Warning: This article contains language that may offend some people
An armed militia of gay men named 'The Queer Insurrection and Liberation Army' (TQILA) are fighting homophobic Islamic State (IS) in Syria.
The TQILA, clad in pink and blue headscarves, and carrying a rainbow and pink flag with an AK-47 logo, say they could not stay out of the fight any longer.
In a press release posted on Twitter, the members said that the "images of gay men being thrown off roofs and stoned to death was something we could not idly watch".
"We seek to smash the gender binary and advance the women's revolution as well as the broader gender and sexual revolution".
They said they had watched in horror as extremist forces around the world attacked the Queer community, citing that they are "sick" and "unnatural".
But the TQILA emphasised the fact that they know people of all faiths who were "accepting of uniqueness and some who are even queer themselves."
The alliance said they are part of the International Revolutionary People's Guerrilla Force (IRPGF), a coalition of foreign fighters.
An IRPGF spokesman, Heval Rojhilat, said this week that they were already fighting in Raqqa, and that many of their comrades were within the LGBT community.
The militia is one of many fighting alongside Kurdish forces and the Syrian army to seize Raqqa, the IS base in Syria.
Newshub.
