“This is not a joke,” writes Fox News late night host Greg Gutfeld. “I’ve already spoken to a number of investors, who have pledged their support in this bipartisan bid for understanding and tolerance.” It’s all part of his plan to bring gay nightlife to Ground Zero, right next to the new mosque being built in the name of religious freedom.
If we’re really talking about tolerance, his argument goes, then isn’t it appropriate for everyone to accept a nightlife establishment targeted at a religious group generally opposed to all things gay?
As you know, the Muslim faith doesn’t look kindly upon homosexuality, which is why I’m building this bar. It is an effort to break down barriers and reduce deadly homophobia in the Islamic world. The goal, however, is not simply to open a typical gay bar, but one friendly to men of Islamic faith. An entire floor, for example, will feature non-alcoholic drinks, since booze is forbidden by the faith. The bar will be open all day and night, to accommodate men who would rather keep their sexuality under wraps – but still want to dance.
Now before you start wondering what business Gutfeld has in gay nightlife, remember: he’s already an expert on gay saunas.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
As much as I loathe FAUX News, I am in full support of this. Would be nice payback to those who wish to rub salt in the wounds of NY by placing a mosque within a stones throw of Ground Zero………
The Iman who is attempting to build this mosque is so evasive about everyting regarding this it is beyond comprehension. Where is the 100 million dollars comming from? It was recently disclosed that they do not even own the entire property they want to errect the mosque on. And he has stated that the United States was 100% responsible for 9/11 and backs the introduction of shaira law into the United States. Which dictates death for Gays…………
David
Thats going to require a 24 hour police presence I bet ;p
jason
Good on Greg Gutfield for doing this. Let’s see how those of Moslem faith shape up in the tolerance department.
Cam
Actually this is a very American response to this. If you have the money to rent a commercial space next door, then you can actually make people put their money where their mouth is when they say they are for sensitivity and tolorance and are misunderstood etc…
America is all about a bunch of people being forced to deal with each other because we all live in the same neighborhood. I will be facinated to see how this goes.
whatever
Sure, and let Westboro Baptist Church open church in WeHo and Castro. First Amendment, bitches!
whatever
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: For a person who hates fox, you do do spout their conservative wingnut talking point pretty well.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@whatever: Ok make my laugh please, explain………………
whatever
Uh, rubbing salt in the wounds of New Yorkers? On September 10, 2001, most the out of state faux news views/teatard protesters against the mosque hated NYC more than Al-Qaida did, and now they are pretending to care about the precious sensibilities of New Yorkers? Give me a break.
And your second paragraph is just a laundry list of something Hannity would insinuate about shadowy connections and appeals to emotion and bigotry.
Aaron
Man, I didn’t know an international supermodel married to David Bowie was involved with this. That’s awesome!
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@whatever: As to thosw rubbing salt I was refering to the muslims who wish to place the mosque basicaly on the doorstep of Ground Zero. If you do not think there is a whole lot more than a “community center” behind the building of the mosque you are so very sadly mistaken. Originally the mosque was to be called “Cordobra House” when persons began to investigate the origins of that particular name suddenly they decided to change the name………
The original mosque of Cordoba-the namesake of the Ground Zero mosque-was built atop, and partly from the materials of, a Christian church. Modern day Muslims are well aware of all this. Such is the true-and ominous-legacy of Cordoba.
More pointedly, throughout Islam’s history, whenever a region was conquered, one of the first signs of consolidation was/is the erection of a mosque atop the sacred sites of the vanquished: the pagan Ka’ba temple in Arabia was converted into Islam’s holiest site, the mosque of Mecca; the al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, was built atop Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem; the Umayyad mosque was built atop the Church of St. John the Baptist; and the Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque upon the conquest of Constantinople.
Don’t tell me there is not a specific reason for the placement of the mosque at the site of the fallen towers………
And there is nothing “insunuating” about my comments the Imans comments are well documented. They refuse to disclose where the 100 million is comming from. I am sure you are the type that feels we can find “common ground” with those who hate every fiber of our being. Do me a favor, fly over to any of those muslim countries and walk ten feet down any street proclaiming you are Gay. If you ever make it back, we can discuss…………….
