Petrelis Files

Islam Online: Iraqi Gays Thriving
Baghdad Blogger Says

Afif Sarhan, Iraqi Writer

[I apparently made a mistake here. Afif says in the comments that he is Brazilian, not Iraqi. I stand corrected.]

I couldn't have thought of more radical look at what life is supposedly like for Iraqi gays than this report, written by a young male journalist from the war-torn capital, who says the situation isn't as dire as we've been told.

The piece presents a totally different view of gay life in Iraq than has been reported by ABC News, the NY Times, CNN, a few NGOs, and many gay refugees who've managed to get out of Iraq.

I don't put much stock in the writer's overall take, so at odds with the media and NGOs, but select elements he writes about - the gathering spots for gays, quotes from a hustler and a cinema owner - ring true, as best I can tell from San Francisco.

The writer, Afif Sarhan, blogs from Baghdad, about the the continuing U.S. occupation and the war's impact on his country. He also had a piece about the selling of Iraqi babies in the Guardian back in April.

Excerpts from Sarhan's story for IslamOnline.com:

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. ...

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. ...