as unhappy as i am with human rights, gay rights and any other rights violation, taking this "new low" and "livid" reactions to a topic far older and more complex than any "human rights declarations" is quite simplistic and serves no one. i read the article (haven't confirmed on alrai or anywhere else), but the wording clearly shows it's not bigotry on a personal level, it's a cultural and religious issue. the words used, the phrasing, it all points to people who are "sick", who have turned "the way they did" because of certain abuse as children, how "they" transmit diseases and so on. i don't know if the commenters here live/have lived in jordan, but being gay is not ok (society doesn't accept them and religion blasts them). hell, sex outside of marriage is not ok. homosexuals are a disease and their actions ruin the society and spread disease and they all need "therapy" (which is probably being beat up in jail). so yes, people will get arrested for being gay, and homosexuality is still viewed as an abberation. what i don't agree with is the use of that to condemn jordan as a backwards society, hitting a new low, or not wanting to come back (seriously, who's forcing you to?). i can't think of a single society where some form or another of bigotry is not practiced. when it comes to that, jordan is better than others (including places like the us or britain), in that least we're consistent. books@, etc, etc they all revolve around sex. take it out of the equation, and we're all happy. plus we have an official stance. so we don't publicly accept homosexuals and privately hate them, we think and act consistently (they're always blasted). why do you think homosexuals gather in parks? because they know they're not accepted. whereas as a muslim, or arab, or whatever, i am officially accepted in the us, but i am "randomly" chosen for security checks; as a black person, i can go to hardvard but never be president; as a homosexual, i have the right to marry but get spit on by people who declare what i do as a sin against God. so no, it's not a new low, it's just one aspect of a very complex issue.