Iraq's Gay Life
By Afif Sarhan, IOL Correspondent
BAGHDAD — Gay life is thriving in post-invasion Iraq with many places becoming openly homosexual-friendly amid efforts by social groups and religious leaders to reverse the trend.
"The gay community in Iraq is increasing despite the fear from extremists," Salahdinne Abdullah al-Rabia’a, a social worker in the capital Baghdad, told IslamOnline.net.
Contrary to reports that homosexuals are going underground, gays are reportedly gaining choices and places in the war-torn country.
In the first years after the US-led invasion, militant attacks had led gays to go into hiding.
But now, nearly seven years, gay life is taking some roots with central Baghdad emerging as their popular meeting point.
With very few money, as cheep as US $3, gay couples are able to spend hours in hotels with no worries of attacks or security arrests.
Cinemas, taverns and specific corners are the new havens for homosexuals, particularly males.
"I have to allow such sexual behaviors in my place because if I don’t, I will be forced to close my business due to the lack of clients," argues Abu Ruwaida, a cinema owner in downtown Baghdad.
"They are adults and have their social and religious conscious. If someone will punish them, it will be God and not me."
Homosexuality is totally prohibited in Islam as well as in all divine religions.
Islam teaches that believers should neither do the obscene acts, nor in any way indulge in their propagation.
Business
Some homosexuals, such as Tarik Kammar, are even turning this into a business.
Kammar, not his real name, spends hours standing at the corners of central Baghdad streets looking for clients who usually drive slowly around the roads looking for gay prostitutes.
"I’m gay but what drove me into prostitution was the unemployment in Iraq," said the 26-year-old, adding that he is paid between 5-15 dollars.
"Most of my clients are old men who are married and with kids. They don’t speak much but the ring shines," he said.
"The obligation to get married turns many gay men into betrayers, taking the risk to catch a disease outside and transmit it to their wives."
Like others in his profession, Kammar is unfazed by neither police crackdowns nor by militant attacks.
Since January, 25 boys and men were killed in Baghdad because they were, or were perceived to be, gay, according to Baghdad’s police.
"It is a risk, but like me, many others are taking."
The rise of gays activity in Iraq is alarming religious leaders.
"It is clear in the holy book that homosexual behaviors are unacceptable," Sheikh Abdel-Rahman Abdun, the imam of Rahim mosque in Baghdad, told IOL.
Many scholars have raised their concerns and have been alerting followers at Friday prayers to look after their sons and protect them from such behaviors.
"A good religious education will prevent such kind of behaviors," Abdun believes.
"It is our obligation to reinforce the subject and prevent that depravation from turning into a common practice in this Muslim country."
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/...59274437&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout
