[lbo-talk] Re: HRW on same-sexers in Iran

Aaron Shuman maruta_us at yahoo.com
Wed Aug 9 08:51:43 PDT 2006


Dear List:


> Debating Iran BY SCOTT LONG

Shall we add Auntie Scott to the lexicon alongside the sobriquet Uncle Tom?

AS: Wow. He's a researcher for Human Rights Watch, not a daily/weekly journalist, raising strong concerns about one journalist's sourcing while acknowledging the difficulties of obtaining and documenting such stories. What do you expect/want from him?


> We want to frame the issues not in terms of "gay
rights" but as struggles for privacy, women's rights, and an end to executions.

So women still have rights that need to be fought for, but gays do not. Auntie Scott has achieved from the left what the right has been working toward for decades: the disapperance of gays.

AS: I agree with you that this is bad. The rest of your post seems like an overreaction to me. His concluding concern about gay and lesbians in Muslim countries serving as cannon fodder for the West's battles is real; remember Laura Bush spinning Afghanistan as a war to liberate Afghani women? Do you know about the queer call to boycott World Pride Day in Israel? http://www.boycottworldpride.org

The concern about GLBTQ rights being used as a political football is real. aaron


> In the process we hope to support lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender Iranian asylum-seekers with reliable facts.

So helping queers is now just a sidebar. If they are helped, great. If not, well that was not our main concern anyway.


> Rage must be tempered by responsibility, though.

I bet he hated ACT UP.

Brian Dauth Queer Buddhist Resister

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