Armenian American reporter Lara Setrakian of ABC News about gay scene in Saudi Arabia and across Middle East

Armenian American reporter Lara Setrakian, "a one-woman ABC news bureau in Dubai", posted an extensive report on gay scene in Saudi Arabia and across Middle East:

Saudi Gay Scene: 'Forbidden, but I can't Help It'
Across the Middle East, Many Struggle With the Stigma of Homosexuality

[...] Homosexuality is illegal in Saudi Arabia, but the charge calls for four witnesses to make a case. Arrests by the religious police are far more arbitrary. In a recent case they apprehended one man at a Jeddah shopping mall, suspecting he was gay from his tight jeans and fitted shirt.

"I've been invited to private parties for gay men in Jeddah, but I never go because I know what would happen if we were caught," Samir told ABC News.

"Unless it's a VIP house -- if the party is at the home of one of the princes or one of the sheiks then you're protected."

In Saudi Arabia, where men and women are strictly separated, there is some space for gay life. Gay men can go cruising -- a term for picking up partners -- and socialize in male-only sections of cafes and restaurants. In line with sex-segregated social norms, gay lovers can often spend intimate time together without arousing suspicion.

But gays and lesbians in Saudi Arabia still need to accommodate the pressures of public life, in some cases pairing off to accommodate a freer lifestyle.

"There is a gay group of girls in Saudi looking for gay men to marry. It's the perfect solution," says Samir, adding that he wouldn't mind a lesbian wife of his own. [...]

More...

Online Freedom but With Entrapment Risks
Gay Web Sites Blocked in Many Arab Countries
U.S. Government Has Been Quiet About Gay Crackdown in Iraq
Small Space for Gay Pride

Famous transsexual Turkish singer sued for “alienating people from military service”

Turkey's penal code definitely does not suffer from the lack of articles restricting freedom of expression.

And it is not only that infamous article 301 on "denigrating Turkishness" which recently underwent cosmetic changes only. There is also article 318 on “alienating people from military service” under which a famous transsexual Turkish singer Bülent Ersoy is being sued now.

Bianet reports:

In a TV show during the Northern Iraq military operation, the famous singer Ersoy demanded “solution instead of death” and Bakırköy Public Prosecutor sues her for “alienating people from military service.”

The famous transsexual singer Bülent Ersoy is sued for “alienating people from military service.”

According to daily Taraf, the authorities decided to open a case against Ersoy for “alienating people from military service” after investigating her words regarding how she would not sent her son to someone else’s war, which were said during a TV show.

Her words which brought the case were: “If I had given birth to a child and someone sitting at a desk had said ‘You will do this, he will do that’, and I would have buried my child, would I accept that?”

According to the report mentioned above, Bakırköy Public Prosecutor Ali Çakır asked for three year prison sentence for Bülen Ersoy, claiming that she committed the crime of “alienating people from military service.” Not only that the public prosecutor did not see Ersoy’s explanations within the context of freedom of expression and critique, he also included her speech in the scope of article 318, which regulates the deed of “alienating people from military service”, found under the category of crimes committed against the national defense, and thus first asked for two year prison sentence.

Ersoy gave her statement to the Public Prosecutor Ali Çakır on March 14.

***

Turkey's gay magazine publishes 100th edition

On a more positive note, Turkey's first and only gay magazine “Kaos GL,” being produced for 15 years has been published for the 100th time (Turkish Daily News):

"The latest edition of the magazine includes articles and interviews by renowned personalities such as, Adnan Yıldız, Aksu Bora, Ayşe Düzkan, Kürşad Kahramanoğlu, Murathan Mungan, Tanıl Bora, Tuğrul Eryılmaz, Yıldırım Türker, Naim Dilmener and Zeynep Aksoy. They all contributed to the 100th edition.

  The magazine, which was just an eight-page photocopy when it was first published, has played an important role in drawing attention to the rights of homosexuals.

