10/04/2007
Men Receive Public Lashing for Sodomy in Saudi Arabia
Sharia law carried out in Saudi Arabia, as two men receive the first set of 7,000 lashings for sodomy:
"The men, who were not identified, were meted out an unspecified number of lashes in public in the the southwestern city of Al-Bahah on Tuesday evening, the Al-Okaz daily reported. They were then returned to prison where they are to be held until the full punishment is completed, the newspaper added, without saying how many sessions this would involve."
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 8:24 AM EST by Andy in News, Saudi Arabia | Permalink
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You know, it's not for me, but I don't understand why it's illegal to have sex outdoors where others can't see you (unless they want to)? These are consenting adults. Now they will become registered sex offenders and ruined for life. Stupid, stupid law! Again, if it had been heterosexual sex...it would not have been interrupted and no arrests!
Posted by: Pugzz | Oct 4, 2007 8:45:33 AM
"Again, if it had been heterosexual sex...it would not have been interrupted and no arrests!"
Actually, in Saudi Arabia they probably would have been. They're pretty uptight about ... everything ... in Saudi. They still have a police force whose sole duty is to make sure people (read: women) are dressed 'appropriately.'
Which is not to say, of course, that they aren't gonna take this over the top because it was gay sex. The Saudi leadership wants to believe there's no homosexuality in the Kingdom, they're just smart enough not to say it in a public forum being broadcast live on CNN.
Posted by: Chris | Oct 4, 2007 9:49:20 AM
I have a friend from Saudi. He told me that they throw lavish gay parties and that he knows many gay couples live together in fancy villas. In saudi if you come from a rich family no one will touch you. you could whatever you want. what a shame
Posted by: D | Oct 4, 2007 11:32:28 AM
Years ago, I remember reading in the pamphlet "Gayfellows" that there was one Arab country where gay men could "party" and be safe: Iraq. Not no mo.
As a child, one of my first crushes was on Omar Shariff. I appreciate male beauty of all races and skin colors from beautiful Africans to cool Scandinavians--even well...Germans; but I've always dreamed of Omar Shariff. But forget all that now. The creation of Isreal has caused the Arabs to go crazy! They aint gonna 'lash me 7000 times. That's fucking torture. To hell with my fantasy, I'll settle for a Kurd.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | Oct 4, 2007 11:47:53 AM
To Derrick from Philly:
Actually Kurds are known for having HUGE male penises. That is why the Turks are so jealous of them I guess. I would much rather have a Kurdish lover than a Sunni or Shiite one in Iraq!
Posted by: veejay | Oct 4, 2007 11:58:55 AM
Hey Pugzz, I think you are confused. The article didn't say they had sex outdoors; it said they were being lashed outdoors (publicly). Lashed means whipped, you know, with a whip. And Saudi Arabia doesn't have a sex offender registry. They're being whipped just for being gay.
Posted by: John | Oct 4, 2007 12:17:34 PM
Pugzz is talking about the previous post. Laws in the middle east are very "flexible" and enforced almost by whim.
Posted by: anon (gmail.com) | Oct 4, 2007 1:34:35 PM
All muslim countries are mentaly locked in the 7th century. Their laws are so cruel and represive as to be inhumane. To all you guys I say, be careful when you enter in the internet sites and correspond with gays from muslim countries and specially when you send your picture. Many of these guys are not gay, all they want is to be able to blackmail you and destroy you by exposing you in the most blatant and disgusting ways because they hate you for being gay. They are following their religion's tenets that specify that gays are agents of the devil and should be destroyed by any means available to them. So be careful.
Posted by: Oscar | Oct 4, 2007 2:28:42 PM
Gotta love them Muslims!!!
Posted by: Bill H | Oct 4, 2007 2:32:52 PM
ahh yes... the saudis : "friend" to both republican and democrat administrations. we won't be hearing a peep about these 7000 lashes (!) from any of our politicians. y'know, it's just another one of those 'cultural differences' that we can't judge. disgusting.
Posted by: el polacko | Oct 4, 2007 4:31:05 PM
Oscar, what damage are they going to do and from half a world away? Tell my boss I'm gay? Out me to my family? Sorry, been there, done that.
Your comment reeks of paranoia and is more than a bit bigoted.
Posted by: Tread | Oct 4, 2007 6:27:04 PM
I think it's a sound warning. Your reply sounds s bit naive.
Posted by: Brandon | Oct 4, 2007 7:25:21 PM
How would you know you are corresponding with "gay" men from Muslim countries? They could appear to be from anywhere. The only thing they could really do would be to threaten to expose you as a pedophile or something, but how they could do that is a mystery. I wouldn't worry too much.
While the story is upsetting, remember that no one has any rights in these countries, so gay rights are just part of a much larger problem--at least men can drive!
Posted by: anon (gmail.com) | Oct 4, 2007 9:26:22 PM
Saudi Arabia - our partners in "freedom"
Posted by: Robguy | Oct 4, 2007 11:47:06 PM
The only good that commenting on something you don't know a THING about (e.g., attitudes toward homosexuality in Muslim countries; shari'a law; the Islamic faith; Islamic history) is that it helps the rest of us identify the truly ignorant. I am saddended that I constantly have to remind myself that my fellow gay men can be just as closed-minded and remarkably uninformed as anyone else. "All Muslim countries are locked in a 7th century mentality?" Are you serious? "Kurds have huge male penises?" As opposed to FEMALE penises? Does this matter? (I thought the struggle for Kurdish nationalism, the partitioning of Iraq, the deaths of many people everyday would be of more immediate interest and concern, but who am I? "I'd rather have a Kurd than a Sunni or a Shi'ite?" Kurds are generally Sunni, although there are Shi'ite Kurdish communities as well. A small community of Kurdish Yazdis exist in northern Iraq; they were recently attacked by al-Qaeda in Iraq, supposedly. Kurds are different from other Muslims only on a ethnolinguistic level: they speak Kurdish, while Turks, Arabs, Persians respectively speak a range of Turkish, Arabic, and Persian dialects, to be clear.
I hope we are all mature and intelligent enough to handle the simple fact that homosexuality is a culturally-specific phenomenon, and expressions of homosexuality manifest different in different cultures. We are fortunate enough in North America, parts of Europe and Asia, and a handful of other places, to have bona fide "gay communities" -- that is, to have created social and cultural networks and systems surrounding our history as sexual "Others" and our emotional ties to one another. In many parts of the world, the historical trajectory of sexual "otherness" or non-normative practices is quite different and varied. This does not excuse state- or community-sanctioned violence, or simply violence between individuals. Not much does. But let us not tread too deep into waters that we know not how to navigate. It is a very difficult question: should we work toward the imposition or importation of our sexual values to other cultures? Is this not eerily similar toward "exporting democracy," which has been oh-so-successful? Is gayness really a pan-human phenomenon? Homosexuality is certainly a human phenomenon, but we must distinguish it from gayness. Many of you may think that such a discussion may threaten a snowball effect toward "is being gay a choice," but these are the hard questions we need to address, no matter what pressure it puts on our own identity politics.
Posted by: Michael | Oct 7, 2007 1:44:38 PM