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@Aaron: That was actually pretty damm funny…….. :-p
Samwise
This whole “mosque at Ground Zero” thing is so absurd. First of all, it’s neither AT Ground Zero nor anywhere close to “a stone’s throw” from Ground Zero. It’s several blocks away, on a street you’d never take to get to or from Ground Zero unless you were specifically going out of your way to visit the mosque, and because of all the tall buildings around, you couldn’t even SEE it from Ground Zero. Should we label all of lower Manhattan a “no-mosque zone”?
Second of all, the controversy confuses Islam with Islamist terrorism, which is unbelievably insulting, not to mention ignorant. Muslim Americans died on 9/11 too. Muslim American soldiers have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Muslims all over the world despise bin Laden and Al Qaeda. To freak out over a Muslim community center in the general vicinity of Ground Zero is to endorse the attitude that we’re fighting a holy war against all of Islam. Islam =/= Islamism. Period.
I support the Muslim-inclusive gay bar idea – not as “payback,” but because a lot of gay Muslims are miserable and could really use a place to go to meet others like them. And hey, while he already has an alcohol-free floor, gay Mormons can join the fun too.
whatever
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: again the proximity is right-wing talking point that Palin, Gingrich, fox news, et al. are propagating. It’s fucking two blocks from it. You can’t see the ground zero from the proposed site, and from the proposed, you can’t see ground zero. And even if you could, who the hell cares!
Oh my, the “Cordoba” connection. You went there. I bet you cut and pasted that from some conservatard blog. Let me guess, Altas shruggs? Daniel Pipes? I know Mexicans with the last name Cordoba. I guess they want to conquer the world in the name of Islam and impose sharia law, too.
Baxter
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: How far away should a mosque have to be from ground zero for it to be OK? Three blocks? Fifty blocks? Another borough? Another state? Please tell us where the dividing line is.
In regards to their funding, that’s a law enforcement issue. If they’re being funded by terrorists, you can be sure that the FBI/CIA/whatever will be looking into it. That’s not really the Landmarks Commission’s job to investigate.
As for Muslims building mosques on Jewish and Christian holy sites…you do realize that Jewish and Christian holy sites also tend to be Islamic holy sites, right? Because they all came from the same root? Christians turned several temples and mosques into churches during the Crusades.
ewe
Greg Gutfield is such a disgraceful PIG. This right wing fuck is attempting YET AGAIN to link homosexuality with terrorism. That is his goal here and he should be fired from any media position he is employed at.
ewe
I am gonna take a not too far fetched guess and say that Greg Gutfield is the type of asshole that probably thinks success is having a bleached blonde bimbo on one side of him with a martini in his hand sitting in a dumpy italian dive with red table cloths and imitation cigars.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@Baxter:
@whatever:
@Samwise:
In an interview with CNN shortly after 9/11, Rauf said, “U.S. policies were an accessory to the crime that happened. We (the U.S.) have been an accessory to a lot of innocent lives dying in the world. Osama bin Laden was made in the USA.”
Rauf has numerous ties to CAIR, an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the Department of Justice funding case brought against Hamas, an openly terrorist organization. CAIR is also the initiator of numerous “law fare” cases designed to intimidate non-Muslims from criticizing aggressive Muslim behavior, and to use our own legal and democratic processes to undermine and dominate America, forcing it to become Islamic.
Rauf calls himself a Sufi, evoking among non-Muslims a “peace and love image,” similar to hippies. But that’s not the whole picture. Sufism has many sides to it, including the Koranic injunction to spread Islam one way or another, and it has a rich history of waging war too. Could it be that one of the frequently used tools of war, lying to the enemy, would explain the contradiction between Rauf’s image as reconciler of religions and his sympathies and associations with terrorists? This is known as “taquiyya” among Muslims.
A previous Rauf project, Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow, clearly shows on its website that it is headed and funded by individuals from Saudi Arabia, the country that spawned fifteen of the nineteen jihad jockeys who rode the 9/11 planes of destruction. The funding for Cordoba House is much murkier, so far. All that has been publically disclosed is that the support comes from unidentified sources in Saudi Arabia and Muslim ruled Malaysia. Rauf reportedly says he paid $4.85 million for the property — in cash. Where exactly did this money come from? Was it Wahhabist supporting Saudi sources, which have already funded many other mosques in New York City?
