The Story and Controversy Around the LGBT Military Unit TQILA During the War Against ISIS in Syria

In 2017, an international group of volunteers fighting alongside the Syrian Democratic Forces against ISIS in northern Syria announced the creation of what they described as the first LGBT military unit in history. The unit was called the Queer Insurrection and Liberation Army (TQILA) and was formed within the International Revolutionary People’s Guerrilla Forces (IRPGF).

The initiative attracted international attention and provoked polarized reactions. Some welcomed it with enthusiasm, while others met it with criticism and skepticism.

Before the civil war began in 2011, same-sex relationships in Syria were formally illegal and could be punished by up to three years in prison. In practice, enforcement was inconsistent, and LGBT people generally tried to remain out of sight. Queer culture existed mostly in hidden forms. In major cities, including Damascus and Aleppo, there were gay-friendly bars and gay hammams.

The Civil War and the Rise of ISIS

After the uprising against Bashar al-Assad’s regime began in 2011, the situation changed dramatically. Protests quickly escalated into civil war, and by 2014 the conflict was further complicated by the emergence of ISIS on Syrian territory.

Seeking to impose a strict version of Sharia rule, ISIS unleashed particularly brutal repression against LGBT people. In areas under its control, homosexuality was punishable by death. Executions were often carried out publicly and demonstratively to intimidate the local population.

People suspected of belonging to the LGBT community were often checked by ISIS members through their phones and contact lists in an attempt to identify other presumed gay people.

One of the most notorious execution methods was throwing condemned people from rooftops in front of crowds. If someone survived the fall, they were then stoned to death.

By 2017, the war in Syria had reached an extreme level of violence. Against this background, many foreign volunteers joined the fight against ISIS on the side of Kurdish armed formations.

Kurdish Forces and the Autonomous Region of Rojava

Kurds in Syria are a significant minority, living mainly in the north-eastern part of the country. Before the war, their rights were often restricted. After the conflict began, Kurdish communities took on a more prominent role in the fight for autonomy and the defense of their territories.

Rojava, which means “the West” in Kurdish, is an autonomous region in north-eastern Syria proclaimed by Kurds in 2012. Officially, it is called the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Within this system, principles of direct democracy, libertarian decentralization, and gender equality are declared.

During the civil war, the region acted as a third force, seeking to maintain its independence from both the Syrian government and the Islamist opposition.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are an armed coalition formed in 2015 under the leadership of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ). The SDF includes members of various ethnic and religious groups, including Arabs, Assyrians, and Christians. The coalition’s main mission is to fight ISIS and defend Rojava’s autonomous territories.

Kurdish armed formations declare equality between men and women. Women participate in combat, hold command positions, and also serve in separate women’s units, including the YPJ.

The Creation of the “Gay Fighters” TQILA

In March 2017, a battalion called the International Revolutionary People’s Guerrilla Forces (IRPGF) was formed in Rojava. The group used a pink flag with an AK-47 symbol and said it was inspired by the example of foreign volunteers during the Spanish Civil War. The IRPGF’s main goal was to support Kurdish forces in the fight against ISIS.

The battalion’s formation coincided with preparations for a major offensive that ended with the liberation of Raqqa in June 2017. The operation was carried out with support from a U.S.-led coalition.

In July 2017, the IRPGF announced the creation of a unit called the Queer Insurrection and Liberation Army (TQILA). The name was read as “Tequila.” In a statement published on social media, participants said their goal was to fight for the destruction of the gender binary, promote the women’s revolution, and expand gender and sexual freedom.

According to participants, TQILA was created in response to ISIS’s brutal attacks on the queer community worldwide. They said they could not stand by and watch people being persecuted and killed on the pretext that their orientation was supposedly “abnormal” or “unnatural.”

Despite public statements and a few photographs from Raqqa, very little is known about TQILA’s actual activities. Neither the unit’s size nor the share of its members who identified as LGBT is clear.

A group representative, Heval Rojhilat, told Newsweek in 2017 that he would not reveal the exact number of fighters, citing security concerns.

Allies’ Reactions and Internal Disputes

The creation of the LGBT unit provoked mixed reactions, including among allies. The YPG and the Arab–Kurdish coalition SDF expressed dissatisfaction.

It remained unclear how actively TQILA participated in combat, particularly during the operation to liberate Raqqa, then the capital of ISIS.

