Well, here's one step forward, and about 9,000 steps backwards when it comes to LGBT rights in Iraq. Fundamentalist Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr addressed Iraq's ongoing violence toward LGBT people in Iraq, by urging Iraqi people to reject killing LGBT people, which has become a nationwide epidemic, with several dozen men being murdered in the past few months because of their sexual orientation (or their perceived sexual orientation).
The downside to all of this? Sadr took the occasion to call homosexuality fundamentally evil, and preach conversion therapy through Islamic preaching and teaching. Kind of an odd thing to say, since most of the people murdering LGBT people in Iraq are doing so in the name of radical Islamic teaching and preaching (or, well, at least in the name of how they see Islamic teaching and preaching). *Sigh*
A few of Sadr's zealot colleagues also took the opportunity to call homosexuality a "corrupt phenomena from the West," which is a line of thinking that has proliferated throughout the Middle East and Africa, as grassroots LGBT groups struggle to push for equal rights. Another Sadr ally called homosexuality a disaster, and said it was plaguing the Iraqi population, according to AFP.
All of this highlights the growing need for folks, particularly our own State Department, to spotlight the issue of global violence toward LGBT people. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has promised to make violence on the basis of sexual orientation a priority for her office. With the U.S. so heavily invested in Iraq, this has to remain on the radar screen of the Obama administration.
We've got a letter up here on change.org that urges folks to contact their Congressional Reps, as well as the White House, to draw attention to the issue of LGBT violence in Iraq. With dozens of people already murdered because of their sexual orientation in Iraq, it's important to let our voices be heard on this issue, and to push our leaders to act to stem the cycle of violence.
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