The mosque is called Cordoba House. Muslims like to refer to Spain and especially the city of Cordoba as a place where Muslim rule reached a glorious peak. Contrary to the myth of a Golden Age of equality during the Muslim occupation of Spain and in particular in Cordoba, Spain and Cordoba were places where Christians and Jews suffered as social inferiors under Islam oppression. Equal civil rights never existed for non-Muslims under Sharia, or Islamic law. Rauf even admits as much when he writes, “Jews and Christians living under Muslim rule simply had to pay a tax to finance their protection by their Muslim overlords.” This is not equality! Americans do not demand a special tax to protect Muslims from ourselves. That would be extortion, not ‘protection.’
Through another organization Rauf started called the Cordoba Initiative, he created the “Sharia Index.” This will measure how closely countries follow Sharia, or Islamic law. While Sharia can cover such relatively innocuous aspects of Muslim life as religious weddings (hopefully not to twelve year old girls) it also demands that all Muslim life be governed by laws derived from the Koran, without the intervention of civic institutions, such as democracy. And the Koran dictates that everyone, even non-Muslims, must ultimately live under Sharia. Do you understand how that is in direct conflict with our Constitution and other aspects of our secular society?
Rauf gets even trickier here. He states in his book, “What’s Right With Islam,” that a society that follows natural law, such as America, is already practicing Sharia. However, he does not note that his peculiar definition of Sharia acceptance is shared by just about no other Imam. So what prevents him from adjusting his singular idea of Sharia back to the norm of forced conversions, murdering non-Muslims and apostates who leave Islam, amputations of thieves’ hands, stoning of adulterous women, execution of homosexuals, etc.? Throughout his writing, Rauf floats an image of a harmonious, pleasant Islam – nice to everybody. But this is totally disconnected from Islam’s actual history of bloody conquest, enslavement, and humiliation of other people – which he never acknowledges.
I am sure Rauf will glasly accept your donations to help fund his mosque………..
Aaron
BTW while I’m not opposed to this in principle, since when did the Fox News crowd care about religious homophobia? Disingenuous much?
Also if he’s actually attracting serious interest from investors, they’re apparently brain-damaged. That’s a commercial area that’s utterly dead at night, and no gay bar stands a chance at success there.
ewe
That mosque is going up. That mosque should go up unless of course we ban freedom of religion in this country. Until then all hateful bible thumping hypocrites should shut the fuck up. Yes i think that it is painful for the families of 9 11 victims but this creton Gutfield is not their ally and he certainly is not capable of imparial objectivity. He fans the flames of criminal activity through extremism. He is a mockery to what peace means and he loves the attention because he is obviousy dysfunctional.
Trencherbone
The Ground Zero Victory Mosque is a well publicized example of a general phenomenon: Mosques mean trouble!
In Europe (and soon in America), wherever Mosques are built, the locals can say goodbye to their homes, streets, neighborhoods and eventually their towns: http://crombouke.blogspot.com/2010/01/mosque-blight.html
More on Gays and Islam: http://crombouke.blogspot.com/2010/01/violent-muslim-homophobia-jihad-against.html
ewe
@whatever: I went to protest those Phelps retards from Westboro baptist church and was the only one there with my sign so unless one gets out into the streets do not use plain simple words to undermine my first amendment rights because i do find it to be sacred. There are reasons why preserving the rights of the few over the many in this country should not be addressed with dismissiveness. This is all such bullshit. Greg Gutfield is saying that one billion Muslims are responsible for 19 people in planes on 9 11. IT IS NOT FACTUAL.
Robert
In an interview with CNN shortly after 9/11, Rauf said, “U.S. policies were an accessory to the crime that happened. We (the U.S.) have been an accessory to a lot of innocent lives dying in the world. Osama bin Laden was made in the USA.”
