Skip to main contentOppression. That's what Bush says we're ultimately fighting against here, right? The right to break the world's enslaved citizens from the evil bonds created long ago to keep them straight, narrow and full of terror. And, if Chicken George gets his way, the U.S. will lead the charge into a new civilized age where everyone's free to watch Fear Factor without the fear of persecution. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!
But let's look at oppression, specifically of queers in the Middle East, and how it compares with queer rights here in the States.
First, the bad news, according to a survey done by the International Lesbian and Gay Association. Did you know one of our allies, Saudi Arabia, has such strict sodomy laws that homo acts carry a maximum penalty of death? That's right, death. Only four trustworthy Muslim men have to call you a fag,
and it's "Hello, Allah!"
In Iran, queers get to pick one of four ways to die: being hanged, stoned, cut in half by a sword or dropped from the highest perch.
Likewise, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates all have some sort of sodomy laws. But instead of death, you just get the horror of a prison stay à la Midnight Express.
But just who among you knew that until a recent shift by the secularly-minded Saddam Hussein, big, bad Iraq didn't bother itself with sodomy? Although this evil empire considers homosexuality taboo (really, what country doesn't?), Saddam's regime had no laws against it until he started playing the religion card for survival. According to a 2002 Amnesty International survey, Saddam has gotten in line with his Islamic brothers and now threatens homos with death. Suddenly playing the "good Muslim," Saddam has found in religion a convenient tool for retaining power. It's a lesson not lost on Christian politicians over here, whose states--including Bush's own Texas--still enforce age-old sodomy laws.
Speaking of enforcement (according to Paul Varnell in the Chicago Free Press, Oct. 17, 2001), while most Islamic countries, like their Christian counterparts, consider that "homosexual sex [is] indecent, degenerate, shameful, lust-driven and must be punished," there's also a flip side. Several interpretations of the Koran indicate "the desire for young men [by other men] seemed to be completely reasonable...and not immoral." Huh. That wishy-washy attitudes sounds an awful lot like the "don't ask, don't tell" policy over here.
So say we go to war, and say Bush does install a democratic regime that respects most human rights. Will the new Iraq simply get Texas' view of homosexuals? Will we continue to ignore the oppression in the Arab world?
If we continue to ignore the policies of this country and our allies toward homosexuals, then we are the ones truly oppressed.
Find the
website at www.actwin.com/ eatonohio/gay/world.htm .
A support group for gay, bi, trans and questioning dads meets the first Tuesday and third Wednesday of every month at 7 pm. Call 236- 8339 for meeting locations or visit www. thedadsgroup.com .
WWeek 2015