New Iraq crackdown on gays

New Iraq crackdown on gays

There are growing fears that GLBT Iraqis may be facing an escalating campaign of state persecution on top of ongoing attacks by Islamist militia groups in the country.

On June 16 a safe house run by the rights group Iraqi LGBT was raided and set on fire by 12 police officers who beat the six people they found inside before throwing them in vans.

Of the six, two gay men, a lesbian and two transgender people are still missing, while another man turned up in hospital with a slash wound across his neck.

Iraqi LGBT fear the five have been taken to the Interior Ministry building in Bagdad, which has a reputation as a place where gays are tortured and executed.

Then on June 25, a male beauty parlour in the city of Kerbala was raided by police who claimed the building was being used for prostitution.

Police armed with cattle prods arrested four men who worked at the business and carried away another on a stretcher.

A Kerbala newspaper later reported, “a number of gay, mostly college students were caught red-handed, and have confessed openly their shameful work which is contrary to public decency – they were seduced by the devil to commit these acts”.

Male beauty parlours which supply services such as waxing and massaging are not uncommon in Iraq, which has a cultural tradition of body building.

However, a number of religious leaders have released edicts against the parlours and male beautification in general.

Iraqi LGBT say they know of over 720 GLBTs who have disappeared or been murdered in Iraq since the removal of the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

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5 responses to “New Iraq crackdown on gays”

  1. A very welcome reminder about how comfortable our existence is when we argue about registers Vs civil unions Vs marriage…

    Lets count our blessings, celebrate what we have achieved and reach out to recognise and support the perilous circumstances of our brothers and sisters.

    Protest be emailing the Iraqi embassy:
    [email protected]

  2. …and we think WE’RE badly done by? Let’s just stop and be grateful for the freedons we possess. We’re writing words about gay marriage, not really being very activist about it, and our gay brothers & sisters are being tortured & slaughtered in other parts of the world.
    these types of stories really upset me. Are we providing any form of support for the oppressed and viley treated in other gbastions of civilization?
    Many tears from Hell xoxoxo

  3. A very good story for us all to keep in mind with the asylum seeker debate that hotted up over the past month. This type of persecution for being different (sexuality, religion, ethnicity or whatever) is what asylum seekers are often trying to escape. I’m not strongly one way or the other on the issue, but I think we as a community can probably identify with persecution and help hard liners understand what it can be like.

  4. Scott

    Agreed one hundred percent. Whilst we are warm in our beds at night and some puerile sydney queen bitches about the quality of their drugs OTHER people are simply trying to live without the daily fear of murder for being who they are.

    Whilst these people in iraq and other like countries MURDER our ‘brothers and sisters’ then we have won nothing as a community.

    The fight for one’s very life and death continues in some countries.

    Gay marriage counts for nawt if your DEAD

    Thank you for your post scott. These issues are important not the usual tripe that passes as important for the ‘oxford st masses’ ala “sleaze having a different footprint this year”

    end of rant
    sorry

  5. You’ve really got to feel for people like us who live in places like Iraq. We just don’t have to live with that kind of existential fear on a daily basis.