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: Undoubtedly the truest and most (deliberately) ignored statement to be posted on this topic, and you used in an ad hominem attempt to discredit the source of something you disagree with. As opposed to, oh I don’t know, adressing the substance or something….
Irony much?
Queer Supremacist
@ewe: No he isn’t, Jesse Helms, Jr. He is saying that the Islamic religion is responsible for 9/11 and it is. Those 19 hijackers wouldn’t have done it if they were atheists.
Nice to see where your priorities lie: in race baiting and defending Islam.
Plays Well With Others is correct in everything he has said.
whatever
@Robert: Yeah, I would like to ask Plays Well With Others what exactly is false in that statement.
ewe
@Queer Supremacist: Pipe down you irritant. Religion is not responsible for the actions of 19 hijackers. It is the individuals who did what they did and interpreted things the way they did all by themselves just as those different from them choose to portray love. You are an annoying pest. You sound like a murderer using the panic defense to justify killing homosexuals. IT IS NOT FACTUAL. Wake up.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@Robert: He seems to be right on track with his message that the US is evil and was responsible for the attacks on our own country. And there is quite a bit of substance in his motives and what he ultimately would like the Untied States to look like. There is more than enough concrete evidence of such………
I am done with this thread, I can not for the life of me fathom how a Gay person would seek to defend a culture that while you are extending a hand to them, would not hesitate to stab you in the heart…..If you don’t think they would not desire to see female rape victims stoned, and Gay teens hung in front of cheering mobs in this country you are sadly mistaken. How many of the recent terrorist plots were incubated in this very country by American born muslims? How many American born muslims have gone to these countries to attend terrorist training camps??
Boggles the mind if you think any one of you would not be murdered by any one of them simply for being what you were born………
Joe
The ignorance pouring forth from Play Well is beyond belief. Quit watching Fox News.
First, its not a mosque. It is a cultural center that happens to have a prayer room. If we get to call the Cordoba House a mosque, then I guess all the hospitals in Manhattan can be called churches since they all have chapels.
Second, your understanding of medieval Muslim history in Spain is weak. The time of Cordoba WAS a time when Jews, Christians and Muslims saw a degree of tolerance among themselves. And its disingenous of you to imply that the Muslims were wicked for razing a Christian church to build a mosque, when the Christians did the exact same thing in the exact same spot. Before the Christian basilica there, it was a pagan temple. So, believe me, there is plenty of religious bigotry to go around, both in Islam and in Christianity.
And I think a gay bar that caters to Muslim men is a brilliant idea. Not all Muslims are anti-gay. Just as there are organizations that have gay Catholics (Dignity), gay Lutherans, gay Mormons, etc, there ARE organizations of gay muslims.
Chris
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: “Throughout his writing, Rauf floats an image of a harmonious, pleasant Islam – nice to everybody. But this is totally disconnected from Islam’s actual history of bloody conquest, enslavement, and humiliation of other people – which he never acknowledges.”
Really? Christianity also has histories of bloody conquest, enslavement, and humiliation.
To disregard the fact that people can distill the peaceful and well-meaning tenets from religion is absurd. There can exist peaceful Christians, and likewise there can exist peaceful Muslims.
Robert from ATL
If gay muslims want to have their own gay bar they should open it up themselves, not some right wing ideologue who is doing so just so he can make a joke that is grounded in xenophobic hatred of muslims.
Bubba
All muslims should be deported! Ground Zero is hollowed ground, and should be respected as such. The mosque is a bad idea, and the gay baths too. Oops, time for another beer!
Chris
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: “I am done with this thread, I can not for the life of me fathom how a Gay person would seek to defend a culture that while you are extending a hand to them, would not hesitate to stab you in the heart”
Once again, really? That is entirely the point. What kind of self serving asshole are you when you only extend your hand to “your friends.” I am not in this world to create some kind of Queer paradise, but I think you should extend open arms and kindness to everyone. To close yourself off to an entire group of people simply because you disagree with the concept of their religion (not even certain people’s religious tenets) is bigotry.
This adapted version of Kent Keith’s “Paradoxical Commandments” was written on a wall inside Mother Teresa’s home for children in Calcutta:
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind,
people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful,
you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight.
