Subhi Nahas, a gay Syrian who escaped the country fearing for his life, and who in a history-making speech addressed the United Nations last year about LGBT persecution in Syria, told The Daily Beast that there were possible cultural reasons behind the murder of one young man and the reprieve of his older sexual partner, described as the teen’s “rapist” in some reports.

“In writings after the formation of Islam, there came the idea of young boys, known as gelman, who were hermaphrodite or underage used for the pleasure of older men, because they could not get pregnant,” said Nahas. “The boys were castrated, so they could not grow facial hair.” ...