USA occupied Iraq: Hell for gays

Since January of this year, with the publication of a United Nations report on the murders, torture, and harassment of GLBT Iraqis at the hands of religious extremists, the international community has known of the plight of gays and lesbians in Iraq; but no official help has come their way. Efforts to shield, shelter, and smuggle GLBT people out of American-occupied Iraq have been led by private groups and individuals.

A New York Times article cited the 2005 fatwa against gays and lesbians by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a Shiite, who instructed that GLBT people be hunted down and executed in the "worst, most severe way."Though al-Sistani officially called for the end of that fatwa in 2006, the killing has continued.

A deep irony about the situation is that America’s intervention in the country had initially been seen as a hopeful development by the country’s GLBT citizens, who lived in fear of the law but whose lives could usually run normally, as long as they were discreet about their relationships and gatherings. But unfortunately the way things were before was so much better than where we are now.

full article