Rush to judgment feeds Islamophobia
Aug. 6th, 2005 12:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rktbecause i am really fucking tired of seeing OMG look at those cah-ray-zee f'reigners; let's look at ourselves a bit, shall we?
Rush to judgment feeds Islamophobia
Gay activists and HRC condemned the Iranian executions before learning the facts, smearing Muslims in the process.
Friday, August 05,
IN THE WAKE of the recent London bombings, the Western world has been propelled into another vicious cycle of revenge against Muslims and the Islamic world.
While mainstream media around the world have more accurately represented the outpouring of condemnation by Muslim organizations and institutions against the attacks in London, the gay and lesbian media in the U.S. have unfortunately succumbed once again to the false belief that Islam condones acts of violence, including suicide bombings, executions of civilians and even the killing of homosexuals.
On July 19, a number of exiled Iranian organizations reported that two teenagers — one age 18 and the other whose age is reported to be either 16 or 17 — were hanged in Iran, a country that President Bush infamously labeled as part of the “axis of evil.”
The news of this horrific execution was blasted across gay and lesbian media Web sites with pictures that depict the final moments of the teenagers as they were escorted to face their inevitable death.
On June 20, the largest gay political organization in the U.S., the Human Rights Campaign, called on Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to join in condemning the brutal killings in Iran and similar attacks on sexual and gender minorities in other countries.
Government officials in Sweden and the Netherlands announced they would halt any extraditions of gay people to Iran. OutRage, a queer political group in the U.K., even went so far as to call for the European Union to institute trade sanctions against Iran for its ongoing assault against sexual and gender minorities.
WHILE THESE WESTERN groups and governments rushed to the judgment that Iran was engaged in brutal oppression, very few took the time to research the details of the case or even consult with experts who deal regularly with such news.
It was almost a week later before we began to read more accurate accounts of why the teens were executed from international human rights groups like Amnesty International, the Human Rights Watch and the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission — all of which have contacts in Iran and ways to confirm such incidents from independent sources.
No one will ever know why these two young men were executed in Iran, but the hysteria surrounding the executions was clear enough and only fed a growing Islamophobia.
The graphic pictures that accompanied the news from Iran only added fuel to the fire for those who perceive Islam as a religion of violence and terror. By failing to investigate the case before calling for action, they unwittingly help perpetuate the cycle of violence against sexual and gender minorities in
countries like Iran.
THERE ARE TWO lessons to be learned from this tragic case:
The first is that Western organizations, queer and non-queer, must build connections with progressive groups on the ground in countries like Iran. While
many feminist groups and HIV/AIDS organizations have done a tremendous job in reaching out to sister organizations around the world, queer groups in the West have done comparatively little to become part of the growing international queer movement.
Apart from efforts of organizations like Amnesty International and its LGBT program, IGLRHC, the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice and the Human Rights Watch in the United States, very little effort has been made to educate Western gays about the real situation faced by sexual and gender minorities abroad.
Second, we must view our gay and lesbian liberation movement through a broader lens of social justice and human rights. While we condemn the executions of gay teens in Iran, we must remember that until March of this year, our own country was one of only five in the world that executed juvenile offenders.
While activists in the U.S. are quick to condemn executions in the Islamic world, we refuse to look at the issue of capital punishment as it applies to all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
The outlawing of capital punishment is not a “gay” issue, but it is a matter of social justice and human rights.
washington blade
x-posted
Rush to judgment feeds Islamophobia
Gay activists and HRC condemned the Iranian executions before learning the facts, smearing Muslims in the process.
Friday, August 05,
IN THE WAKE of the recent London bombings, the Western world has been propelled into another vicious cycle of revenge against Muslims and the Islamic world.
While mainstream media around the world have more accurately represented the outpouring of condemnation by Muslim organizations and institutions against the attacks in London, the gay and lesbian media in the U.S. have unfortunately succumbed once again to the false belief that Islam condones acts of violence, including suicide bombings, executions of civilians and even the killing of homosexuals.
On July 19, a number of exiled Iranian organizations reported that two teenagers — one age 18 and the other whose age is reported to be either 16 or 17 — were hanged in Iran, a country that President Bush infamously labeled as part of the “axis of evil.”
The news of this horrific execution was blasted across gay and lesbian media Web sites with pictures that depict the final moments of the teenagers as they were escorted to face their inevitable death.
On June 20, the largest gay political organization in the U.S., the Human Rights Campaign, called on Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to join in condemning the brutal killings in Iran and similar attacks on sexual and gender minorities in other countries.
Government officials in Sweden and the Netherlands announced they would halt any extraditions of gay people to Iran. OutRage, a queer political group in the U.K., even went so far as to call for the European Union to institute trade sanctions against Iran for its ongoing assault against sexual and gender minorities.
WHILE THESE WESTERN groups and governments rushed to the judgment that Iran was engaged in brutal oppression, very few took the time to research the details of the case or even consult with experts who deal regularly with such news.
It was almost a week later before we began to read more accurate accounts of why the teens were executed from international human rights groups like Amnesty International, the Human Rights Watch and the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission — all of which have contacts in Iran and ways to confirm such incidents from independent sources.
No one will ever know why these two young men were executed in Iran, but the hysteria surrounding the executions was clear enough and only fed a growing Islamophobia.
The graphic pictures that accompanied the news from Iran only added fuel to the fire for those who perceive Islam as a religion of violence and terror. By failing to investigate the case before calling for action, they unwittingly help perpetuate the cycle of violence against sexual and gender minorities in
countries like Iran.
THERE ARE TWO lessons to be learned from this tragic case:
The first is that Western organizations, queer and non-queer, must build connections with progressive groups on the ground in countries like Iran. While
many feminist groups and HIV/AIDS organizations have done a tremendous job in reaching out to sister organizations around the world, queer groups in the West have done comparatively little to become part of the growing international queer movement.
Apart from efforts of organizations like Amnesty International and its LGBT program, IGLRHC, the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice and the Human Rights Watch in the United States, very little effort has been made to educate Western gays about the real situation faced by sexual and gender minorities abroad.
Second, we must view our gay and lesbian liberation movement through a broader lens of social justice and human rights. While we condemn the executions of gay teens in Iran, we must remember that until March of this year, our own country was one of only five in the world that executed juvenile offenders.
While activists in the U.S. are quick to condemn executions in the Islamic world, we refuse to look at the issue of capital punishment as it applies to all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
The outlawing of capital punishment is not a “gay” issue, but it is a matter of social justice and human rights.
washington blade
x-posted
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no subject
Date: 2005-08-06 05:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-06 07:35 am (UTC)I fear for humanity.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-06 07:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-06 05:48 pm (UTC)i think i need some more sleep to make sure it isn't all a dream.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-06 05:48 pm (UTC)try
a better one from canada
365 gay article
no subject
Date: 2005-08-06 05:49 pm (UTC)i'm forgetful like that.