Petrelis Files

State Dept's Gay Iraqi Files
FOIAed by Reporter

A veteran reporter for an East Coast gay newspaper, through a Freedom of Information Act request, has obtained the State Department's full file, up to September 2007, on the human rights abuses and deaths of LGBT citizens of Iraq.

I was asked to look at the documents, agreeing not to reveal the contents or share the PDFs, and makes some comments about what the department has released.

Wish I could give more info, but I made a promise to the reporter and I'm keeping it.

But I want to beat the drum about the pending publication of his story, along with making the State files open for public inspection, to build interest in the story, and remind the USA LGBT community, and Gay Inc in particular, we owe the LGBT people of Iraq and those seeking refuge in other countries a lot more than our paltry response up to now.

We need HRC, GLAAD, NGLTF and all other Gay Inc groups with a human rights focus to make statements condemning the violence, pressure the State Department to grant asylum status to gay refugees wanting to come to America, staging vigils and protests, and raising funds for our refugee brothers and sisters.

The reporter with the State Department's files told me this afternoon his piece and the files hit the web in the next few days.