Congressman on Iraq Brutality Against Gays

Rep. Jared Polis says "egregious human rights violations" carried out by "Ministry of Interior."

A few weeks ago I interviewed Ali Hili of Iraqi LGBT from London on the show. He was getting reports of impending executions of gay men by the government, arrested on trumped up charges, something that some people -- among them gay reporters and some human rights groups -- questioned, since homosexuality is technically not illegal, though that is in dispute. Brutal killings have for a while been underway by Shiite militias but there had not previously been any evidence of government order or sanction. But now openly gay Colorado Rep. Jared Polis, who will be on the show this afternoon, says differently after visiting Iraq. Journalist Rex Wockner interviewed Polis:

Of the five or six members of Iraqi LGBT who reportedly have been sentenced to
death in Baghdad for belonging to a supposedly banned organization, one has
escaped custody and one has been executed, says U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo.

According to Polis, the "egregious human rights violations" are "being carried
out by Iraqi government officials from the Ministry of the Interior."

"While I do not know if these executions are being sanctioned at the highest
levels of the Iraqi government, it is nonetheless disturbing that government
officials and state-funded security forces are involved in the torturing and
execution of LGBT Iraqis," Polis wrote to Patricia Butenis, the chargé
d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq....

...Reports of the pending executions were first brought to light by Iraqi LGBT founder Ali Hili, who launched the group in London after escaping Iraq.

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission also now reports on a new, horrific torture of gay men by militias involving gluing their anuses shut and inducing diarrhea. Abominable.

More on this on today's show, when I interview Polis, 3:30 ET.

Episcopal Church Splits over Homosexuality

The ordination of Bishop Gene Robinson and the overall increased acceptance of gays and lesbians in the Episcopal Church has finally led to an exit by the phobes to start their own homophobic nest of worship.

I won't pretend to truly understand the workings of any church, but my first response is, Don't slam the door on the way out:

Jim Naughton, canon for communications and advancement in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, and a liberal who frequently blogs on Anglican affairs, said he doubted that a rival Anglican province could grow much larger.

“I think this organization does not have much of a future because there are already a lot of churches in the United States for people who don’t want to worship with gays and lesbians,” he said. “That’s not a market niche that is underserved.”

Palin: Homosexuality is a "Choice"

Even if her "best friend" made that "choice," it's a a "choice," and she's not going to "judge" people on that "choice" -- and what usually follows after that is, Just don't ask for special rights for your choice! How many times have we heard this one?

On Today's Show

We will of course get into Sarah Palin's speech and take your calls as well as review the rest of last night here at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, where we have been broadcasting live from Radio Row at the Xcel Center.

We'll also play my interviews with Rick Santorum, Bob Barr, Grover Norquist, Newt Gingrich, and, among others, Ken Blackwell (pictured here), the former Ohio secretary of state who lost his gubernatorial bid in 2006, and who compared gays to arsonists and kleptomaniacs, calling homosexuality a "transgression against God" and saying that gays "choose" their sexual orientation. He really was all over the place in his logic -- and just tried to weasel out of it - and you sometimes wonder if anyone has ever asked these people any challenging questions.

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