Homophobia, Attacks on Gays Increasing in Muslim World

Bearded men kidnapped him in the center of Baghdad, threw him into a dark hole, chained him up, urinated on him, and beat him with an iron pipe. But the worst moment for Hisham, 40, came on the fourth day of his ordeal, when the kidnappers called his family. He was terrified they would tell his mother that he was gay and that this was the reason they had kidnapped him. If they did, he would never be able to see his family again. The shame would be unbearable for them. "Do what you want to me, but don't tell them," he screamed. Instead of humiliating him in the eyes of his family, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of $50,000, a huge sum for the average Iraqi family. His parents had to go into debt and sell all of their son's possessions in order to raise the money required to secure his freedom. Shortly after they received the ransom, the kidnappers threw Hisham out of their car somewhere in the northern part of Baghdad. They had decided not to shoot him. But they sent him on his way with a warning: "This is your last chance. If we ever see you again, we'll kill you." Full Story from Salon.com: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/09/18/gay_muslim/

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