Saddam Hussein's Rule 'Better' for Gay Iraqis

In yet another story that is a sad testimony on the American occupation of Iraq, the BBC is running a story that looks at the fact that for gay Iraqis, life was far better under Saddam's secular dictatorship than under the puppet government put in place by the Chimperator and Emperor Palpatine Cheney. Indeed, freedom of religion appears to have decreased as Islamic fundamentalists have been unleashed to spread religious based hate and intolerance across the country - providing a glimpse of what Christianist rule would look like in the USA if the Christian Right are not defeated politically. And Bush and Cheney are proud of their "accomplishments"? Here are some story highlights:

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There has been so much news of death and destruction from Iraq that the position of sexual minorities is rarely touched on in the mainstream media. But stories of torture and murder of gay Iraqis, particularly men, have been emerging in the gay press for several years.

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Some say the violence has intensified in the past few months. Others say killings run into the hundreds and have been going on since 2003.

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What is clear, and confirmed by separate evidence from various human rights groups, is that some gay men have been subjected to appalling violent abuse. One young Iraqi, Amil (not his real name) recalled the death of a friend: "They found out he was gay and they killed him and they chopped him like a lamb, it was awful."

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Another man (who wished to remain anonymous) revealed to Scott Long from the New York-based Human Rights Watch, how his partner was kidnapped and killed. . . . "We found his body the next day dumped in the garbage, his throat cut out, his genitals cut off."

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All the LGBT Iraqis interviewed for Gay Life After Saddam maintained that life was easier for them when Saddam Hussein was in power, from 1979 to 2003. Some spoke fondly of an underground gay culture that flourished before the war in Baghdad.

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I am left again pondering whether or not the world might not be better off without religion all together when I read stories such as this one.