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the best you’ve got anyway.
Bubba
One more thing! Bomb all muslim countries and hunt down the Imans and Mullahs aand lock them up with Naomi Campbell! Burp.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
[img]http://gentleislam.com/pics/IranExecutesGayTeens.jpg[/img][img]http://pridetb.homestead.com/files/Iran_Hangs_Gay_Teens_3.jpg[/img]
Because this is what these people do to Gay teens…..Take off the rose colored glasses people…….please
@Chris: So very mature of you to resort to name calling, what are you five???
Chris
Lol, you respond to my entire argument by picking out my 1 ad hominem and making an ad hominem in return?
No one is asking you to let them continue to hang gay teens. Or to hate gay people. But you cannot change someone’s mind about something if you refuse to talk to them.
Baxter
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: Last time I checked, you don’t lose your constitutional rights just because you believe something unpopular. In fact, the whole point of the First Amendment is to protect people who have unpopular ideas.
Oh, and nice plagiarism. If you’re going to copy-paste half of someone’s article into your post, it’d be polite to at least cite your source.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@Baxter: Oh, and nice knowing bout how you indicate words are not yours……The reason it was entirely in italics is to indicate it was not my words……..My comments were the unitalicized variety……
Cam
@ewe: said..
“but this creton Gutfield is not their ally and he certainly is not capable of imparial objectivity. He fans the flames of criminal activity through extremism. He is a mockery to what peace means and he loves the attention because he is obviousy dysfunctional.”
____________________________________________________________
Excuse me, what he is doing is only OFFENSIVE if the people hate gays. The leaders of the Mosque have the right to build it there. They have asked for sinsitivity and non-judgement. I am fine with that. And lets see if they are capable of giving the same back to the gays that will be coming to this bar.
Aaron
“And lets see if they are capable of giving the same back to the gays that will be coming to this bar.”
This bar will never exist and you would have to be high to think otherwise.
Queer Supremacist
@Jesse Helms: I’m surprised you didn’t call them “stupid sand niggers.” After all, it’s not bigotry if they deserve it, right?
If I’m being annoying or bigoted, I’m just practicing what YOU preach.
Ever read Sura 9:5 of the Koran? It is the passage that Muslim terrorists use to justify their acts of terrorism, including the 19 hijackers. It says:
“Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”
So, in order to stop Muslims from killing us, we must either pay them off or convert. I’ll be goddamned if I’m going to do that.
In this country, every other Western country and even in Israel (which is also culturally part of Western Civilization despite its location), Muslims are free to practice their religion but it seems they do not care to extend the same courtesy to non-Muslims.
Yes, there are gay Muslims, and yes, they need our support and aid desperately. But let’s not blind ourselves to why they need it.
Tolerance is a two-way street.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
This lift sums up my reasons for my feelings….To the defenders of this wicked religion please do yourselves a favor and read and digest:
THE NEW DARK AGES
Peter Tatchell documents the global threat of Islamic fundamentalism
The New Dark Ages are already with us. For hundreds of millions of people in parts of the Middle-East, Africa and South-East Asia, the ascendancy of Islamic fundamentalism has ushered in an era of religious obscurantism and intolerance. The liberal, compassionate wing of Islam – although it still has large numbers of adherents – is being forced onto the defensive and increasingly eclipsed.
The fervour of this modern Muslim extremism echoes the zealotry of the original Dark Ages in mediæval Europe, when Christian fundamentalists excommunicated philosophers and scientists as heretics, tortured non-believers, drowned women as witches, and burned sodomites at the stake.
Several hundred years after the breakdown of theocracy and the beginning of the Enlightenment, few people would have thought it possible for clerical fascism to make a major comeback. But it has, and it’s spreading – with alarming consequences for human rights.
Taliban militants in Afghanistan whip women who are not veiled from head to toe, and stone to death (without trial) anyone who has sex outside of marriage, including homosexuals.
In Saudi Arabia, 24 Filipino guest workers were sentenced in 1996 to 200 lashes for “homosexual behaviour”. A year earlier, the Saudis beheaded an 18 year old gay man, Neil Tubo. His family claim he was framed on charges on raping two women, and the real reason for his execution was his homosexuality.
