Abdulrahman Akkad (Arabic: عبدالرحمن عقاد) is a Syrian political blogger,[1] public speaker[2] and human rights activist.

Three years later in 2013, just before leaving Syria, Akkad graduated from Abdulwahab Al-Shawaf Junior High with a middle school diploma.

[citation needed] With the escalation of events surrounding the Syrian civil war, Akkad and his family were forced to leave Syria in July 2013.

[13] Akkad's friend suggested that he travel to Europe, because the Turkish authorities would not protect him from abuse by his family, who are influential in Turkey.

[14] Akkad travelled through Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria until he arrived in Germany on December 5, 2015, where he applied for asylum based on his sexual orientation.

[7] On July 24, 2017, Akkad streamed a live video on Facebook,[17] coming out as gay after fearing that his family would have had forced him to marry a woman against his will.

It was possibly the first ever occurrence of a gay Syrian man publicly expressing his sexual orientation in a video with his real name and face.

[18] On July 24, 2020, Akkad shared a picture of him with his family, officially announcing their acceptance of his sexual orientation and that they love him unconditionally, also declaring victory over customs, traditions and society.

[21][22] Akkad is an openly gay activist in the MENA region specially in Syria[23] and the German media described him as a "hated figure" in the Arab world.

[24] In subsequent years, Akkad has given many interviews to several media, primarily German and Arabic ones, about his experiences and his political opinions Especially on the situation of homosexuality and LGBTQ rights in the Middle East, Akkad gave his first interview to the famous German Newspaper (Bild) in Germany and said that he doesn't want to stay in Germany because of the threats he received.

[4] There has been a long history of oppression and discrimination against the LGBT community in the Arab world through censorship, hate speech, and government-coordinated persecution.