Iraqi LGBT

This morning I walked to my kitchen table only to see the twin plastic grins of the most recent republican candidates, John McCain and Sarah Palin, grinning at me from the front of the newest Newsweek. It's a special Republican Convention issue.
No surprise there.
However, I decided to read the publication, which lead to my discovery of a fascinating article: one that dealt with homosexuality in Iraq.
With all of this war going on, it is surprising to hear of an issue so fragile. The humanity of the Iraqi people seems to be going straight through the media sifter, and we tend to look at the issue through eyes that see only numbers, statistics.
The way that Americans see it is there are too many larger issues to attend to than to be concerned at all about simple issues such as these peoples' sexuality and civil rights.
But here is an example of what an ignored issue results in:

These men were allegedly gay. That was their only crime, and they were gunned down in the street by police for it.
"Since 2003, some 430 gay men have been murdered," says Newsweek.
Iraqi authorities monitor suspect behavior in any man who shows signs of a tendency. These measures go to the extent of looking through cell phones, entering homes, etc.
The good news in the midst of this situation is a group which has been formed to hide these men, who want nothing more than to harmlessly pursue their own happiness... Iraqi LGBT.
For those of you who don't know, LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. Here in the US, we've begun to use a longer version, LGBTQ, which just adds Questioning at the end. There's a little piece of irrevalent information for you all.
However, this group consisting and supported by activists abroad has begun "safe houses," where these men hide out in extremely cramped quarters to survive. They don't go out of the house and limit contact with any neighbors.
More than anything else, this issue opened my eyes to the fact that in the midst of mechanical war, there are people. People who just want to exist.
I hope thats part of what we're fighting for, because that, not oil, is a worthy cause.