Syrian Lesbian Blogger Kidnaped in Syria

Friends of Amina Araf use Facebook in hopes of finding and freeing the kidnapped blogger\Source: Fox News

Posted by LGBT Weekly

Amina Araf, an American-Syrian lesbian woman and author of the popular blog ‘A Gay Girl in Damascus,’ was kidnapped late Monday while walking with a friend in the capital city.

MSNBC reports that Araf, who blogs under the pen name Amina Abdallah, was seized by three armed men and forced into their vehicle. A witness going by the name of Rania O. Ismail blogged that Araf’s kidnappers covered her mouth and hustled her into a red Dacia Logan bearing a Basel Assad bumper sticker – a reference to the late presidential security leader under President Bashar Assad.

As an openly lesbian woman, Araf knew she was taking a rare and significant risk in proclaiming her sexual orientation and blogging about politics and sexuality. Homosexuality is heavily discouraged in Syria, and Araf’s sexual politics only stood to compound her already defiant blog posts advocating peace and equality over outdated and overly stringent political authority.

Ismail’s blog reporting Araf’s disappearance included a plea from the blogger’s father, who is currently in hiding but claimed he would go public if it would help him find his daughter and secure her safe release.