Why the Ashley Madison Leak Puts Thousands of Women & LGBT Lives at Risk in Intolerant Countries

Throughout the world, unsanctioned relationships are no doubt being exposed.

By Adam Johnson / AlterNet
August 19, 2015

Soon after the Ashley Madison details were made public Wednesday, tabloids fell all over each other to find juicy tidbits of hypocrisy and moral corruption -- especially of their political enemies. Yesterday afternoon Gawker hit gold, revealing that Josh Duggar -- a known pedophile and the already reigning king of rightwing hypocrites -- had sought extramarital affairs on both Ashley Madison and OKCupid. In no time, the Schadenfreude-giddy blogs were basking in another Duggar scandal. But was it all worth it?

As it turns out, no. The Ashley Madison leaks, as many observers began noting yesterday afternoon, will have real world, devastating consequences on thousands of users worldwide. When the dust clears, it will be most vulnerable among us -- LGBT and women in repressive countries -- that will ultimately pay the price. And unlike Josh Duggar, their price will not be paid in snarky internet comments but rather loss of employment, family, and, in some cases, possibly their lives.

As one anonymous gay man in Saudi Arabia noted on reddit after the leak was exposed last month:

I May Get Stoned to Death for Gay Sex (Gay Man from Saudi Arabia Who Used Ashley Madison for Hookups)

I am from a country where homosexuality carries the death penalty. I studied in America the last several years and used Ashley Madison during that time. (For those of you who haven't been following the story, Ashley Madison has been hacked and its users' names and addresses are on the verge of being exposed.) I was single, but used it because I am gay; gay sex is punishable by death in my home country so I wanted to keep my hookups extremely discreet.

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