Iraq

First in a Four-Part Series From: Gay City News, New York By Michael T. Luongo September 15, 2010 What had only been lines on a map, forbidden and dangerous, were places that had come alive, places that I could now see with my own eyes. I was in Baghdad in mid-2009 for my second time.

Second in a Four-Part Series From: Gay City News, New York By Michael T. Luongo September 29, 2010 There were bullet holes across his chest when I found him in the room. They were merely a decoration on his black T-shirt, tight against his broad shoulders and puffy biceps. He reminded me of a “Sopranos”

Third in a Four-Part Series From: Gay City News, New York By Michael T. Luongo September 29, 2010 Hassan mistakenly thought I had a sexual fetish about Saddam Hussein. I made an offhand comment about Iraqi policemen’s 1970s San Francisco clone moustaches — the kind sported by the dictator. Hassan held one hand up high,

Final In a Four-Part Series   From: Gay City News, New York By Michael T. Luongo October 15, 2010 “I push for this because of who I am. This hits me harder,” my friend from the US Embassy in Baghdad said about why the gay killings have so moved him, why he reached out to

This 3-part story offers a raw-faced portrait of a nation in the throes of a military war, religious sectarian battles and social upheaval. Nearly 10% of the population have been dislocated and tens of thousands have be killed since the ‘American War’ started in 2003 (and countless more under the Saddam regime.) Needless to say