An anarchist guerrilla force that recently joined the anti-ISIS forces in Syria says they’ve launched the first LGBT brigade in Raqqa to battle the terrorist group that has thrown people suspected of being gay off buildings.
The International Revolutionary People’s Guerrilla Forces (IRPGF) became the first anarchist battalion to join the movement for Kurdish liberation in May, citing social revolution and women’s liberation as a key factor in their formation.
In a Twitter post Monday, the IRPGF unveiled The Queer Insurrection and Liberation Army (TQILA) with a rainbow flag flying in Raqqa and their slogan: “These faggots kill fascists.”
These Faggots Kill Fascists! We shoot back! The Black & Pink and Rainbow flag fly in Raqqa. #Queers smashing the Caliphate. #TQILA #YPJ #YPG pic.twitter.com/eBCssrbjMI
— IRPGF (@IRPGF) July 24, 2017
“TQILA’s members have watched in horror as fascist and extremist forces around the world have attacked the Queer community and murdered countless of our community members citing that they are ‘ill’, ‘sick’ and ‘unnatural,'” the faction said in a statement posted on the IRPGF Twitter account.
“The images of gay men being thrown off roofs and stoned to death by Daesh was something we could not idly watch,” the statement continued, using the pejorative Arabic acronym for ISIS. “It is also not only Daesh whose hatred for Queer, Trans, and other non-binary people that leads to religiously motivated hatred and attacks.”
The group added that they “want to emphasize that queerphobia, homophobia and transphobia are not inherent to Islam or any other religion.”
“In fact, we know many Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. who are accepting and welcoming of uniqueness and non-conforming people and some who are even Queer themselves. We stand in solidarity with them against fascism, tyranny and oppression… our commitment to struggling against authority, patriarchy, oppressive heteronormativity, queer/homophobia and transphobia are strengthened by the revolutionary advances and gains of the Kurdish women’s struggle.”
After tweeting that they had received doubts about the authenticity of their announcement, the IRPGF tweeted a new photo unmasking commander Heval Mahir.
TİKKO guerrilla & new IFB commander Heval Mahir is a dear friend of the IRPGF and supporter of Queer liberation. @RojavaTikko @ozgurgelecek4 pic.twitter.com/Ww6DW44O1Q
— IRPGF (@IRPGF) July 25, 2017
The ISIS reign of terror against the LGBT community has been brutal, with the terror group releasing numerous videos and photos of men suspected of being gay being executed, usually being pushed off the highest building in town.
The terror group hailed Omar Mateen’s July 2016 attack on the LGBT Pulse nightclub in Orlando, writing in their Dabiq magazine after the rampage that “Muslims undoubtedly hate liberalist sodomites, as does anyone else with any shred of their fitrah (inborn human nature) still intact.” ISIS shrugged off reports that Mateen may have used gay dating apps or visited gay clubs, rationalizing that the terrorist must have been deep undercover in order to conduct his attack.
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