Who Syria was Never Safe For: Displacement, Return and Queer Syrian Futures Beyond Assad

This study explores how queer Syrian refugees in Lebanon conceptualize migration, navigate displacement, and resist dominant refugee narratives. For queer Syrians, systemic homophobia, transphobia, and stigma in Syria rendered safety unattainable even before the conflict and the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. Drawing on qualitative interviews with fifty queer Syrian refugees in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, the study employs a trauma-informed participatory approach to center their voices. Findings reveal Lebanon as a paradoxical refuge: while LGBTQI+ organizations provide critical support, legal precarity, economic hardship, and societal discrimination persist, complicating efforts to secure dignity and stability. The research challenges assumptions that all Syrians anticipate return post-Assad, showing that queer refugees remain skeptical of societal change and instead aspire to resettlement in more inclusive contexts. Participants' accounts foreground queer futurity not as utopia but as daily, practical horizons and/or micro-choices that sustain dignity amid hostility. Lebanon emerged as the preferred regional waypoint due to existing queer civil society networks, linguistic proximity, and access to support systems, factors participants explicitly contrasted with alternatives like Jordan. Analyzing these dynamics through queer migration, intersectionality, and post-conflict frameworks, the paper calls for inclusive policies that recognize queer refugees' resilience and agency.