The Queer Insurrection and Liberation Army

The testimonial image of its formation, in which fighters posed alongside a sign with the motto "These faggots kill fascists" and two flags—the flag of the group and an LGBT flag—went viral. Western media reported on the unit extensively[note 1] and it was celebrated as a success for the LGBTQ community by many online, including prominent celebrities such as Ricky Martin.[14]

The unit, like the rest of the IRPGF, was a member of the International Freedom Battalion (IFB) which is a socialist foreign fighters unit fighting in the Syrian Civil War. One of the group's testimonial photos features Heval Mahir,[note 2] commander of the International Freedom Battalion, and the Marxist–Leninist guerrilla groups, TKP/ML TİKKO, holding the LGBT flag. However, it was short lived. It was expelled from Raqqa on 5 August 2017 as the IFB declared it needed "less empty propaganda, more fighting", and finally dissolved alongside its umbrella unit, IRPGF, on 24 September 2018.[16]

Despite being part of the IRPGF, which was a militia fighting within the YPG, the YPG distanced themselves from the unit and denied affiliation with it. Mustufa Bali, the media director of the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is under the leadership of the YPG, issued a statement denying association with TQILA. [17]

The unit's media announcement was made in English, which demonstrated how Western media was its intended audience. Moreover, its statement "these faggots kill fascists" was an ode to the American folk singer Woodie Guthrie who inscribed his guitar with "this machine kills fascists", which became a highly popular slogan for left wing cultures in the West.[18] The members also wore ski masks, which are associated with the global anti-fascist resistance movements.

Furthermore, TQILA's formation was announced one year after the Orlando nightclub shooting, a terrorist attack on the gay nightclub Pulse that resulted in 50 deaths including the perpetrator. ISIS claimed responsibility of the attack. Their announcement made a nod towards these attacks and a transnational link with the persecution of queer Syrians and the global LGBT community.[18]

The unit's authenticity and motivations have been questioned by some, as the unit did not act as a formal military force but predominantly as a media campaign. The purpose of the subunit has been tied to propaganda motivations of improving the image of the PKK as a progressive organisation to gain favour in the West, as the organisation has a history of attempting to gain legitimacy from the West through propaganda.[19] It has been argued that the creation of this liberal and progressive group in Syria is part of a phenomenon known as 'pinkwashing', in which governments that install oppressive and conservative regimes create the impression they are in support of social liberalism as a way to deflect Western criticism.[20][16] The PYD and PKK have been criticised by residents of Rojava, who have argued that while they present a progressive image of themselves to the West, they implement little action in providing protection to marginalised groups.[21] TQILA's formation and circulation demonstrated that local communities in Rojava were not their intended audience, and therefore some have criticised how this has served to erase local queer experiences in exchange for Western media attention.[18] Ghadazzi's criticism of TQILA includes interviews with a Kurdish refugee from Rojava, who highlighted how despite what TQILA's message implies, Rojava is not a place of LGBTQ acceptance, and that the issue of LGBTQ acceptance is rooted as much in the social conservatism of the local communities, than terrorist forces like ISIS, which TQILA addresses.[21]

Moreover, criticism has also been written on activists and militant groups from foreign countries using the 'war on terror' narrative to launch further violence and destruction in unstable areas such as Syria, which tends to cause further divisions and instability in the areas they operate.[21] As TQILA and the IRPGF were foreign fighter units consisting mainly of people from North America and Europe, many were skeptical of the extent of aid they were providing for these areas.[20]

• Queer anarchism
• Revolutionary Union for Internationalist Solidarity

• TQILA, un mal trago para la homofobia (in Spanish) "TQILA, a bitter pill to homophobia" by HuffPost
• Not One Step Back: TQILA-IRPGF Speaks from Rojava, an article from the antifascist collective It's Going Down