False Sense of Maturity

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s secular regime, Iraq has become a very dangerous place for homosexuals. The morality policy, composed of Islamic hard-liners, are literally hunting and killing any gays they can find. The London based organization Iraq LGBT estimates that over 430 gay men have been killed in Iraq since 2003.

It’s unlikely that gays will be safe in Iraq any time soon, as much of Iraqi culture see nothing wrong with killing them. In fact, homosexuality has an entirely different definition there than it does in Western countries:

Persecution of gays will stop only if Iraqis can abandon centuries-old prejudices. They would have to acknowledge that human rights don’t cover only the humans they like. Insisting that gays are just a few undesirable perverts who “should be killed”–as one Iraqi who works in journalism put it–encourages an atmosphere of impunity no matter the offense. Killing gays becomes “honorable.” And raping them is OK because it isn’t considered a homosexual act–only being penetrated or providing oral sex is.

That’s some interesting logic. An Iraqi man can rape another man and then kill him, but that doesn’t make him gay or a criminal.