Head of the Consumer Protection Department of the Syrian government in Hama, Jaafar Safaf, stated that a number of children's toys were seized from one of the shops in the province after allegations of 'promoting homosexuality' and the LGBTQ+ community in the Middle Eastern country, Syrian media reported.
النظام السوري يصادر قوس قزح في حماة: يروج للمثلية!
— Ayman Abdel Nour (@aabnour) June 12, 2022
انضمت سوريا إلى دول عربية وخليجية تصادر كل ما هو ملون بحجة أنه "يروج للمثلية الجنسية" وتحديداً ما يخص ألعاب الأطفال.https://t.co/n1sIXOGuGG
According to the Syrian Consumer Protection Department, a group of kids' kites was pulled out from the Syrian market for being designed with the rainbow colors, which the regime says represent LGBTQ+ and the Pride flag.
Sham FM quoted Safaf saying that these 600 rainbow-colored kites were imported from China justifying that they were not registered in official-governmental papers before being imported, but they were illegally transported inside Syria.
Various discussions erupted on social media platforms following the Syrian authorities' decision to seize the kites with the rainbow colors. Some suggested that in the past and before the LGBTQ+'s announcement of using the rainbow colors in its Pride flag, more toys and other materials were designed in these colors.
Others suggested that kids' toys should be designed with various-bright colors to by an eye catchy so kids would love to play with and buy. On the other hand, a group of people has noted that it is important to differentiate that the rainbow contains 7 colors (Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet) while the Pride flag contains 6 colors. (red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, and violet).
النظام السوري يصادر قوس قزح في حماة: يروج للمثلية!
— all4Syria كلنا شركاء (@all4syria) June 12, 2022
انضمت سوريا إلى دول عربية وخليجية تصادر كل ما هو ملون بحجة أنه "يروج للمثلية الجنسية" وتحديداً ما يخص ألعاب الأطفال.https://t.co/viScMxlVcv
The Syrian regime forbids any person who shows any homosexual intentions as the regime confirmed a law criminalizing LGBTQ+ as suspects would be sentenced up to 3 years in jail. Crimes against Syrian LGBTQ+ members are also common in the Syrian community as families could kill their relatives if they are discovered to be part of the Pride community.