Muammar Gaddafi, Who Jailed Homosexuals And Said HIV/AIDS Only Affects Gays, Is Dead
Muammar Gaddafi, the deposed head of state of Libya, has been killed. Libya’s Prime Minister has confirmed his death, and images and video are flooding the internet showing his badly-wounded body.
Gaddafi (also, “Moammar Gadhafi,” or, “Qaddafi,” or, “Mu’ammar Al-Qadhafi”, among others,)  in 2003 had claimed that only homosexuals can contract HIV/AIDS, no doubt contributing to the spread of the disease. As the autocratic ruler of Libya, Gaddafi jailed homosexuals, and made sexual relations between members of the same sex a crime.
Via Wikipedia:
The country’s criminal code prohibits all sexual activity outside of a lawful marriage. Private homosexual acts between consenting adults are punishable with up to five years’ imprisonment.
In the 1990s, Libyan autocratic ruler Muammar Gaddafi began to enact “purification” laws designed to enforce a harsh view of Islamic law on the population. Libyan courts were given the power to use amputation, flogging and other cruel punishments against persons found to be violating traditional Islamic morality.
In 2010, the Gay Middle East blog, reported that two adult men had been charged with “indecent acts”, which meant cross-dressing and homosexual conduct.
Female homosexuality would also appear to be illegal, as is making any sort of public acknowledgment that a person is gay. In a 2010 French asylum case involving a Libyan girl who sought asylum after being jailed, raped and then returned to her family for a forced marriage after she made a public statement online that she was gay.
The government does not permit the public advocacy of LGBT rights and homosexuality and cross-dressing are considered highly taboo within the society. When they are discussed, it is always in a negative manner, in keeping with traditional Islamic morality.
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In 2003, Gaddafi stated that he believed that it was “impossible” to contract AIDS–HIV through unprotected, heterosexual vaginal sex. A statement which highlights his attitude about not only the pandemic but sexual orientation.
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Libyan social attitudes about sexual orientation and gender identity are heavily influenced by Islamic mores. Traditional Islam condemns homosexuality and cross-dressing as they do all expressions of sexuality outside of a traditional marriage.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/embed
British prime minister David Cameron wrote,
I think today is a day to remember all of Colonel Gaddafi’s victims, from those who died in connection with the Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, to Yvonne Fletcher in a London street, and obviously all the victims of IRA terrorism who died through their use of Libyan semtex.
We should also remember the many, many Libyans who died at the hands of this brutal dictator and his regime.
People in Libya today have an even greater chance after this news of building themselves a strong and democratic future. I am proud of the role that Britain has played in helping them to bring that about and I pay tribute to the bravery of the Libyans who helped to liberate their country. We will help them, we will work with them and that is what I want to say today. Thank you.

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