Petrelis Files

BBC Airs 'Gay Life After Saddam' on July 5;
Includes White House Reaction

The producer of this radio documentary alerted me today that the BBC will broadcast the important story on Sunday. I intend to listen to it and hope lots of gays and human rights activists around the world also tune in.

Producer Ashley Byrne says to try this BBC link for the one-hour program, and the show may also be accessed at this link, after it airs.

I'm particularly interested in learning what the White House had to say about the torture and murder of gay Iraqis. Just one of many good reasons to hear what the BBC has to report.

Excerpts from the news release:

In Gay Life After Saddam, Aasmah Mir finds out how life for the country's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community (LGBT) has got much worse since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Human rights campaigners claim hundreds of LGBT people have been killed or tortured while others have fled the country fearing for their safety since Saddam was toppled from power six years ago ...

Producer Ashley Byrne says: "The programme includes an interview with a gay Iraqi who was kidnapped and raped before fleeing the country, we hear from a young man who fled to Paris after being tortured and we get exclusive access to a so-called 'safe house' harbouring vulnerable LGBT Iraqis on the outskirts of Baghdad." ...

Co-Producer Gail Champion says: ... "What surprised me more than anything was how much life was easier for LGBT people under Saddam Hussein." ...

Throughout, the programme asks what the West should do and it includes reaction from the White House and the Foreign Office in London ...

Gay Life After Saddam, BBC Radio 5 Live, 7.00-8.00pm, Sunday 5 July 2009