Gay Atheist flees Syria to escape discrimination, is mocked by other refugees
A young gay Atheist has expressed how disappointed he was to receive discrimination from fellow refugees after escaping Syria to live a free life as a gay.
Omar, who is 20-years-old, relocated to Amsterdam after seeing videos of Gay Pride events, and hoped that by living there he would be free to follow love.
However, My So Called Gay Life reports that Omar was mocked, insulted, and threatened by other refugees travelling with him.
“Coming to the Netherlands, which is the country one associates with freedom of expression and liberalism, and being bullied for being gay, was a shock,” Omar told French news agency AFP. “It was surprising that all those people who were tired after the long journey, still had it in them to harass me.”
Omar was one of 54,000 refugees who arrived in the Netherlands in 2015. He was a law student in Syria, coming from a rich family, but was severely bulled due to his sexuality: “They threatened to kill me. They said I was a disgrace.”
The 20-year-old has now been taken in by a Dutch lesbian woman named Lianda.
Lianda first read of Omar’s struggles on social media before offering him a room in her own home.
The future is now looking up for Omar, who says he is happy that he has met people who accept him for who he is and what he has done.
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