed not only in a city where anti-LGBT sentiment is on the rise, but with his own Syrian relatives who have threatened him if he did not “return to the right path.”

The contest was organized by an LGBT Syrian refugee center in Berlin “to create a media buzz,” said organizer Mahmoud Hassino. It certainly did, although the Mr. Gay Syria winner could not obtain a visa to travel to the Mr. Gay World event in Malta. At the time, Hassino felt Istanbul was still relatively accepting of its LGBT population, especially in comparison to places from which refugees such as Hussein had fled, but his opinion has since changed. Developments such as the banning and crackdown against Istanbul’s gay pride parade last year have created a chilling effect. Hussein himself has seen the change on the ground:

Istanbul, too, has become much less tolerant, Hussein said, with small pockets where queer-identified people could freely express themselves quickly disappearing. “There used to be parts of the city where you could openly show that you’re gay, where no one cared who you are.”

“That’s no longer possible,” Hussein said.

While Hussein had registered for the pageant for fun, and won by acting out a scene in which a man visits his mother’s grave, despondent over his family’s plan to marry him off to a female cousin, he started to receive harassing telephone calls shortly afterwards. He had come to Turkey and Istanbul in order to live more openly, but it seems that his past is even more difficult to escape than he knew.

Now, however, if Hussein and his Syrian boyfriend, with whom he shares a flat, don’t manage to leave Istanbul soon, he might one day regret the attention that the Mr. Gay Syria pageant has brought him. He registered for a UN resettlement program two years ago – and is still waiting.

Hussein said he was desperate to leave Turkey as soon as possible: “I don’t know, I might disappear.”

From Berlin, Hassino says he has tried to do what he can in order to help the five contestants who took part. One has managed to reach Norway to join a boyfriend, another is in Greece, another has gone north under uncertain circumstances, while another, like Hussein, remains in Istanbul. He has tried to pressure the German government to intervene, as well. The best of intentions have run into the still-grim reality, but the vision behind them still maintains:

For his part, on Valentine’s Day and a year after being crowned Mr. Gay Syria, Hussein said he had not given up hope: “I dream of living in a country where I can walk down the street and hold my boyfriend’s hand.”

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: gay rights, immigration, International LGBT Rights, Istanbul, Refugees, Syria, Turkey

Recent Posts

  • Lindsey Graham Tells Trump to ‘Keep Your Movement Alive,’ Urges Him to Resist Pardoning the Rioters: WATCH

    Lindsey Graham Tells Trump to ‘Keep Your Movement Alive,’ Urges Him to Resist Pardoning the Rioters: WATCH

    11 hours ago
  • Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Who Rallied Trump Insurrectionists, Claims He and Rep. Lauren Boebert Could Have Stopped Them After the Capitol Siege Was Underway

    Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Who Rallied Trump Insurrectionists, Claims He and Rep. Lauren Boebert Could Have Stopped Them After the Capitol Siege Was Underway

    12 hours ago
  • It’s Bottoms Up on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ [RECAP and RANKINGS]

    It’s Bottoms Up on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ [RECAP and RANKINGS]

    13 hours ago
  • Maskless Leopard Print ‘Karen’ Goes Down Shrieking at Palm Beach Bagel Shop: WATCH

    Maskless Leopard Print ‘Karen’ Goes Down Shrieking at Palm Beach Bagel Shop: WATCH

    2 days ago
Previous Post: « Scott Lively: Donald Trump Must Take Down Evil ‘Homosexualist’ Cabal
Next Post: Head of Italy’s Anti-Discrimination Office Forced out in ‘Gay Sex Club’ Scandal Amid Right-Wing Opportunism »

Primary Sidebar

  • Lindsey Graham Tells Trump to ‘Keep Your Movement Alive,’ Urges Him to Resist Pardoning the Rioters: WATCH

  • Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Who Rallied Trump Insurrectionists, Claims He and Rep. Lauren Boebert Could Have Stopped Them After the Capitol Siege Was Underway

  • It’s Bottoms Up on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ [RECAP and RANKINGS]

Recent Posts

  • Lindsey Graham Tells Trump to ‘Keep Your Movement Alive,’ Urges Him to Resist Pardoning the Rioters: WATCH

    Lindsey Graham Tells Trump to ‘Keep Your Movement Alive,’ Urges Him to Resist Pardoning the Rioters: WATCH

    11 hours ago
  • Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Who Rallied Trump Insurrectionists, Claims He and Rep. Lauren Boebert Could Have Stopped Them After the Capitol Siege Was Underway

    Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Who Rallied Trump Insurrectionists, Claims He and Rep. Lauren Boebert Could Have Stopped Them After the Capitol Siege Was Underway

    12 hours ago
  • It’s Bottoms Up on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ [RECAP and RANKINGS]

    It’s Bottoms Up on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ [RECAP and RANKINGS]

    13 hours ago
  • Maskless Leopard Print ‘Karen’ Goes Down Shrieking at Palm Beach Bagel Shop: WATCH

    Maskless Leopard Print ‘Karen’ Goes Down Shrieking at Palm Beach Bagel Shop: WATCH

    2 days ago
  • Pete Buttigieg Confirmation Hearing Scheduled for Thursday

    Pete Buttigieg Confirmation Hearing Scheduled for Thursday

    2 days ago
  • Married Lincoln Project Co-Founder John Weaver Admits Sending Sexually Inappropriate Texts to Male Job Applicants, Says He’s Gay

    Married Lincoln Project Co-Founder John Weaver Admits Sending Sexually Inappropriate Texts to Male Job Applicants, Says He’s Gay

    2 days ago
  • Bill Maher Shoots Down Kellyanne Conway’s Defense of Trump’s Legacy, That Many Folks Are Better Off: ‘A Lot of Them Are Dead!’ — WATCH

    Bill Maher Shoots Down Kellyanne Conway’s Defense of Trump’s Legacy, That Many Folks Are Better Off: ‘A Lot of Them Are Dead!’ — WATCH

    2 days ago
  • Ralph Lauren Drops 7-Year Sponsorship of Pro Golfer Justin Thomas Over Homophobic Slur

    Ralph Lauren Drops 7-Year Sponsorship of Pro Golfer Justin Thomas Over Homophobic Slur

    2 days ago
  • James Lankford, Dolly Parton, Vaccine Rollout, Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor, Palm Beach, The Big Lie, Joshua Bassett: HOT LINKS

    James Lankford, Dolly Parton, Vaccine Rollout, Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor, Palm Beach, The Big Lie, Joshua Bassett: HOT LINKS

    2 days ago
  • Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney Takes Down QAnon GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert After Accusations He Named Her as Member Who Gave ‘Reconnaissance Tours’ of US Capitol Ahead of Trump Insurrection

    Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney Takes Down QAnon GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert After Accusations He Named Her as Member Who Gave ‘Reconnaissance Tours’ of US Capitol Ahead of Trump Insurrection

    2 days ago

Most Commented

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Footer

Copyright © 2021 · Log in