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6 Iraqi Gays Slain Amid Religious Clampdown

By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 4, 2009 6:57 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Iraqi authorities have recovered the bodies of six gay men slain since sermons condemned homosexuality at prayer meetings in Sadr City, Reuters reports. "They were sexual deviants," said a Sadr City official. "Their tribes killed them to restore their family honor." Homosexuality is more common in the city since government forces wrested control from the Mehdi Army over the past year, residents say.

Rumor has it one coffee shop attracts a gay clientele in Sadr City, where more men dress in a Western style because religious gangs no longer patrol the streets. While homosexuality can still garner a 7-year prison sentence in Iraq, not all residents side with the murderers. "If they've committed a crime, then there is the law," said a gay Iraqi man. "Killing is a big sin."

A pilgrim displays a poster of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr as he marches to the holy city of Karbala, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq on Sunday, Aug. 26, 2007.
A pilgrim displays a poster of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr as he marches to the holy city of Karbala, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq on Sunday, Aug. 26, 2007.   (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Iraqi men deliver a car bomb victim to a morgue in east Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, Sept. 17, 2007.
Iraqi men deliver a car bomb victim to a morgue in east Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, Sept. 17, 2007.   (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
An Iraqi man walks the deserted streets of Sadr city on April 18, 2008 during a sandstorm in the Sadr city Shiite district in Baghdad, Iraq.
An Iraqi man walks the deserted streets of Sadr city on April 18, 2008 during a sandstorm in the Sadr city Shiite district in Baghdad, Iraq.   (Getty Images)
The body of a dead civilian is seen on Madina street close to the shrine of Imam Ali, on August 22, 2004 in Najaf Iraq.
The body of a dead civilian is seen on Madina street close to the shrine of Imam Ali, on August 22, 2004 in Najaf Iraq.   (Getty Images)
A young boy drinks a glass of milk next to a poster of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2007.
A young boy drinks a glass of milk next to a poster of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2007.   (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)
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COMMENTS
Showing 2 of 2 comments
riffran
Apr 5, 2009 5:09 AM CDT
no idea..maybe symbolic of orientation
Mad
Apr 5, 2009 2:45 AM CDT
In the picture accompanying this article, in the main billboard, is that body wrapped in a pink sheet? WTF?

 
Iraq • Sadr City • murder • homosexual • gays

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