An Iraqi refugee has accused the U.S. Military of atrocities against gay Iraqis and claims to have the photographic evidence to back it up.

Two gay Iraqi refugees, who declined to use their real names, delivered a presentation at the Human Rights Campaign headquarters July 24 in which they detailed alleged abuses of fellow gay Iraqis while calling on their audience to donate funds to Helem, a Lebanon-based center that works to address the plight of LGBT people in the Middle East.

One of the Iraqis, who goes by the name “Hussam,” showed the audience of about 80 people gruesome images, including shots allegedly of a beheaded man who was gay and another of the victim’s twin brother grieving over the severed head.

While asserting that anti-gay violence in Iraq is often committed by Iraqis, Hussam also said U.S. service members were involved in anti-gay hostility. For example, he said service members displayed signs in front of their barracks with the words “Fuck Off Fags.”

But the reaction from the audience turned from anger to shock when Hussam said U.S. service members had detained Iraqi civilians perceived to be gay and executed them.

He then showed an image of what appeared to be an American soldier standing in front of a small group of four or five kneeling naked men who were chained together. Hussam claimed the men were gay Iraqis and that he possessed images of their execution, which he did not show the audience.

While there have been numerous reports of violence against gays in Iraq, as reported in the USA Today as late as yesterday, this is the first accusation against the U.S. Military.  Defense officials have not yet commented on the allegations.

Rep. Alcee Hastings (D) of Florida appeared on Rachel Maddow to discuss an amendment he introduced and then later withdrew at the urging of the White House, a measure which would have suspended funding of discharges under DADT, effectively shutting the policy down.

The SyFy Channel (formerly Sci-Fi)  responded to  GLAAD’s Network Responsibility Index which gave the network a failing grade, promising to try harder to increase diversity in its original programming.

A GLAAD rep told TVGuide.com that Syfy’s grade was based on the fact that there were only two gay characters appearing on the network’s programming during the timetable of the study — Eureka‘s Vincent and Battlestar Galactica‘s Gaeta — and the latter’s sexual orientation was never directly addressed on the show. Instead, it was only referred to in a webisode.

Looking ahead, however, Syfy’s [executive vice-president] Stern touts two new series and the diversity depicted within.

“On Stargate Universe, one of the main female characters, we discover, is a lesbian and has a wife at home. It’s a pretty important facet of who that character is,” he says. ER alum Ming-Na plays intergalactic diplomat Camille Wray, while 24‘s Reiko Aylesworth recurs as her wife.

Similarly the Galactica prequel spin-off Caprica has at least two main characters depicted as being in gay relationships. “[One] is a ‘goodfella’-type, and we discover in a nonchalant way that he is gay, with a husband,” Stern says. “It was very interesting to me to take what is traditionally a very heterosexual role in an organization that we think of as being extremely homophobic, and put a gay character in that world in a very normalized way.”

NBC, CBS, A&E and TBS also received failing grades for lack of diversity but have refused to comment. HBO and Showtime received the highest ratings.

As a longtime science fiction geek, it will be good to see more of us represented in the Final Frontier. J.J. Abrams, are you listening?

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As many had feared, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made dramatic cuts to AIDS-related services in an effort to make up for a $489 million shortfall in the final California budget.

Calling the revised budget “kind of like the good, the bad, and the ugly,” Schwarzenegger used line-item veto power to make steep cuts in child welfare, child healthcare, and programs for the elderly, in addition to HIV/AIDS services. Though the governor’s office cited an overall $52 million in cuts to HIV programs, the California Department of Public Health’s Office of AIDS estimated the total figure will likely climb as high as $80 to $85 million.

“There are no general funds remaining for care and support [this year],” Michelle Roland, chief of the Office of AIDS, said in a Tuesday conference call with care providers. Some care programs will receive only one-fifth the funding compared to the last year, she said.

Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation responded to the cuts.

“With a single stroke of his blue pencil, Governor Schwarzenegger has terminated the state’s AIDS programs and, along with it, the lives of some of the state’s most vulnerable citizens. The Governor’s heartless act is not only deadly, but guaranteed to cost California taxpayers millions more in the future. With HIV testing programs sidelined and the state’s ability to prevent new infections stymied, new infections in California will increase—each new infection can mean up to $600,000 dollars in lifetime health care costs. A 100% cut to the Therapeutic Monitoring Program is the definition of penny-wise and pound-foolish—with the ability to monitor the effectiveness of lifesaving AIDS drugs hampered, the state’s already cash-strapped AIDS Drug Assistance Program will only end up spending more for drugs.”

It’s a sad day in California. Thanks to cuts like these and other draconian measures taken in this economic free fall, California seems well on its way to becoming a third world country.