Baghdad Bigotry

AguynamedWayne writes:

In 2005, a 16-year-old Iraqi boy was brutally kidnapped off the streets of Baghdad. The beatings he endured during his captivity were nothing compared to the torture he suffered when his captors discovered he was gay. "They told me to take off my clothes to rape me or they would kill me immediately," he said. "This moment was the worst moment in my life." The teenager was raped repeatedly for 15 days by his captors, whom he described as "dirty animals trying to tear my body apart." Eventually, his family was able to pay a $1,500 ransom.

It's a tragic case, one made even more so when you consider how common the victimization of gays in Iraq is. Many gay men have been beaten, terrorized, and murdered in cold blood for no reason other than their sexuality. Many Iraqis believe that homosexuality is a shameful sin as well as a crime. Violence is common in Iraq, but violent retribution against gays is known to be particularly gruesome. One photo on an Iraqi gay and lesbian website shows a group of men standing over three male bodies sprawled on a street with blood still pouring from their heads. "Gay Iraqi victims of the police and death squads," the site says. A UN report on human rights in Iraq says that although gays are supposed to be protected by law in Iraq, they still face extreme brutality. Ironically Eric Alva, the first American soldier to be seriously wounded while trying to liberate Iraq from the Saddam Hussein regime, is himself a gay man who is now working to fight the entrenched homophobia inside America's own military. (Photo: CNN)

– AguynamedWayne

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