Stop the Execution of Gay Iraqi Men

Public Statement & Action Alert from

Metropolitan Community Churches

www.MCCchurch.org . info@MCCchurch.net



MCC Moderator Calls for U.S. Government

Response to Recent Murders of Iraqi Gay Men

MCC's Wilson Calls on People of Goodwill Everywhere

to Speak Out on Behalf of Iraqi Gay Citizens



April 8, 2009

Remarks by

The Reverend Nancy L. Wilson

MCC Moderator


Last week, while Sweden announced plans to initiate marriage equality for its gay citizens, the states of Vermont and Iowa opened their civil marriage halls to gay and lesbian couples, and the District of Columbia proposed recognizing out-of-district marriages by gay couples, at least 20 boys and men suspected of being gay were murdered in Iraq. Some were executed by death squads, others by family members ashamed of the accusations against their sons and brothers.

The deaths of these men and boys represent a complex social phenomenon: the mixture of homophobia and religious bigotry, the importation of a campaign of torture and destruction from a neighboring nation, the result of poverty and living amidst the chaos of foreign invasion. Yet, none of those things can or must be allowed to justify the taking of human life.

The daily death rates in Iraq are high, often in the hundreds, because of the ongoing war. Though it may be difficult to fully comprehend the degree of escalation these executions represent in that context, the overall threat to freedom and equality, for which so many have given their lives, must not be skirted.

The reported executions of boys and men suspected of being gay are the result of campaigns of persecution and torture that deliberately target communities and families on the basis of perceived difference. The acceptance, tolerance and protection of difference is the basis of a free and just society and world order.

In March of this year, U.S. President Obama announced the United States would reverse its previous course and sign the United Nations Statement on “Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity,” joining 66 other United Nations member states in condemning human rights violations based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Robert Wood, Acting Department Spokesperson for the Bureau of Pubic Affairs at the U.S. Department of State said, “The United States is an outspoken defender of human rights and critic of human rights abuses around the world. As such ... we will continue to remind countries of the importance of respecting the human rights of all people...

The time has come for the world community to remind Iraq of the importance of respecting the human rights of its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens.

On April 1, 2009, U.S. President Obama announced a decision to again reverse course and seek a seat for the United States on the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Change is possible. It comes when people of goodwill honor their commitments to speak up for the importance of equally valuing and protecting all life.

Today, as Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches, a movement of faith founded on the belief that diversity is the defining hallmark of the divine plan in this world, I call on the U.S. government and its leaders, especially the President, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Members of the U.S. Congress, to be the voice of that “outspoken defender of human rights” around the world. I call upon the U.S. government to specifically, swiftly and strongly condemn the executions of gay people in Iraq, seeking the immediate assurance of Prime Minister Nuri Kamil al-Maliki and Minister of Human Rights Wajdan Mikhail Salam that the recent deaths will be investigated thoroughly and every measure taken to insure that this pogrom ceases.

Iraq, like all nations, must be safe for all its citizens. While many around the globe, as well as in Iraq itself, look to the day when Iraq will be a nation where people live freely and openly according to conscience, that day remains unimaginable for Iraq’s gay citizenry as long as fear, intimidation, violence and death remain constant threats.

The current U.S. President campaigned on the belief that none of us is free until all of us are free. Today I urge all who love freedom to contact President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton, demanding that they clearly and strongly denounce the latest executions of gay men in Iraq, and that they seek assurances from the Iraqi government that this persecution will end. The links below will help you do that.

St. Paul wrote that the joys of one are the joys of all; the sorrows of one, the sorrows of all. We are all the children of one God. Join me today in living from the power of that truth and acting for the well-being of our Iraqi sisters and brothers.

In faith and hope,

+Nancy

The Rev. Nancy L. Wilson

Office of the Moderator

Metropolitan Community Churches

WWW.MCCchurch.org



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C O N T A C T I N F O R M A T I O N:



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WRITE TO U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at:

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