locaust Remembrunce Day - April 18
iiorth
& sout
CAROLIN
(Hiving:
Dining In, Dining Out?
noted . notable . noteworthy GLBT issues
Lily Tomlin on life and
everything else
ONLINE
■ Should American
forces be held accountable
for refusing to protect
M|f|^:^gay‘^fraqis?
. yes . no
Next Issue:
Queer Arts & Artists
VOLUME 20 . ISSUE 24
SINCE 19S4 WWW.Q-NOTES.COM
APRIL 8.2004
Iraqi death squads slaughtering gays
Ayatollah All al-Sistani
orders killings
by Doug Ireland
A gay man identified only as Ammar was
abducted and shot in the back of the head in
January 2006.
Following a death-to-gays fatwa issued last
October by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani death
squads of the Badr Corps have been systemat
ically targeting gay Iraqis for persecution and
execution, gay Iraqis say. But when they ask for
help and protection from U.S. occupying
authorities in the “Green Zone,” gay Iraqis are
met with indifference and derision.
“The Badr Corps is committed to the ‘sex
ual cleansing’ of Iraq,” says Ali Hili, a 33-
year-old gay Iraqi exile in London. Hili fled to
the U.K. five months ago with some 30 other
gay Iraqis who founded the Abu Nawas
Group there to support persecuted gay Iraqis.
The well-armed Badr Corps is the military
arm of the Iranian-backed Supreme Council
of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the
powerful Shia group that is the largest politi
cal formation in Iraq’s Shia community,
which was headquartered in Tehran until
Saddam Hussein's fall.
The Ayatollah Sistani, the
77-year-old Iranian-born
cleric who is the supreme
Shia authority in Iraq, is
revered by SCIRI as its spiritu
al leader. His anti-gay fatwa
says that “people involved” in
homosexuality “should be
killed in the ■ worst, most
severe way of killing.”
Speaking by telephone
from London, the Abu Nawas
Group’s Hili said, “there is a
very, very serious threat to life
for gay people in Iraq today.
The Badr Corps was killing
gay people even before the
Ayatollah’s fatwah, but
Sistani’s murderous homo-
phobic incitement has given a
green light to all Shia Muslims
to hunt and kill lesbians and
gay men.”
Hili says”Badr Corps agents have a network
of informers who, among other things, target
alleged ‘immoral behavior.’ They kill gays,
unveiled women, prostitutes, people who sell
or drink alcohol, and those who listen to west
ern music and wear
western fashions.
“Badr militants are
entrapping gay men via
internet chat rooms.
They arrange a date and
then beat and kill the
victim. Males who are
unmarried by the age of
30 or 35 are placed
under surveillance on
suspicion of being gay,
as are effeminate men.
They will be investigat
ed and warned to get
married. Badr will typi
cally give them a month
to change their ways. If
they don’t change their
behavior, or if they fail to
show evidence that they
plan to get married, they
will be arrested, disap
pear and eventually be found dead. The bodies
are usually discovered with their hands bound
see SHIA on 13
Shia death squads — following the
orders of Ali Al Sistani — are murder
ing gays and lesbians in Iraq.
Charlotte Business Guild to host
Food Lion CEO Rick Anicetti
Local LGBT biz guild reaching out to
mainstream companies
by Bert Woodard
The Charlotte Business Guild
(CBG) is not only growing in mem
bership, but also in stature in terms
of reaching out to the Charlotte
region’s mainstream business com
munity. Just recently. Guild officials
met with Charlotte Chamber offi
cials about nurturing a relationship
between the two organizations. Bob
Morgan, new president of the
Chamber, will speak at the
September CBG meeting.
The April Guild meeting
also represents a major step
forward for the Guild, with
Food Lion CEO Rick Anicetti speaking.
Anicetti becomes the first CEO of a major
corporation to speak to the Guild.
“Under Rick Anicetti’s leadership. Food Lion
is not only making great strides as a company,
but the company is also working to make the
company a more inviting, tolerant place to work
for all its employees,” said CBG President Kelley
Doherty. “Food Lion has joined Bank of America,
Wachovia, Duke Energy and The Compass
Group as examples for other companies and
Food Lion CEO
corporations'to follow in creating a workplace
that is truly open and nurturing,'which we all
know results in more productivity and better
results for the company and its investors.”
The Guild will also wel
come members of Food Lion’s
LGBT employees association
— Food Lion, LLC, Business
Resource Group — and other
Food Lion employees.
“We have had several Food
Lion employees join the Guild
and look forward to a strong rela
tionship between the company
and the Business Guild,” Doherty
continued. “To have the CEO of a
major Charlotte area corporation
Rick Anicetti.
be a special evening, for not only
Charlotte Business Guild members, but for Food
Lion’s LGBT employees.”
hlfO:
Tuesday, April 18
VanLondingham Estate, 2010 The Plaza, Plaza-Midwood
5:30- 8:30 p.m.
Cocktails and food, 5:30-7 p.m., Program from 7-8 p.m.
$15 for CBG members, $20 for guests and non-members
Reservation by noon on $unday, April 16 by emailing
businessguiid@yahoo.com or calling 704-565-5075.
Soldier's story
Things i miss
(ana things I won't)
Editor's Note: These ore the thoughts of
a gay soldier —- a North jCarolina
native — who has been deployed to
Iraq. Because of the militaiy's "Don't
Ask, Don't Tell" policy, he must remain
anonymous.
By the time you read this article it
will be nearly time for me to come home
on leave. I’m not sure how this is going
to feel — life here and the pace back at
home will be dramatically different. I’m
looking forward to the time back at
home — there are so many things I miss
back there — and so many things I
won’t miss here.
I’m so tired of the same meals all the
see soldier's on 14