Did the Observer defend the Baathist government of Saddam Hussein, before the invasion of Iraq, on the grounds that secular nationalist dictatorship would be better for gay men in Iraq than any of the three likely alternatives to it that could result from the invasion: a puppet government beholden to Washington or a radical anti-Washington Islamist government or, worst of all, decades of chaos and anarchy? If it didn't, can it learn a lesson from the present as history and make sure that it will defend the Syrian government precisely on those grounds*?
*************** Dunno whether the Observer prior to the invasion was reporting its verison of the news or simply editorially defending Hussein as you suggest, but if we are to measure the current treatment of gays in Syria, the answer is pretty harshly, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_rights_in_Syria
Criminal Law
Article 520 of the penal code of 1949, prohibits having homosexual relations, i.e. "carnal knowledge against the order of nature", and provides for a possible three-years imprisonment.
Police have been known to entrap gay Syrians and imprison and torture them.
Gay Community and Persecution
Because homosexuality is so persecuted in Syria, many gay men use out-of-the-way places to meet each other and have special, unofficial gay bathhouses. Venues may change frequently to avoid knowledge of the authorities. Even the internet, which is frequently used as a way for gay people to meet, is avoided in Syria. According to GayMiddleEast and GlobalGayz, they seldom receive messages from people in Syria, and have had to remove some quotes from gay people in Syria out of fear of persecution, despite the anonymity of the sources.
In 2003, al-Bawaba reported that authorities in Syria routinely persecute gay people. The article stated, "Sometimes the police come and if the guys are doing anything "out of the ordinary" like dancing to music, kissing or looking "too gay" - the police take them for a while." Accordingly, this courageous gay person in Syria ended his letter to GayMiddleEast.com stating: "I think the gays in the middle east sure need protection."
more...
and
http://www.alternet.org/rights/36012/?comments=view&cID=119745&pID=119723
snip... Levels of tolerance vary within the Middle East; Lebanon is known as its most liberal country, and has several gay bars. A thriving gay community reportedly exists in Tel Aviv. But Syria and Yemen are less tolerant. And Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have received much press lately for their stringent, sometimes brutal, crackdown on gay men.
"Now, people are arrested [for being gay] and there's almost instantly worldwide press," Zakharia continues.
snip...