According to media reports, the SDF allegedly removed not only TQILA but also the IRPGF itself from participation in the offensive. As evidence, a tweet from an SDF representative was cited: “IRPGF were kicked out of Raqqa yesterday, and we hope they will soon leave Rojava as well. We need less empty propaganda and more real fighting.” The tweet was later deleted.

Later, SDF representatives officially denied both any connection to these groups and the very fact of their existence. The head of SDF media relations, Mustafa Bali, stated: “There are no units with such a structure within the SDF.” In response, the IRPGF emphasized that it operates independently, can create its own sub-groups, and does not need anyone’s permission.

An anonymous Kurdish queer activist from Rojava told the Portuguese magazine Mapa in 2024 that the well-known photograph was most likely part of a flash mob action.

Criticism From Scholars and Activists

Al Jazeera published a piece by Syrian–Palestinian scholar and activist Razan Ghazzawi, in which she sharply criticized the very idea of such a battalion. From a decolonial perspective, Ghazzawi argued that such initiatives, including so-called “gender and sexual revolutions,” erase other forms of resistance and distort the understanding of the struggle in Syria.

She also wrote that the participation of foreigners in TQILA turns an armed conflict into a romanticized adventure and pushes local voices aside. In addition, Ghazzawi described the Kurdish forces that support such units as an authoritarian structure.

Her position was reinforced by statements from Ziya Gorani, a trans woman of Kurdish origin, cited in the same article:

We do not know who exactly is in this group [TQILA], and it is unknown whether its members are Kurds or Syrians. It is just a group of international fighters from the YPG trying to create the illusion that LGBT people can live peacefully in Rojava without fear of discrimination. But this is false. Things are far from what they are trying to show.

— Ziya Gorani

In response, Kurdish scholar and activist Hakan Sandal published an article accusing Ghazzawi herself of colonialism. In his view, her analysis, which presents TQILA as a colonial phenomenon, in fact reproduces Turkish and Arab colonial frameworks and renders invisible the history of Kurdish resistance and the experience of oppression by four different states.

Sandal wrote:

When it comes to the Kurdish struggle in Syria, the article reproduces colonial frameworks, making Kurds’ history of resistance, their memory of colonialism, and their experience of oppression by four different states invisible. Ghazzawi’s critique is directed not only at the colonial/white appropriation of queer struggle, but also at the Kurdish struggle in Syria. The author’s sharp turn from a decolonizing queer perspective to an anti-Rojava narrative makes the article’s intention ambiguous. Instead of undermining the colonial form of knowledge criticized in the piece, the author redirects the colonial gaze toward Kurds. As a result, the article itself, unfortunately, becomes a typical anti-Rojava interpretation disguised as a well-argued decolonial queer text.

— Hakan Sandal

In Sandal’s view, Ghazzawi’s approach echoes the rhetoric of the Turkish state, which has historically supported colonial domination over Kurds and has worked to prevent any change to the status quo in Syria.

Sandal also stressed that neither Kurdish nor international activists ever claimed that Rojava is a paradise for LGBT people:

We, as Kurdish LGBT activists, understand the reality of our societies and work to create space for our existence. At the same time, the discourse around TQILA and the IRPGF must remain a subject of critical analysis, but with attention to the historical context of different forms of struggle.

— Hakan Sandal

The Dissolution of the IRPGF and the Significance of TQILA

On September 24, 2018, the IRPGF officially announced its dissolution. Along with it, TQILA also ceased to exist.

It is possible that TQILA was part of the IRPGF’s media strategy, aimed at attracting international attention to the Kurdish forces’ fight against ISIS.

At the same time, raising the LGBT flag in Raqqa during active combat became a visible symbol of solidarity even under the most extreme conditions.

It is reasonable to assume that there were LGBT people both within the ranks of the SDF and in the IRPGF. Some foreign volunteers spoke openly about their orientation and posted about it on social media.

Among Kurdish fighters, there were likely LGBT people as well, but lower levels of acceptance in local society limited the ability to be open about one’s identity.

Rojava, despite the ongoing conflict, demonstrated – and continues to demonstrate – a comparatively more accepting attitude toward the LGBT community than ISIS, the Islamist opposition, and Assad’s regime. For example, the region’s temporary constitution does not mention sexual orientation and does not provide for separate punishment on this basis.

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