Two lesbians were sentenced to 90 lashes each in the United Arab Emirates city of Sharjah in 1995. They were also jailed for one and two years respectively for “taking part in illegitimate relationships and attempting to practice indecency”.
The Bangladeshi writer, Taslima Nasrin, had to flee into exile in Sweden in 1994 after she was condemned to death by Muslim fundamentalists for advocating the revision of Islamic law to protect the rights of women. Issuing a fatwa against Nasrin, they offered a bounty to anyone who would kill her.
In neighbouring Pakistan, an illiterate 14-year-old boy, Salamat Masih, was sentenced to die in 1994 for allegedly writing words offensive to the prophet Mohammed on the wall of a mosque. Although saved by a last minute reprieve, he was forced to seek refuge in Germany after Islamicists threatened to hunt him down and murder him.
On the Philippines island of Mindanao, Muslim militia have been terrorising gay men — beating them up, ordering them to leave the region, and threatening them with castration.
In 1995, Islamic extremists in Algeria assassinated the feminist leader, Nabila Diahnine. Previously they had killed the theatre director, Abdelkader Alloula. These are just two of the tens of thousands who have been murdered by Algerian fundamentalists over the last three years. Other victims include gay couples who violate the strict Islamic taboo against same-sex love, students and academics who refuse to study within a religious framework, and journalists who write the truth uncensored by clerical fanatics.
The Islamicist hard-liners in Algeria have also targeted women who fail to confirm to the Muslim tradition of subservience and modesty. Wives risk death if they go out to work instead of staying at home and waiting on their husbands. Other women are being killed for studying at university, wearing make-up or short skirts, and attending mixed schools or swimming pools. Any female behaviour deemed ‘scandalous’ by the militants can have lethal consequences, as 16-year-old Katia Bengana discovered. She was shot dead on her way home from school for refusing to wear a veil.
The common goal that unites Islamic fundamentalists the world over is the establishment of a religious state where every aspect of life is determined by the principles of the Koran and Muslim tradition. This means the creation of a state where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by death.
Same-sex relationships are currently outlawed in 26 Islamic countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Islam is also a significant and growing influence in Senegal, Nigeria, Chad, Somalia, Turkey, and the southern Philippines. In these states, the social opprobrium heaped on lesbian and gay people is very severe: beatings and disownment by their families are common place, driving some to depression and suicide. Those not caught out, usually feel pressured to deny their sexuality and force themselves into tragic, loveless marriages.
In only three Islamic-dominated nations are there no laws against homosexuality: Egypt, Indonesia and Iraq. Nevertheless, even in these countries public attitudes remain hostile and gay people are subjected to periodic police victimisation.
Of the Islamic states that ban lesbian and gay sex: Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen enforce the death penalty. Pakistan specifies two years to life imprisonment, plus flogging. In Malaysia the maximum sentence is 20 years and in the United Arab Emirates it’s 14. Bangladesh and Libya are considered fairly moderate in Islamic fundamentalist terms, with punishments of seven and five years’ jail respectively.
Iran is the most zealously homophobic Islamic country. Since 1980, when the fundamentalists came to power under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini, over 4,000 lesbians and gay men have been executed, according to estimates by the exiled Iranian homosexual rights group, Homan.
In the early 1980’s, for example, 70 people were executed after they attempted to set up a lesbian and gay organisation. Nearly 100 homosexuals were sentenced to death in 1992 following a raid on a private party.
It is notoriously difficult to be certain about the exact number of lesbians and gays killed because some executions take place in secret, and the relatives of those killed often try to cover up the true reason, due to the strong social stigma associated with homosexuality. Another factor preventing an accurate estimate is the regime’s resort to false allegations of homosexuality against political opponents, in a bid to discredit them. Trumped up charges of homosexuality were levelled against a Sunni Muslim leader, Dr. Ali Mozaffarian, who was executed in Shiraz in 1992.
The methods of killing lesbians and gays in Iran include: beheading with a sword, stoning to death, burning alive, and throwing from a mountain top or high building.
