house. Asylum His friend suggested that he should travel to Europe because the situation in Turkey is dangerous for him, especially that Akkad's family has influence in Turkey and because the Turkish authorities will not protect him from the oppression of this family, and indeed Akkad traveled illegally to Greece at the end of November 2015 and his friend covered his travel costs. Akkad traveled illegally to Greece by sea, and then traveled to 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. Akkad was granted asylum in 2016 and his asylum procedure was delayed because he was a minor at the time Coming out In 2017, before Akkad came out he agreed to be engaged to a girl from the family because of the pressure his family had put on him, His mother told him that his sexual orientation would change after he married. Within a few months the matter became serious and the wedding was to be held in Istanbul. In the end, he decided to post a live Video on Facebook, in which he announced his sexual orientation. The video was directed to his family only, but the video was withdrawn and published on many Arab pages and groups, The video garnered hundreds of thousands of views within a week. Akkad was bullied, insulted and threatened with death by Arabs and Muslims in Germany. On July 24, 2017, Akkad streamed a live video on Facebook, coming out as gay after fearing that his family would have had forced him to marry a woman against his will. The video was shared on various Arab social channels, as it was the first ever occurrence of a gay Syrian man publicly expressing his sexual orientation in a video with his real name and face. 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 This photo is also considered to be the first of its kind with an Arab family publicly accepting their gay son's sexual orientation. Activism in Germany 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