Gay Rights Are Human Rights

While motivated by recent anti-gay incidents in South Africa, the Los Angeles Times has an editorial that makes the argument that needs to be thrown in the face of anti-gay politicians and professional Christians who are little more than the daily purveyors of hate and ignorance: gay rights are human rights and that those who oppose gay rights are opposed to human rights. I'm sorry, but too much hate, violence and misery have been the principal fruits of religion - I suspect religion has ruined more lives than it has bettered - to continue to give bigots a free pass to spew lies, untruths and bigotry. The Christianist version of "religious freedom" ends when it tramples on the civil rights of others. Here are column highlights:
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When it comes to gay rights, South Africa is something of a paradox. Legally progressive, the country allows gay marriage and, in its Constitution, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Gay groups flourish — soccer clubs and church organizations included — and middle-class gay men and women live relatively openly.
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But in some parts of the country, particularly in rural areas and townships, the progressive laws collide with deeply traditional views of homosexuality as un-African and as an import from the decadent West.
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The violence in South Africa is a reminder that the struggle for gay rights is a global one. A gay rights demonstration in Moscow was disrupted last month by counter-protesters, and Russian security forces detained people from both sides of the protest. In Jamaica, homophobic lyrics in dancehall music have been blamed for violent attacks on gay people.
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On the other hand, some countries have progressed further faster. A decade ago, the Netherlands became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage. Since then, nine more have followed — and the U.S. was not one of them.
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[A]s in South Africa, paradoxes exist. Although the United States has made much progress on gay rights, Human Rights Watch last month picked American pastor Scott Lively, an outspoken critic of homosexuality, for its homophobia "Hall of Shame,"
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While the progress is encouraging, the brutal violence in South Africa is a reminder of how much still needs to be done worldwide to show not just governments but communities that equal protection for gay people is not a Western convention, not a modern fashion, but a human right.

Gay Men Attacked and Executed in Iraq

I have written on this topic several times previously and unfortunately it continues to appear that the USA's puppet government in Baghdad is doing NOTHING to stop the murder of gays. In fact, some reports indicate that some Iraqi government personnel may be involved in the atrocities. One can only wonder why the U.S. government - which after all is footing the bill to prop up the puppet regime - has failed to do anything concrete to stop the wanton slaughter of gays - who under Iraqi civil law are not barred from engaging in same sex relationships. Meanwhile, Iraqi Islamic clerics are stating that homosexuality must be eradicated - apparently by killing all Iraqi gays. This unfortunately is what happens when when the right to freedom of religion for all is subordinated to the demands of religious extremists. Here are some highlights from CNN:
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Hundreds of gay men have been tortured and killed in Iraq in recent months, some by the nation's security forces, Human Rights Watch said Monday. Interviews with doctors indicate hundreds of men had been killed, but the exact number was unclear because of the stigma associated with homosexuality in Iraq, the New York-based watchdog group said in its report.
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"Iraq's leaders are supposed to defend all Iraqis, not abandon them to armed agents of hate," said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "Turning a blind eye to torture and murder threatens the rights and life of every Iraqi."

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Iraqi officials acknowledged that the nation's culture stigmatizes homosexuality, but said the government does not condone such attacks. Authorities are unable to provide homosexuals with special protection, said government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh. According to Human Rights Watch, which is urging a government crackdown, attackers target people on the streets or storm homes, where they conduct interrogations and demand names of suspected gay men.

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Many end up in hospitals and morgues, the organization said, basing its conclusion on reports from doctors. Men have been threatened with "honor killings" by relatives worried that their "unmanly behavior" will ruin the family's reputation, Human Rights Watch said.

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Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which is active in Sadr City, has joined in the attacks and defends its actions as a way to stop the "feminization" of Iraqi men, the report said. "We have testimony that indicates that the nation's security forces are taking part in the attacks," Long said. The group interviewed more than 50 people who gave accounts of abuses, beatings and stops at security checkpoints, he said.
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"When the gay killings started and when they started go(ing) after them at checkpoints ... we started to change our look," said Basim, who also used a pseudonym. "These killings point to the continuing and lethal failure of Iraq's post-occupation authorities to establish the rule of law and protect their citizens," said Rasha Moumneh, Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch.

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Stories like this one make me physically sick and once again wonder if the world might not be better off devoid of religion.