Sunday, December 2, 2007

Tuesday in Iran

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that there are no homosexuals in Iran.

He can say this because he knows that homosexuals are hunted down and killed in his country.

These two boys are 16 and 18 years old. They were found guilty by their “legal system” of homosexuality. They were then put to death.

Iran has put to death over 4000 gays in the last twenty five years. And they are not alone. This is a list of every country where homosexuality is a crime punishable by death:

Afghanistan; Algeria Angola; Armenia; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Barbados; Benin; Bhutan; Bosnia & Herzegovina; Botswana; Brunei; Burma (Myanmar); Burundi; Cameroon; Cape Verde Cook Islands; Djibouti; Ethiopia; Egypt; Fiji; French Polynesia (Tahiti); Georgia; Ghana; Grenada; Guyana; India; Iran; Jamaica; Kenya; Kiribati; Kuwait; Lebanon; Liberia; Libya; Malawi; Malaysia; Maldives; Mali; Marshall Islands; Mauritania; Mauritius; Moldavia; Morocco; Mozambique; Namibia; Nauru; Nepal; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Niue; Oman; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea; Puerto Rico; Qatar; Saint Lucia; Samoa; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Solomon Islands; Somalia; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Swaziland; Syria; Tajikistan; Tanzania; Togo; Tokelau; Tonga; Trinidad & Tobago; Tunisia; Tuvalu; Uganda; United Arab Emirates; Uzbekistan; Yemen; Zambia; Zimbabwe

These pictures make me sick. These pictures make me cry. These pictures make me angry. In my lifetime this kind of thing has happened. In this global economy, we do business with countries who find no moral dilemma in hunting down and murdering gay people, as if it were sport.

How have we allowed these kinds of things to go on unpunished?

Will anything change? This community of mine has become distracted. We have been sold the bag of pretty shiny things. We waste ourselves on entertainment and gossip and the look. These boys made love, like we do so casually, and it was the last moment of love they ever knew.

And yet, nothing happened. No charge from the religious right. Not worth getting into a big fight if they’re just killing their own gays. No sanctions from the United States Government. How they manage their own gay issue is none of our concern. From the rest of America: Who, what happened?

And the Gay community, what do we do? Upon learning that the murder of homosexuals is something that a whole nation gets together to do, while they revel in the streets of many many nations that are considered our allies? Well the Gay Community gets right up and………

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

When Queen Elizabeth II was in Uganda making people aware of AIDS, she was met with protests. The protesters held up anti-gay signs and were chanting Homosexuality is Un-African. Interesting that the protesters have such a hatred for people that want to live their lives and potentially equate HIV/AIDS with Homosexuality. Let's not look at the facts to see AIDS is extensive through out the hetro-African World. I agree with you that people need to become serious about injustices throughout the world instead Brittney Spears crooch shots.

Anonymous said...

There names were Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni.

It's outrageous the United States works with countries which persecute gays like this, but we are only the tip of the iceberg. The US doesn't have any problem with human rights abuses if it means Walmart couldn't roll back prices! Yahoo! gave the names of journalists to the Chinese government, knowing full well they would be arrested (or worse: disappeared.) Really though, what's more important: human life or Yahoo! Sports?

Americans, including the gay community, have made their choice. As long as Yahoo! Entertainment comes before human rights, not just gay rights, we're not going anywhere. So why aren't we demanding more from our presidential candidates? Why do we let them side step the Darfur crisis and talk about their hair. Why does anyone settle for any less than socialized medicine?

We need to hold our political leaders' feet to the fire.

Anonymous said...

I don't think Armenia, Egypt have capital panishmnet for being gay. Uzbekistan difenetely dooesn't. I belive this is the list where we may be imprisoned.

The Police Disco Lights said...

That was hard to read. To find out that there are people killed b/c of who they love really makes me sad. I read this a few weeks ago. I wonder what the family did or didn't do.