Sad News From the Middle East

Yet again we are hearing more and more of the fall of LGBT rights in the middle east only this time you dont have to be gay to be hunted. Just as long as you look gay, sound gay, act gay, dress gay (flashy), dress modern or hang out/own a place were gay people just happen to hange out. These gangs are forcing normal people to discriminate or else face death. I wish Saddam was alive. We wanted him dead for what he had done in the past, but others wanted him dead so they could begin their view of the future.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2009-07-28-gays-in-iraq_N.htm

 

"The militants "want to educate the society to accept killers on the street," al-Alusi says in an interview. "Why did Hitler start with gays? They are weak. They have no political cover. They have no legal cover.""

F*cking scary.

 

What? Discrimination! In the MIDDLE EAST?!
Holy cow! That's absolutely absurd! They form some of the most accepting cultures on the planet. Many of them are human rights activi-

Oh wait. No. It's a barbaric and overly religious place.
They hate gays? What else is new.

 

While it is sad and quite terrible, I'm not entirely surprised as developing countries tend to deal with their supposed "problems" in irrational ways apparently.

 

Though I am not surprised that this is going on, I am surprised at where this destructive path is going. Its not getting better or staying the same, it has gotten and is getting worse. Thats the surprise. The killing isnt surprising but killing those who are in support of lgbt people in that region, thats shocking. It sounds like Rawanda but on a whole diffrent scale.

 

Whoa whoa, stop.

You're all saying "The Middle East" and blanketing the whole area as if it were barbaric to live in. You're thinking of places like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq. So why can't you just SAY "Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq"?

I'm quarter Lebanese, and I grew up in the UAE. Have I been stoned to death? Approached by gangs every waking minute of my life in Dubai? Please, don't just refer to a whole generic area without knowing other countries' views to it. Yes, it's technically illegal in the UAE, but maybe you didn't know that the police generally turn a blind eye to it, and there is a very flourishing underground gay community there.

 

That's not what I meant, Lucy. My issue was with people who just take the WHOLE of the Middle East to be completely 100% bad.

Also, it really isn't like that. I know people SAY it is, but it isn't. I went to Desert Rock and I saw lezzer couples all over the place, I was actually pretty shocked! But did security do a thing? Nope. The car crash thing is related to full-out racism, not homophobia, and as for wearing skimpy clothes in malls, people do it all the damn time; which I think is incredibly distasteful given that they are GUESTS in a country that they have a choice to be in or not!

 

Ah yes, that's another point! I have many Muslim friends from when I lived in Dubai for 12 years, and the vast majority were remarkably polite, very enjoyable to be around, smart, compassionate, and generally lovely people. In fact, they were a whole lot nicer than most Westerners over there!

As for Israel...well the Lebanese side of me is originally Palestinian, so I won't start going into my opinion of Israel But yes, I believe it is getting fairer for homosexuals, but it does have a lot of..ahem...other faults, which we won't go into.