Severe Anti-Gay Atrocities Occurring in Iraq

Yes, the image above is shocking. But we need to see the fruits of the USA's handy work in Iraq. After spending billions of dollars and squandering thousands of American military service members' lives during Chimperator Bush's fool's errand in Iraq, human rights atrocities continue to occur in Iraq and - as always seems to be the case - LGBT individuals seem to be suffering more acutely than many other citizens. In the latest information released by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission ("IGLHRC"), LGBT individuals are being targeted and murdered. Not surprisingly, little seems to be being done to stop the atrocities. Only a typical American Christianist or Middle Eastern Islamic extremist would revel in the brutal and ghastly murders of LGBT people. Here are highlights from a statement released by the IGLHRC:

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission has today received reports from Iraq of a wave of targeted killings of individuals who are perceived to be gay or lesbian. According to Iraqi human rights activists, in early February 2012, an unidentified group posted death threats against "the adulterous individuals" in the pre-dominantly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad and Basra. The threats gave the individuals, whose names and ages were listed, four days to stop their behavior or else face the wrath of God, and were to be carried out by the Mujahedin. According to sources inside Iraq, as the result of this new surge of anti-gay violence close to 40 people have been kidnapped, brutally tortured and murdered.

The Iraqi authorities have neither responded to this targeted violence nor have they publically denounced it. It is widely believed that these atrocities are being committed by a group of the Shiite militia.

In 2009 vigilantes murdered hundreds of Iraqi individuals for their perceived sexual orientation. There are no excuses for such heinous human rights violations. We demand that the Iraqi Government put a stop to the wanton persecution and killing of gay people, and that the perpetrators punished.

We call on the Iraqi authorities to immediately intervene to protect the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and to bring to justice those who are responsible for these atrocities. We particularly demand the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights denounce the anti-gay violence in Iraq and launch an official investigation into these heinous crimes.

Yet Another Faux Christian Martyr - Jennifer Keeton

It looks like there may be another Carrie Prejean out to use false allegations of anti-Christian prejudice to boost her celebrity. This time the self-made martyrdom is taking place at Augusta State University in Georgia. One Jennifer Keeton, a graduate student in the school of counseling, is claiming that she was persecuted and threatened with expulsion if she did not sacrifice her religious beliefs and complete a remediation plan that includes diversity sensitivity workshops. Ms. Keeton has been most vocal in braying her view that homosexuality is "immoral and a lifestyle choice." Frankly, if those are Keeton's views, she needs to be expelled from a program that would giver her a graduate degree and unloose her on an unsuspecting public. EVERY legitimate medical and mental health association holds that homosexuality is NOT a choice, is not changeable and the APA has condemned ex-gay therapy as unethical. If Ms. Keeton wants to be a licensed professional in this field, she needs to embrace scientific knowledge or find a different area of endeavor where she will not be likely harming patients. Personally, I am way over supposed professionals wrapping themselves in ignorant religious based bigotry and then playing the martyr. Here are highlights from the Atlanta Constitution:
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A graduate student has filed a lawsuit accusing Augusta State University officials of violating her constitutional rights by ordering her to change her views opposing homosexuality.
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Jennifer Keeton, a graduate student in the school of counseling, says in her court filing that the school threatened to expel her if she didn't complete a remediation plan that includes diversity sensitivity workshops. Keeton had said in and out class that, according to her Christian beliefs, homosexuality is immoral and a lifestyle choice, according to her suit.
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Keeton is represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, a coalition of Christian attorneys. The suit accuses Augusta State officials of violating Keeton's First Amendment rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion.
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Keeton, who is pursuing a master's degree in the education college's counseling program, was told her beliefs are incompatible with the prevailing views of the counseling profession, her attorneys said in a news release. The lawsuit argues those beliefs would not affect Keeton's ability to counsel gays and lesbians.
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The defense fund has filed similar lawsuits against Missouri State University and Eastern Michigan University.
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There is no explanation as to why Keeton is in graduate school when a good Christian woman should be barefoot and pregnant and not working outside the home if her alleged religious beliefs were applied to their logical conclusion. Oh, and no word yet on whether Keeton has fake boobs or has made sex videos like Prejean.

The Lame Good Bye

Maureen Dowd has another excellent column in the New York Times that rightly trashes the Chimperator and the disaster that he has left as his legacy for the country on so many fronts. The man is an embarrassment and sadly he still he cannot admit his errors. Back before the launch of the ill-conceived Iraq War I e-mailed friends that I thought the war a huge mistake and that I believed the Chimperator's hubris and brain dead type of religious belief would be his downfall and huge risk to the nation. Unfortunately, I was correct and one can only hope that the majority of Americans have learned the lesson to never put an incurious, "born again Christian" in the White House. Here are highlights from Dowd's column:

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As Barack Obama got to town, one of the first things he did was seek the counsel of past presidents, including George Bush senior. As W. was leaving town, one of the last things he did was explain why he never sought the counsel of his father on issues that his father knew intimately, like Iraq and Saddam.

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When W. admits the convoluted nature of his relationship with his father, diminishing a knowledgeable former president to the status of a blankie, you realize that, despite all the cocky swagger we’ve seen, this is not a confident man. That is vividly apparent as we watch W. and Obama share the stage as they pass the battered baton. One seems small and inconsequential, even though he keeps insisting he’s not; the other grows large and impressive, filling Americans with cockeyed hope even as he warns them not to expect too much too soon.

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W.’s parlous presidency, spent trashing the Constitution, the economy and the environment, was bound up, and burdened by, the psychological traits of an asphyxiated and pampered son. . . . W. was immune to doubt and afraid of it. (His fear of doubt led to the cooking of war intelligence.) Obama is delighted by doubt. It’s astonishing that, as banks continue to fail and Americans continue to lose jobs and homes, W. was obtuse enough to go on TV and give a canned ode to can-do-ism. “Good and evil are present in this world,” he reiterated, “and between the two of them there can be no compromise.”

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His decisions have been, for the most part, disastrous. If he’d paid as much attention to facts as fitness, 9/11, Iraq, the drowning of New Orleans, the deterioration in Afghanistan and the financial deregulation orgy could have been prevented. . . . Right now, though, it’s a huge relief to be getting an inquisitive, complicated mind in the White House. W. decided there was no need to be president of the whole country. He could just be president of his base.