Syrian Actress Deema Bayyaa: Personal Choices of Homosexuals Are Not My Business, Regardless of Religious Norms

Syrian actress Deema Bayyaa said in a June 20, 2019 show on Lana TV (Lebanon) that the sexual preferences of homosexuals are not her business, whether religion approves of them or not. She argued that religion disapproves of many things that society currently approves of – such as 80-year-old men marrying minor girls and vice versa – and she said that she is not afraid of being called out for defending homosexuals as human beings. She added that if society wants to hold homosexuals accountable, it must also hold other deviants and criminals accountable, including those that it today accepts as normal.

Interviewer: "What is your position on homosexuality?"

Deema Bayyaa: "That's my personal opinion and I cannot say it on TV."

Interviewer: "You can't?"

Deema Bayyaa: "No, I can't. With all due respect to every religion and to every opinion, the sexual preferences of someone else are none of my business. Sorry..."

Interviewer: "Religion rejects [homosexuality]..."

Deema Bayyaa: "It's none of my business. I am not talking in terms of religion... Religion rejects many things that we do. It doesn't stop [with homosexuality]. We do not accept homosexuals, but we do accept it when an 80-year-old man marries a minor girl. Unfortunately, our society accepts it when an 80-year-old woman marries a 20-year-old boy.

Interviewer: "I am totally against this."

Deema Bayyaa: "Sorry, but we accept it when someone goes to a psychologist and says: 'I beat my wife in bed, because otherwise I cannot have sex with her.'"

Interviewer: "And all this is accepted..."

Deema Bayyaa: "Yes. Meanwhile, a homosexual who chose his way of life... May he enjoy it, it's none of my business... Am I supposed to flog him?"

Interviewer: "Why are you defending..."

Deema Bayyaa: "I am only defending [homosexuals] as human beings. It is none of my business what other people choose. That is my opinion. I will state it, and I am not afraid of being called out for it. See what I mean? If you want to hold [homosexuals] accountable, they you also have to hold accountable everybody who deviates from the normal and everybody who does illegal things – and we accept some of these things as normal, and we even laugh about them."