The death penalty applies not only to sodomy, but to repeated offences of lesser sexual acts such as mutual masturbation and body rubbing. The mere act of two people of the same sex lying naked together “without any necessity” is a crime punishable by up to 99 lashes. One man kissing another, even “without lust”, merits 60 lashes. These floggings are so severe that they can cause permanent injury to internal organs, gross open wounds, and sometimes death.
The Iranian authorities stepped up their crusade against homosexuality in 1990, with a wave of public executions. On the first day of the new crackdown, three gay men were beheaded in a city square in Nahavand, and two women accused of lesbianism were stoned to death in Langrood. Justifying these killings, the Iranian Chief Justice, Morteza Moghtadai, declared: “The religious punishment for the despicable act of homosexuality is death for both parties”.
Simultaneously, Ayatollah Ali Khameni denounced “homosexuality, male and female”. He condemned Britain and the USA for promoting gay relationships, falsely claiming the two countries had legalised marriages between people of the same sex. Homosexuality was, he said, a symptom of the decay and corruption of western culture.
According to BBC monitored reports, his colleague, Ayatollah Musavi-Ardebili, demanded the strict enforcement of Islamic punishments for lesbian and gay behaviour. Describing the procedures for the execution of homosexuals, he told students at Tehran University in 1990:
“They should seize him (or her), they should keep him standing, they should split him in two with a sword, they should either cut off his neck or they should split him from the head. … After he is dead, they bring logs, make a fire and place the corpse on the logs, set fire to it and burn it. Or it should be taken to the top of a mountain and thrown down. Then the parts of the corpse should be gathered together and burnt. Or they should dig a hole, make a fire in the hole and throw him alive into the fire.
“We do not have such punishments for other offences”, boasted the Ayatollah. “There cannot be the slightest degree of mercy or compassion. … Praise be to God.”
Lesbians and gay men living in countries dominated by the New Dark Ages of Islamic fundamentalism cannot afford the liberal luxury of tolerating religious fanaticism. For them, the politically correct arguments about ‘cultural sensitivity’ smack of surrender to the extremists who jeopardise their freedom – and their lives.
And as stated in another thread, if you don’t think they don’t wish to spread this wicked belief across the globe you are sadly mistaken………….
reason
I don’t care who these people are, if the land is zoned properly for their purpose and they have followed all the laws they should be allowed to build their mosque. If they do something illegal they should be treated like everybody else, if not they should be treated like everybody else. What is next a gay bar shouldn’t be allowed to be built within a hundred miles of a church? The whole point of 9-11 was to weaken America, and make us contradict the vary values that we built this country on. In the eyes of the radicals we were already a contradiction to the values we claim to have so why not make it more apparent. What better way to defeat America then make it attack its own premise by turning into a police state, limiting freedoms, religious intolerance, and preemptive wars. Not only would it make us more like the radicals that we clam to hate, but would be fodder for them to justify that America is engaged in the same behavior therefore the attack on their twisted values is not only hypocritical but about the destruction of them not their morals. The only way to defeat our enemies is to hold steady to our values and the rule of law. The only way to honor those that died on 9-11 is to not let that accident turn this country from the America they loved into the Afghanistan that killed them. The people that are crying the blues are thinking with their hearts instead of their heads, and our a threat to the core values of this country. We desire equality under the law for ourselves therefore we should extend it to others and not fall into the same trap of slave holders, antisemites, misogynist, homophobes, religious fundamentalist, and all the others that have dedicated their lives to harm others. The test to our values doesn’t come when things are running smoothly and life satisfaction is high; it comes at a time of despair and grief.
alan
There are 1.5 billion Muslims, and 1.5 billion different ways of interpreting and expressing their religion. The texts of Judaism and Christianity can also be interpreted in a way that is intolerant of homosexuals and other religions. In fact Peter Tatchell, who is cited above, has pointed out that the Quran is relatively more liberal than the Bible and Torah when it comes to homosexuality. A look at history finds widespread tolerance for homosexuality in Muslim regions like North Africa and central Asia in the period before colonization by Victorian Britain. For example look at the literature of Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Nawaji or the tradition of ‘ashna’ in Afghanistan.
