NYT: bodies of as many as 25 boys and men suspected of being gay have turned up

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

BAGHDAD — The relative freedom of a newly democratic Iraq and the recent improvement in security have allowed a gay subculture to flourish here. The response has been swift and deadly.

In the past two months, the bodies of as many as 25 boys and men suspected of being gay have turned up in the huge Shiite enclave of Sadr City, the police and friends of the dead say. Most have been shot, some multiple times. Several have been found with the word “pervert” in Arabic on notes attached to their bodies, the police said.

“Three of my closest friends have been killed during the past two weeks alone,” said Basim, 23, a hairdresser. “They had been planning to go to a cafe away from Sadr City because we don’t feel safe here, but they killed them on the way. I had planned to go with them, but fortunately I didn’t.”

Basim, who preferred to be called “Basima” — the feminine version of his name — wears his hair long for Iraq. It falls to just below the ear. His ears are pierced, uncommon for Iraqi males. White makeup covers his face, a popular look for gay men in Sadr City who say they prefer light skin.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/world/middleeast/08gay.html?_r=1

------

That is 25 bodies in ONE city alone. Absolutely sickening.

[MountainLaurel]

1. What was oppression of gays like under Saddam?

Have things actually gotten worse, as they have for Iraqi women?

[Old and In the Way]

2. Probably worse.

Above all else, he was a secular authoritarian who understood the threat Islamic fundementalism (Shia and Sunni) presented to him. He came down pretty hard on them...as well as any political threats to his regime, of course. Given he had the most progressive ME country with regards to a woman's role in society, I suspect he was far more tolerant of gays than the current power brokers in Iraq today.

[bananas]

11. "Homosexuality was legal in Iraq under Saddam Hussein until late 2001"

According to wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_rights_in_Iraq

Homosexuality was legal in Iraq under Saddam Hussein until late 2001, when under pressure from religious conservatives he criminalized the act of sodomy. A law passed in 2001 made sodomy punishable by imprisonment, and repeated convictions punishable by death. It should be noted however that despite the change in law there where no known cases in which the death penalty was applied for the offence by Iraqi Courts. Hussein had previously refused to criminalise homosexuality, as it went against the Secular Socialist beliefs of the Ba'ath Party.

<snip>

[MountainLaurel]

15. That's sort of what I thought

:cry:

[readmoreoften]

16. as "criminalization of homosexuality went against the Secular Socialist beliefs of the Ba'ath party"

Yes I'm sure the right-wing or religious dictatorship or the Sharia Law "islamic democracy" that eventually takes over Iraq will be light years better than Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist Party.

But we support the Saudis and the Afghani warlords. That's what distinguishes Hussein from every other authoritarian leader or gang in the Middle East--he was the only socialist. Socialism: its what neoliberals hate more than anything.

[Tempest]

14. You're wrong

Gays had it better when Saddam was in power.

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/aug/05/world/fg-iraqgay5

Gays were legal in Iraq until 2001 and were not harassed or prosecuted by the government.

[Old and In the Way]

23. Well, you need to read the post I responded to...then you need to read my post.

I think we agree.

[nichomachus]

10. It's hard to tell -- but it seems be that things were slightly better under Saddam

Iraq was kind of isolationist, so it's hard to tell exactly. Most reports I've seen -- and gay Iraqis I've talked to -- seem to think that it was more "Don't ask don't tell" under Saddam, although families would sometimes kill gay members of the family to "preserve honor" (since we all know that murdering a family member is a sign of great honor) :sarcasm: That was tolerated, but not as widespread as this seems to be.

The destabilization brought about by Bush's ill-conceived invasion has given rise to religious extremism, whereas Saddam's Iraq, for all its problems, was fairly secular. It's not only gays, but Christians who are suffering -- all victims of Bush's criminal stupidity.

[readmoreoften]

17. I'm sure honor killings are still going on as well. /nt

[noiretextatique]

18. i think it was more than slightly better

just one of the articles i found on google

Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Gay Iraqis Fared Better Under Saddam

During a March 23 program on the American program Democracy Now!, Ali Hili, a gay Iraqi living in exile in Great Britain, stated that being gay was far easier under Saddam Hussein’s regime than it is currently. He says:

Iraq, at the time of Saddam, was — I mean, I'm talking about as a gay Iraqi — it
was not as bad as we can see now. In fact, it was a little bit — we a
little bit acceptance … There was no homophobic attitudes toward gay and
lesbians. Most of them welcomed in the community and the society … Well,
we started to receive information, in particular, the last two years, when we
made contact with our friends, in particular, my old friends in Baghdad. And
horrific, horrific details about, I mean killing, intimidation, harassing,
arresting.



http://gaymiddleeast.blogspot.com/2006/04/gay-iraqis-fared-better-under-saddam_12.html

[slay]

3. Yay yet another acomplishment in Iraq... oh wait...

That is horrible! K&R'd to get the word out.

[arcadian]

4. Time to bomb the rubble into smaller rubble.

n/t

[xchrom]

5. +5

[MADem]

6. Basim needs to get outta Sadr City.

The Shi'a don't play. Look at the law that Karzai signed in Afghanistan--for the Shi'a, alone.

He's not safe there. He needs to find a way out.

[Wednesdays]

7. "Suspected of being gay?"

Is it just me, or is that not a rather poor choice of words. Makes it sound like being gay is a crime. :shrug:

Just to be clear--those were NYT's words, not those of the OP.

[Runcible Spoon]

21. The article has several unfortunate statements..

including blaming this on the so-called spread of democracy and freedom, which is bullshit since Iraq has no more of either since the invasion. At least the article actually recognizes the deaths.

[newtothegame]

8. What has Obama said/done about this? n/t

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

22. Nothing, as far as I know

[KamaAina]

9. The surge is working!

La, la, I can't hear you!

:sarcasm:

[HamdenRice]

12. Finally, the REAL story is getting out

It's a fascinating and complex -- if terrifying -- story. It seems to be mostly Shiite militias and police who think that there is a law on the books criminalizing being gay.

Juan Cole interprets this in the following way: he says there is no secular law, but Sistani issued an anti-gay fatwa, and then the Iraqi government passed a law endorsing Islamic law in general, so police think that Sistani's fatwa has been "incorporated" into general law.

The story also tells chillingly how families are targeting their own sons for execution.

Very important read.

[ismnotwasm]

13. Horrible

When my daughter was stationed in Afghanistan, she was over in Kandahar. Over there, there was a small, fairly open population of Gay males, often also transvestites. The ones she ran into were the ones not slaughtered by the Taliban.

Interestingly, these men didn't think of themselves as Gay in American terms. "Men are for pleasure, women are for children" was what they would say.

Whatever-- this is disgusting and horrible and needs to stop.

[krispos42]

19. Nice to see all that democracy and freedom spreading

Heckofajob, there, Bushie, heckofajob.


:-(

[Runcible Spoon]

20. Beyond words...

This is so tragic...

[anonymous171]

24. That's their culture. What did you expect? Democracy =/= Western Cultural Values.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

25. It used to be better for gays in Iraq

And, just because it's not America, doesn't mean it's not an outrage.