Sistani, Badr corps persecute gays

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani issued a fatwa against gays and lesbians in October 2005. That, coupled with the menace of hard-liner SCIRI Death Squads (Badr corps) have been responsible for approximately 70 threats and 12 deaths (according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs).
"Gay Iraqis face death threats" [GAY.COM/PlanetOut Network, 24 April, 2006]

Homosexuality is considered sinful in Islamic countries, but an anti-gay edict issued by the revered Shiite Muslim leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in October has unleashed what amounts to a pogram against gays and lesbians, according to accounts by gay Iraqis.
A Web site published in the Iranian city of Qom in the name of Sistani says, "Those who commit sodomy must be killed in the harshest way".
Death squads have reportedly used this fatwa to launch a systematic campaign of kidnapping and murder against gays.

Wait...it gets worse. The SCIRI gang "give" gays and lesbians a 30 day period to get rid of their gayness...

“Badr militants are entrapping gay men via Internet chat rooms,” Hili said. “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 investigated and warned to get married.
“Badr will typically 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, disappear, and eventually be found dead. The bodies are usually discovered with their hands bound behind their back, blindfolds over their eyes, and bullet wounds to the back of the head.”

Oy...I should have posted this over a month ago, when I first heard about it on Amy Goodman's show.