For gays in Iraq, life has become more dangerous since fall of Saddam Hussein

CNN:

CNN spoke with Kamal, now 18, and his 21-year-old friend Rami about what it’s like to be gay in Iraq. Coming out as gay is not easy in any country, but to do so in Iraq could mean a death sentence or torture.

The two men rarely show feelings toward each other in public. They spend a lot of time in Internet cafes in Baghdad, surfing gay chat rooms and seeking contacts with other gay men in Iraq and elsewhere.

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the situation for gays and lesbians in Iraq has deteriorated. Ridiculed under Hussein, many now find themselves the targets of violence, according to humanitarian officials.

Lesbians are also victims of harassment and violence, but not nearly as often as gay men.

It’s unknown how many homosexuals have been killed by militias in the lawless streets of Iraq’s cities, but some Web sites post pictures of Iraqis they say were killed for being gay.

One photo on the Iraqi Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender site shows a group of men standing around three male bodies sprawled on a street, blood pouring from their heads. “Gay Iraqi victims of the police and death squads,” the site says.

A U.N. report on human rights in Iraq reinforces the accusations of violence. Although gays are supposed to be protected by law in Iraq, it says, they face extreme brutality.

“Armed Islamic groups and militias have been known to be particularly hostile toward homosexuals, frequently and openly engaging in violent campaigns against them,” the report said, adding that homosexuals have been murdered.

“Militias are reportedly threatening families of men believed to be homosexual, stating that they will begin killing family members unless the men are handed over or killed by the family,” it said.

(snip)

“The ‘normal’ people cannot live in Iraq. Imagine how the life is for gays.”

Ouch.

Progressives always have to intone the boring mantra “Of course Saddam was a terrible dictator blah blah blah,” but this is just one more of the many ways life in Iraq is much, much worse under American occupation than it was under the nasty dictator Saddam Hussein…for those Iraqis who are still alive and/or still live in Iraq, anyway…I mean, we’ve decimated/displaced at least a fifth of the population…