  The edition covers 100 songs, films and books that have an important place in homosexual culture. There is an interview with Hande Yener, the famous Turkish pop singer, who was chosen as Turkey's “gay icon” in a poll of Kaos GL readers. Letters from gay parents are also part of the content. "

*source of photo - Wikipedia

Iran did it again...

Iran, Iraq and that gay-hunt the Left keeps ignoring
By Gabriele Zamparini

"In Iran, we don't have homosexuals, like in your country." – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [see also here - Unzipped: Gay Armenia]

Iran did it again. Makvan Mouloodzadeh, 21 years old, was executed because homosexual. The Iran Lobby, so powerful within some quarters of the Western “Left” and the so-called “anti-war movement”, will once again try to justify this barbaric murder and repeat the lies of the Iranian theocracy: he was killed not because homosexual but because he was accused of rape. This time however the homophobic apologists on the “Left” will need to find a better excuse; Makvan “was accused of committing anal rape (ighab) with other young boys when he was 13 years old. However, at Mr. Mouloodzadeh's trial, all the witnesses retracted their pre-trial testimonies, claiming to have lied to the authorities under duress. Makvan also told the court that his confession was made under coercion and pleaded not guilty.”

Like canaries in a coal mine, homosexuals have always been the minority whose treatment in a society would detect the grade of freedom and tolerance within that society or the lack of them. Probably the most persecuted minority in most of the times, cultures and places [but ‘most’ doesn’t mean ‘all’], the attitude toward homosexuals is indicative of the state of that society in its whole. More...

*This report by The Cat's Dream cited also my post Gay death in Iraq: a desperate call for help

Gay death in Iraq: a desperate call for help

I know first-hand accounts on the fate of LGBT Iraqis. One of my close friends is gay Iraqi and through him I met some other members of the community in London. This rare documentary contains real life examples of recent persecutions and murders of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Iraq. The situation described there is horrific, to say the least. They desperately need our support. They desperately need support and attention of international community and international gay community. "We feel deserted by the international gay community. Few people seem to care about our fate," - say LGBT Iraqis.

Here is just a small excerpt from this chilling documentary about 'proud' confessions of a father who killed his son:

"I found out he was gay. I killed my son and now I am considered a hero by my friends. I hanged him in my house, in front of his brother to give an example to him and to prevent him from doing the same."

He was charged for murder but soon was released after his lawyer explained why he committed his crime. Apparently, new Iraqi constitution states that a person who commits the crime to restore the honour of the family should be exempt from the prosecution.

This short film entitled "Queer Fear - Gay Life, Gay Death in Iraq". After watching it you will understand that "Gay Life" part of the title is pretty much irrelevant here... (thanks UKGayNews for the link)



Read UKGayNews article on how you can help LGBT Iraqis here

Iraqi LGBT Needs Your Help

As I mentioned in my previous post on London Pride 2007, Gay Pride events in countries like England are not only a celebration of achievements but also an occasion to raise the issues of human rights abuses, discrimination and homophobia in many parts of the world. Among the most disadvantaged are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Muslims who live under the constant fear of being prosecuted and tortured in their countries. Some of them are brave enough to get organised and provide support to their compatriots.

Today I specifically want to mention Iraqi LGBT whose conditions were worsened to the impossible extent after the start of the war and now under the process of 'democratisation' of Iraq. Iraqi LGBT had a special stall in Trafalgar square in London during the rally which was a part of London Pride events. I had a chat with some of Iraqi activists and was introduced to the head of Iraqi LGBT organisation in Britain. The stories of survival and struggle they told sounded a bit surreal, but the sad reality is that they were real... They desperately need our help in order to continue the provision of support to LGBT Iraqis. Not only they communicate the information on human rights abuses to the outer world, they also provide individual LGBT people in Iraq with very practical help: refuge in the safer parts of Iraq, in relatively safe houses under the protection of special 'LGBT security'; efforts to help them seek refuge in neighbouring countries or asylum abroad and so on...

For more information and to help Iraqi LGBT, please visit their site here

Here is a copy of leaflet distributed by Iraqi LGBT activists during the London Pride: