Subscribe to Breaking NewsState Dept. condemns Iraq anti-gay violence
The United States officially condemned anti-gay violence in Iraq yesterday (read the great post by Waymon Hudson over at Bilerico).
U.S. State Dept. spokesperson Ian Kelly, when questioned by reporters about anti-gay violence in Iraq, said:
Human rights training is also a very important part of our and other international donors’ civilian capacity-building efforts in Iraq. And the US embassy in Baghdad has raised, and will continue to raise, the issue with senior officials from the government of Iraq, and has urged them to respond appropriately to all credible reports of violence against gay and lesbian Iraqis.”
Amnesty International says that said that “as many as 25 boys and men have been killed in Baghdad alone because they were either gay or believed to be amid concerns that religious leaders may be inciting violence against Iraq’s gay community,” The Times of India reports.
If you want to defend the rights of others you need to be a role-model for what you expect from others. The U.S. State Department is essentially telling a country to respect their GLBT citizens when the good U.S. of A. is still treating us like second-class citizens. I’m very sure that Iraq will take the State Department seriously.
I totally agree with many other comments. Why would any other country listen to the US preach about anti gay problems when as a country we do not treat our own gay population as equals.
Every other time in recent memory when we’ve invaded/meddled on a spurious pretext, we at least had the decency to receive people from the targeted state as refugees and/or immigrants. Not so Iraq.
I went to school with a girl whose family left Iraq in the 70s. She’s as American as I, but other Iraqis deserve the same option her family had. When the US takes a million refugees from a country (like Vietnam), then we stateside Americans get a good view of who we invaded and what we did. And that seems to be the point–whether they’re Kurdish, Sunni, or Shi’ia, keep ‘em Over There so nobody will question this insane flat-earth war.
It was very clear that various militias were using the US invasion as the pretext to hunt down gays. Remember that even under Saddam, Iraq was culturally a very secular country. We took that away and chose to deal with people based on religion. We destroyed Ba’ath and made all Ba’ath members resign their jobs, which we (Allies) DID NOT do in the Western Occupation Zones in Germany (which is part of how Rommel’s son became a popular mayor of Stuttgart).
Bush sent Iraqi gays to a random but likely slaughter. Obama is continuing the tradition. The dimwit has an excuse, but Obama does not; on an international stage, there are those who would consider him more culpable for this moral failure PRECISELY BECAUSE he is smarter and has a more incisive mind.
The violence happening to LGBT people in america is bad, and needs to stop, but at least LGBTs in america HAVE A LEG TO STAND ON legally. Not so in iraq/iran.
Our state department is only NOW becoming aware of the murder of non-heterosexuals in the Middle East? PLEEAASE! The media (uh – GLBT…wonder why only WE are concerned about this? Anything to do with FAMILY?) has carried numerous reports of the hangings and mutilations of GLBT persons in the countries in which WE are spending GOBS of $$$$ to protect and develop SOME sense of democracy and equality! DISRACTION: THIS is a “bread and circus” distraction from OUR OWN inequality. GET A CLUE: OUR government has not got the BALLS to address and CORRECT its own practices of CITIZENS’ INEQUALITY. It is OKAY to look elsewhere to voice a concern and state a PRINCIPLE ABOUT THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF ALL HUMAN BEINGS….but, not HERE in the USA! Oh, forget SOUTH AFRICA, MR. Obam-i-nation! FORGET your PROMISES in your INAUGURAL SPEECH! HYPOCRITE!You, and those who support you, are deceivers. Hillary, and your staff, stop the propaganda and the empty rhetoric. The voices and lives of those GLBT PERSONS have effectively been silenced. You and Bill – who signed DOMA! – are dung!
Does anybody seriously think that they are going to make an issue of this? “In general we like, seriously, don’t like, um violence and like stuff?!” If they were going to do something, they WOULD BE DOING IT. Don’t expect any more than what you are getting now. You will only be disappointed.
How has our “Yes We Can” – “Audacity of Hope” President become the world’s foremost promoter of discrimination at home, but has the “audacity” to criticize other countries for doing the same thing? Not at all meant in a racist way, but this Boy has forgotten his roots!
Does it matter if we “hang” the careers and life’s ambitions of Gay and Lesbian service people yet oppose “violence” against gays? In my mind, in my heart, in my soul, lynchings of blacks, DADT and GLBT hate crimes are all cut from the same cloth. With each passing day, I become more and more disappointed with Obama.
More lip service from the Obama administration.
They do nothing for us, they just flap their jaws. The gay community has nothing but praise for them.
While Obama’s people flap their jaws on this they are filing against us in the US Supreme Court.
OBAMA HATES GAYS. LEARN IT.
John – Which is exactly why I trusted Hillary far more than Obama in terms of her honest support of GLBT rites. To date, he has been words, she has been action. I’ll take actions over words any day.
Apparently, Hillary’s State Department didn’t get the White House memo on ignoring the gays. Offering domestic partners benefits to her subordinates and now this? What is going on here?
It almost sounds like she thinks she’s a Democrat. Well, I’m sure our “fierce advocate” president will put a stop to these progressive shennanigans soon enough. He has already filed a brief in federal court to defend DADT and DOMA because…that’s what “firece advocates” do.
our own, not out own
Well I’m glad they are fighting for gay rights over there. I hope that they know that GLB,T? soldiers here in America, don’t have any equal rights we can call out own. So yippee yay, over there, but what about here in the good ol U.S.A.
It is often said that the killings are of “LGBT Iraqis,” but it’s my understandings that all the people killed have in fact been gay men.
oh? so they want to enforce it in iraq but not in america? Austin thinks equality in america is all about gay marriage? what crap! as a gay transgender women living in redneck kentucky, i got bashed nearly to death lastyear by two rednecks that were not charged with anything and then i got stuck paying all the medical bills on top of that. almost a year later i still have pain in my chest and left shoulder that gets so bad sometimes i cant even move. austin, you make me sick to sit there and say all we want or need is gay marriage. austin, you are really full of it or just dont know any better. there are only 11 states that have somekind of hate crime protection for trannies but i guess we dont count. lgbt`s are bashed and killed in america all the time. dont you read austin? even in kentucky we read about hate crimes and discrimination and have to also live with it because there is not law to help stop it. i have to watch my back eveywhere i go while trying to ignore the threats and verbal attacks from random rednecks. im sure i will be out of here soon but i dont think that will come soon enough. austin you leave a really bad right-wing taste in my mouth thats for sure! have a nice day!
This is unfortunate for [them]. Although, should they not feel welcomed in their home land, and fear being outed and persecuted. Here in America, we enjoy a much better standard of living, and would welcome them to find the safety, and security that comes with knowing we live in a free and democratic society.
I for one, would take a couple in to my care, and offer amnesty in my home, until the freedom and democracy GWB\DC promised we would do, and they would eventually realize – as we realize here in America. The shallow face of ignorance will not over come the face of freedom, if we only believe that all men are created equally, and the right hand of justice will prevail: in the end.