Shapes

Aug

17

They Kill Gay People, Don’t They? *

iraqilgbtWhile queer media in the West stares fixedly at its own reflection, government-sponsored death squads are systemically murdering gay people around the world. The latest story is coming out of already war-torn Iraq where hundreds of gay men are being hunted down and killed for the “dishonour” of being gay.

Government-sponsored Iraqi death squads are hunting and killing gay men

According to reports from Human Rights Watch, gay men in Iraq are being hunted in what has been described as “coordinated effort by police and militia groups.” Just this year about 90 gay men have been killed in Iraq and hundreds have been hunted and killed in the past few years in what is being called a witch-hunt.

One group reportedly responsible for the campaign is the Mehdi Army militia who are apparently operating in cahoots with Iraqi police. These combined factions have been brutally killing gay men, mutilating their bodies and dumping them like trash. Despite the fact that homosexuality is technically legal in Iraq, these “honour killings” have been going largely unchecked and under-reported since the fall of the last regime.

Are we more fascinated with celebrity culture…
or do we just not care?

Unfortunately, this is not a new story. I remember writing an international news segment for a niche broadcaster a few years ago and doing several pieces about this very same situation happening in this very same country. The trouble is that while gay media picks up the story every few years, it’s quickly dropped and forgotten for another few years. Maybe we are more fascinated with celebrity culture or the latest party/Pride news. Or maybe we just don’t care.

Iraqi LGBT - UKI hope we do care. And I hope that we use our FREE voices to speak out against this terrible trend. Western nations have been in Iraq for years now to install freedom and liberty. This systematic hunting and butchering of gay men in Iraq is far from either.

Show you care and send an email or letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper at [email protected] or write:

Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa
K1A 0A2

Fax: 613-941-6900

You can also contact Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon at [email protected]

* You can hear Andrew Vail discussing this issue when he guests on The Shaun Proulx Show Monday August 24th – 103.9 PROUD FM!

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8 Comments For This Post

  1. paul canning Says:
    August 17th, 2009 at 8:56 pm

    If you want to practically help send some $$$ the way of ‘Iraqi LGBT’ http://iraqilgbtuk.blogspot.com

    They run safe houses inside Iraq as well as supporting refugees in the rest of the middle east.

    Whilst the HRW report is good news for raising the profile of the pogrom, only Iraqi LGBT is actually supporting people (saving them from murder) inside the country. But funds are scarce and they consequently have to turn people away.

    To find out more, read their annual report which is published on their website.

  2. Andrew Says:
    August 18th, 2009 at 8:49 am

    Thank you, Paul, for the information!

    Cheers,
    Andrew

  3. Norm Says:
    August 18th, 2009 at 5:33 pm

    Frankly, although I reported on it on my show back in April, I think it’s important enough to keep bringing forward. Apparently, so did Human Rights Watch. As Amnesty has taught us, the more we make people aware of atrocities, the more pressure is brought to bear on the local authorities.

  4. Tim Devlin Says:
    August 24th, 2009 at 11:47 am

    I remember seeing photo’s of two young men dragged from their home and accused by the village elders…the punishment was for all the elsders sodomize the boys, then beat them…throw them in a ditch and set them on fire alive. The article I read was pointing out that the two young men were not gay but were fingered by a nasty rival for a girl. In the photo’s were US soldiers standing by watching and not allowed to do anything. When it was learned that the sodomizing village elders had kill inoscent mean they refered to it as mischief and took no action against the acuser.

  5. Shaun Proulx Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 3:16 pm

    PUBLISHER’S NOTE – WE RECEIVED THIS EMAIL FROM TIM DEVLIN, WHO WROTE THE LAST POST:

    Dear Mr. Devlin:

    On behalf of the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, I would like to
    acknowledge receipt of your e-mail regarding violence against homosexual men in Iraq.

    Please be assured that your comments have been carefully reviewed. I have taken the liberty of forwarding your message to the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who, I am certain, will also appreciate being made aware of your concerns.

    Thank you for writing to the Prime Minister.

    M. Bredeson
    Executive Correspondence Officer
    for the Prime Minister’s Office
    Agent de correspondance
    de la haute direction pour le Cabinet du Premier ministre

    >>> From : Tim Devlin

    >>> Subject : Iraq Honour Killings. >>>>

    Ever since the fall of Sadam Hussein we have been given horror photo’s and stories of Gay Men deliberately and systematically being tortured and murdered as honour killings. Homosexuality is NOT a crime in Iraq. This is co-coordinated mass murder between the militia and the Iraq Police. Amazingly part of the torture is to Sodomize the victims as well and all to often they learn after the fact that the person killed was falsely accused and the killing is then treated as mischief. Canada must have a voice in this…we are a sane and responsible society and what ever one feels about Same Sex rights … this can not be condoned nor can we be silent.
    To condone this and say nothing is to imply you agree with the crime.
    Let’s hear Canada’s voice…

  6. Andrew Says:
    September 22nd, 2009 at 9:44 am

    A NOTE FROM ANDREW VAIL:

    I received this response from the Prime Minister’s Office:

    Dear Mr. Vail:

    On behalf of the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, I would like to acknowledge receipt of your e-mail regarding the persecution of gay men in Iraq.

    You may be assured that your comments have been carefully reviewed. I have taken the liberty of forwarding your message to the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs. I am certain that the Minister will appreciate being made aware of your concerns and will wish to give them every consideration.

    Thank you for writing to the Prime Minister.

  7. greener_13 Says:
    October 6th, 2009 at 10:14 am

    is this even real?

  8. Chun li Says:
    September 29th, 2010 at 11:40 am

    I follow your website for quite a lengthy time and have to have tell that your articles always prove to be of a high value and high quality for readers.

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