We’re sure the Jamaicans might have something to say about it, but Iraq has won the prestigious award of being dubbed “the most dangerous place on Earth for gays.” For stuff like this. Congratulations!
“Life was better under Saddam,” argues LGBT Asylum News‘s Paul Canning, which, depending on how willing of a snowball argument you’re willing to make, is basically the fault of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. While Saddam Hussein was running the show, “Baghdad played the role that Beirut does now as a sanctuary for Middle Eastern gay life with clubs which men from the Gulf and Saudi Arabia flocked to. In sharp contrast, for the past six years Iraq has been the worst place in the entire world to be gay. Far, far worse than Uganda or even Iran. Hundreds of gays, lesbians and transgender people have been hunted down and killed in the most vile ways imaginable – and imagination is the right word. Doctors have confirmed reports of men have had their anuses glued shut by militia forces and others have accused the government of being involved.”
Of course the nations that involved themselves in Iraq, sending thousands of troops to topple Saddam’s regime, are stepping in to offer aid, right?
Our government, the British government, has turned its back on those who have arrived here. All have initially been refused asylum. The system instead has told them that Iraq is safe and they should go home. I am not making this up. Faceless bureaucrats in Alan Johnson’s department (and Jacqui Smith’s and John Reid’s before him) have had the front to write “Iraq is safe” on gay asylum letters.
Why? How? Because they can. Because no one, no gay MP, no LGBT group, no one has pressured them, forced them, to do otherwise.
It gets worse. Because of an “unfit for purpose” system, their claims take years to resolve, wasting untold amounts of taxpayers’ money as other bureaucrats and Johnson’s hired gun lawyers fight them to the bitter end despite the mountain of evidence that Iraq is a death zone for gays. In the meantime they survive on handouts as they’re not allowed to work. They are stressed out in ways those of us lucky enough to be born in the West cannot begin to imagine, fearing that Johnson’s agents will pick them up and put them on a plane to Baghdad.
aalan brickman
nice gay genocide Britain!!….
Sam
This is why I roll my eyes at people who claim that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11. He was a brutal, tyrannical dictator, but he was a SECULAR brutal, tyrannical dictator. Al Qaeda was trying to set up theocracies in all the Middle Eastern states, and Hussein HATED them, and they hated Hussein. He was the only one stopping them. Then Dubya rushes in like a bull in a china shop and lays the groundwork for a theocratic Iraq. Now there’s no one left in the Middle East to stop Al Qaeda. Unless you count Israel, but… please.
By the way, Britain isn’t only to blame for refusing asylum to gay refugees. They were the ones who set the whole Middle East up to fail in the first place. Lawrence of Arabia told Britain where to draw the national boundaries in a way that respected the cultural boundaries. Britain basically said, “No, we want these people constantly at each other’s throats so they’ll be easier to control.” Hence, Iraq being an unstable state comprised of Sunnis, Shi’ites, and Kurds who all loathe each other. The only thing keeping them together was Hussein’s iron fist. Taking him out was like taking the pin out of the grenade. Iraq was rigged to explode from the beginning. It was inevitable that it would, but it didn’t have to happen now, and it didn’t have to be America’s fault. And it certainly didn’t have to happen at a time when Islamic fundamentalism was on the rise, making it inevitable that the explosion would empower our current Enemy Number One.
What an idiot Bush is. He went into Iraq claiming to be fighting terror, and ended up basically handing the country over to bin Laden on a silver platter. Although he did inadvertently succeed in hurting gay people, so I guess he didn’t lose completely. Somewhere in his Texas mansion, he can feel good about that. The fucking asshole.
paulcanning
If you want to do something to help go here http://bit.ly/alihili – oh, and tell your friends and colleagues!
B
No. 2 · Sam wrote, “This is why I roll my eyes at people who claim that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11. He was a brutal, tyrannical dictator, but he was a SECULAR brutal, tyrannical dictator.”
I once met someone who met Saddam (it was a former official from the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on a book-signing tour). Saddam walked into a meeting, took off his holster and put the gun on the table, claiming it wasn’t to intimidate anyone (e.g., U.S. diplomats) but because the belt was uncomfortable while sitting.
If you were into S&M you’d have loved Iraq under Saddam. They only went after you if they thought you might be a threat to the regime but there was a pretty low threshold for what constituted a threat, so nearly everyone (extreme masochists excepted) had to be very careful not to say or do anything that might be misinterpreted.
terrwill
Your tax dollars ar work…………….
reason
Saddam was a decent leader when it came to ruling in a secular manner. If Ronald Reagan had not goaded Iraq into a war then stabbed them in the back, it would be one of the most advanced and western friendly countries in the middle east. Back in those days Iraq was spending heavily on infrastructure and education. Women were going to school, gays were living openly, and Saddam liked America. Ronald Reagan screwed it all up, and H.W. Bush escalated the problem, immediately blowing up all the infrastructure erasing years of progress, while the British rejoiced that a colony that freed itself from there tyrannical grasp was getting its due. Saddam had some cruel tendencies, but it enabled him to stay in power and keep a lid on, what is clear to many now and some knew before, a volatile country. The one major strike against him is how he dealt with Israel and his support of unscrupulous actions against them.
As far as Al Qaeda goes, they are sworn enemies of many middle eastern governments. They vowed to behead the entire Saudi Royal family shortly after the U.S. and Saudi used them in the Afghan battle vs. the Soviets also known in those times as the Godless Communist. As Gen. Petraeus said, the Kingdom has done an excellent job suppressing Al Qaeda.
Chitown Kev
I get your point, Queerty, but I think that Kurdish gays would beg to differ.
Kieran
Bush’s Neo-Con $Trillion Iraq War: Making the World Safe for Homophobia.