Blaming a religion for the acts of its adherents shifts the responsibility off of the guilty parties and onto people who have nothing to do the crime.
That said, why would any Muslim or homosexual visit a ‘gay bar’ run by a straight Republican who works for Fox News? I don’t think this establishment will be built and I oppose my orientation being used as a political tool for bigots.
ewe
@Robert from ATL: Thank you for your words of wisdom. It is refreshing and encouraging to hear someone with a balanced and enlightening point of view.
ewe
@Cam: That is hypocrisy. It is Gutfield that does not like gay people and routinely bashes them on his shitty television show. He has guests like closeted porn star dirty Matt Sanchez to make stupid comments that resemble stoner machismo. Defending Gutfield is the same as stripping gay men of their civil rights. He is a homophobe, an idiot and a pig.
ewe
@Queer Supremacist: You scream “cracker” at people who attempt to demystify words and then apply character assasination to get some stupid ignorant point across that makes no sense. The war on “terror” is as meaningful a solution as the war on “drugs”. Comprehend the history. You are a hysterical mess.
Robert
#42 You don’t own “same-sex” orientation. Get over yourself.
And while Glenn Beck is a horrible homophobe, Greg Gutfeld loved to put pictures of hot guys on the cover of MensHealth.
In fact, since Gutfeld’s ouster, MensHealth editor David Ziczenko
has seriously cut back on “shirtless covers” for MensHealth, lest straight guys in the elevator be mistaken for some “gay.” True fact: there actually was a letter to the editor that said as much.
reason
@Robert: How shallow can you get. He put shirtless guys on the magazine becuase that is what he is selling. A lot of straight people are enamored with muscles and want them so it makes scenes to show them. Sounds like Greg is just your typical business man trying to make money. If he put some scrawny guy on there, are people going to be like oh I want to look like that?
Queer Supremacist
@ewe: You have no character to assassinate. I don’t need to do anything.
The War on Islamic Terrorism is justified by their words and their deeds. I figure a racist Muslim lover like you would be against it.
Go fuck yourself, Jesse Helms.
ewe
@Queer Supremacist: You just keep talking. You prove my point.
BrianSparky
Ok, anyone who says Gutfeld is anti-gay is a total and complete moron. Watch the show, you jackholes, and you’ll learn he is totally pro gay marriage, and he has even had people like Jane Lynch and Ru Paul on Red Eye to promote their shows, giving them a lot of praise to boot. But really, what does it matter? If it’s a show on that evil ol’ Fox News, everyone involved is a racist, a bigot, and/or they just want to take away your kids lunch money and give it to Halliburton. (I think they’re responsible for shooting Bambi’s mother too, but I’m unable to confirm it just yet – but I will!)
And to you clueless defenders of the muslims behind this “cultural center” who are crying “It’s two blocks away from ground zero!”, why the HELL are they planning to open it on September 11 2011? No, it’s all about tolerance and building dialogue, right? This whole thing is total provocation, and your heads are so far up your own holes that you can’t see the truth that’s just begging to get into your brains.
“Faux News” – Wow. How clever.
ewe
@BrianSparky: greg gutfield is pro gay? And you are telling people about brains?
ewe
@BrianSparky: Brian Sparky: Have you heard? George and Laura Bush are pro gay now too.
princesswen
I love it!!
N
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: WELL stated. Your facts are in order and I too would like to see him/her do just that. Or GOD forbid you walk down a muslim street proclaming your Christian faith and carrying a bible and see how far you get.
Bernardo de la Paz
“This is not a joke.” Never believe anything until it’s been officially denied. Greg Gutfield himself is a joke. He clearly has no interest in gays, except using them to tweak Muslims over a community center project he steadfastly refuses to understand. This is no different from the ignorant fools who brought dogs to the anti-mosque rallies in the mistaken belief that Muslims hate dogs. More fearmongering and racism from the network that brought us the Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace Formerly Known as the War on Terror.
formicida
@Queer Supremacist: The holy bible says to stone people to death, sacrifice animals, and eating shrimp & lobster is an abomination!!