"Emo" and gay kids targeted, killed in Iraq (warning graphic content).

[Rowdyboy]

9. Now I live openly and freely in Mississippi, a cesspool of bigotry and hatred, but Iraq is different

Last edited Tue Mar 13, 2012, 02:03 AM - Edit history (1)

Here, even if someone wanted to, no one is likely to beat my head in with concrete blocks for being gay. Could happen certainly but the odds aren't high.

If I lived in Iraq today I would probably be as far back in the closet as I was in reality growing up in the Mississippi of the 1960's. I was a coward then and I would be a coward in Iraq today. Faced with a totally hostile society that threatened my life I'm afraid I would fold-I would not put my life on the line in order to freely express my sexuality.

Rereading this I see very clearly how contradictory it is from the philosophy of great men like Martin Luther King and the heroes of Stonewall-people I greatly respect for leading the way to my ability to live openly and freely in Mississippi in 2012. The inconsistency is glaring but the truth is the truth. Not all people are cut out to be heroes.

I'm not sure what the answer is, or even if there is one-but I hurt for the poor kids stuck in that particular nightmare and wish there was a way to help.