Sexual Cleansing in Iraq

Toward the end of the Vietnam War, a lot of American’s either actively ignored the news from the front or had become numbed to it and become passively blind to it. I know because I was among them. Even though I was an active protester against the war, I had become so weary of the endless stories of death and destruction that I stopped watching the evening news.

Today, there are many stories that vie for our attention, and with the presidential race becoming such a circus, it is hard to find any news outlet that is still reporting on the War in Iraq. Still it rages, whether we watch or not. The “surge” may have quieted the activity for a while, but the warring militias still roam the streets.

One of the most under-reported stories from Iraq is the plight of the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered populations. The American press has little interest in them and the Iraq press actively suppresses information on a group of people it sees as degenerate. The saddest part of the story is that under Saddam Hussein, sodomy was not a crime, and even after he was pressured to criminalize it in 2001 by religious leaders, prosecutions were rare.

Today, according to Ali Hili, the coordinator of the group Iraqi LGBT, “supporters of the fundamentalist Sadr and Badr militias boast that they are cleansing Iraq of what they call ‘sexual perverts’. They are
open about terrorizing gay Iraqis to make them flee the country and murdering those who fail to leave. Their goal is a queer-free, pro-homophobic Iraq.”

Worse news came last week as the coordinator of Iraqi LGBT in Baghdad was assassinated. The 27 year old known as Bashar was killed by gunmen in a barber shop. Bashar had helped organize “safe houses” for LGBT Iraqis and was credited with saving dozens of lives.

The upswing in violence against LGBT Iraqis can be attributed to a fatwa issued by Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in 2005 which encouraged killing gays and lesbians in the “worst , most severe way possible”.

The sexual cleansing of Iraq should send a shiver down the spines of American LGBT people. The events half a world away are the direct result of an out of control fundamentalist religion that has seeped into the country’s government. Though Iraq is officially a secular country, the increasing influence of the religious militias and their cleric leader’s is palpable.

In the new democracy of Iraq, loving a person of the same sex is a death sentence. LGBT people have been forced into an underground existence. Meanwhile, according to a story in the UK Guardian, leaders of the Mahdi Army are proudly proclaiming they have eliminated "perverts and sodomites" in many of the major cities. What’s worse is they have no protection from the Iraqi Police who are heavily infiltrated by militia members.

I don’t expect that the US press will put much effort into exposing this human rights tragedy. There are too many shiny objects to go after here. McCain careens from one political stunt to another. Lindsay Lohan bounces in and out of rehab. Clay Aiken cuddles his new “gaybie” while the latest fashions parade down the catwalks of New York and Paris.

There are so many other stories that have so much more visual appeal, and flash and ratings potential. Why should America care about a few LGBT Iraqis being “roughed up” in Iraq. Where is the “local angle” in that?

As LGBT people, we need to pay close attention to Iraq. Their sad condition is indirectly a result of American policy and in this political season we need to remember that. The policy overseas could very well become a domestic policy. It wouldn’t take more than a few fundamentalists in positions of power to change our courts and laws. If we believe it can’t happen here, we should think again.

It’s time to shake off our numbness to Iraq and start paying attention. Our brothers and sisters are being tortured and killed, and we ignore them at our own peril.