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May 24, 2006
Iraq & Homosexuality
I want to write about the alarming state of gay rights throughout the Muslim world, but most especially in Iraq. Did you know, by the way, that in Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria, homosexuality requires capital punishment by stoning?
Sharia, which is the term used for Islamic law, calls for gay people to be killed. That is not a religious belief meriting understanding and respect. It is, rather, pathological bigotry masquerading under a veil of sanctity. That veil should be ripped right off.
George W. Bush has urged us to have respect for Islam. I'd like to see if he'd urge us to respect it if its laws called for heterosexuals to be killed for the mere fact of being heterosexual.
Western collusion with murderous homophobes in the Muslim world did not, alas, begin and end with W. George the First's links with the Saudis are legendary. Clinton had the number one terrorist Arafat as the number one guest in the White House. Under W, the White House is as open to pathologically anti-gay Muslims as it ever was. Wet kisses are constantly exchanged with "royal" scumbags from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, and many other countries where killing gay people simply because they are gay is legal.
Just as Tony Blair of England followed W's footsteps into Iraq, so too does he imitate Bush in supporting persecution of gays. Blair vacationed with his family in Egypt the same month that gay Egyptians were rounded up and jailed for being gay, but didn’t make a peep about the outrage.
So, what's happened to gays in Iraq since it was "liberated"? In August 2005, the U.S. brokered talks about wording of the Iraqi constitution that made Sharia "the" rather than "a" main source of Iraqi law. Then in the fall, the Ayatollah al-Sistani issued an anti-gay fatwa calling for gays and lesbians to be killed "in the severest way of killing." Incidentally, Islamic law says that one of the acceptable ways of killing gay people is to throw them from the top of a building.
Sistani's anti-gay fatwa is being carried out. Gays are attacked in the streets and killed as surrounding crowds cheer on the killers. Men nearing 30 are given one month to marry and then killed if they do not. Gays who attempt to find refuge in the Green Zone are made fun of and turned away by American military personnel.
The well-substantiated story has been reported on in the gay press but not at all in mainstream media. Check out: http://www.gaycitynews.com/gcn_511/iraq.html. Intelligent and honest people realize that American policy in the Middle East is driven mainly by oil. But the Muslim countries need us buying their oil even more than we need their damned oil. Kanye West correctly pointed out that Bush doesn't care about black people and now I'm here to tell you, as if you didn’t know it already, that Bush doesn't give a flying fuck about gays and lesbians.
One of my blog readers commented that he had sent a letter to Anderson Cooper asking him to do a special report on the persecution of gays in Iraq. Wouldn't it be nice for Anderson to do that, particularly as he is a very influential, very popular gay man? Anderson Cooper's gayness may not be acknowledged by most Midwestern housewives but I think it is understood by most New Yorkers and most importantly, Anderson Cooper himself knows the truth. Does he understand that if he lived in Iraq he would already have been beaten to death in the streets?
We GLBTers should be agitating for our government and our society to acknowledge that the persecution of gays in Iraq is taking place, was facilitated by Bush, and must be stopped. I shudder to think what the homophobes could do to us here if we don't insist they demand justice for GLBT people in Iraq and the Muslim world at large. Bush spoke out on behalf of a lone Christian convert in Afghanistan when that convert was threatened with death. Where the fuck is he now that there is an ongoing anti-gay slaughter in Iraq?
Posted by Michael at May 24, 2006 11:27 AM
Comments
Thanx, Michael, I was hoping you would have an entry on this subject. Just for your information, I also sent an email to Oprah, Keith Olberman, MSNBC, NYT, Wash Post, LA Times, CBS,ABC,CNN. I still haven't seen anything in the mainstream media, except for the London Times.
Posted by: Russ at May 24, 2006 05:50 PM
Amen, Brother Michael!
Maybe it's time for a GLBT fatwa on all anti-GLBT nations, religions and politicians. Oh wait, we're too busy defending ourselves from becoming 2nd class citizens in our own country.
Perhaps we chould change our strategy. Perhaps we should come up with a plan destroy all hetero marriages. Perhaps we should start a recruitment program; I think there a lot of str8 guys who would love the prospect of sex without any legal ties.
If we had a fatwa what would our uniforms look like? Would we put drag queens and transgendered on the front line? ~ they are the toughest of our breed. Oh and the lesbians; I think they have all the guns in Gay World.
Thank you again for taking a political stance. I believe that your fans can make a huge change in the politics of this country and the globe. I applaud you, and all the countless porn stars who are speaking out to their audiences and encouraging them to get off their computers, wipe the jizz off their hand and do something for the good of all of us who are under various forms of religious and political attack.
Maybe you could do a re-make of Escape From New York (1981)? Plot Line: A condemned str8 criminal and former war hero is offered his freedom if he can rescue the President of the United States from the walled GLBT island of Manhattan after a queer terrorist goes down on the President's plane in this futuristic adventure.
peace,
Uncle Zoloft
Posted by: Uncle Zoloft at May 25, 2006 07:17 AM
i will follow u ...
Posted by: refu at May 25, 2006 09:50 AM
You're absolutely right, but it's important to remember that the Bible, when literally interpreted, requires homosexuals to be killed as well. The problem isn't muslims, it's religious fundamentalists of all stripes. Religious fundamentalism is not compatible with rational thought or critical thinking, resulting in horrible atrocities committed in the name of God. Pat Robertson and his ilk would have us all pushed into the sea and call it God's justice... so while I agree with everything you just said, I think you should think even bigger and apply the commentary to all religious bigots regardless of what they call themselves.
Posted by: Brian at May 28, 2006 01:29 PM
I am a gay in Iraq, do you know what that mean? I may get killed if someone find about it, so my only joy is the internet ,yes that's it I wish I can have sex, but I can't .Heeeeeeeeelp please
Posted by: mohammed at September 7, 2006 05:54 AM