Category: homophobia

Jesus ‘n’ Mo ‘n’ homophobia

July 19, 2017 • 8:45 am

The new Jesus and Mo strip, called “homo”, came with this note:

Today’s strip is inspired by something that happened at last week’s London Pride march.

What happened is that ex-Muslims at the march were accused of “Islamophobia” by the East London Mosque because they were carrying signs that indicted Islamic countries and mosques for demonizing homosexuality, which of course many of them do. Calling that out is not “Islamophobia”; but of course Islam comes with an “I’m offended!” card that allows you unlimited license to conflate anti-Muslim bigotry with criticism of Islamic oppression and doctrine.

Here’s a photo of the demonstration and some reportage by The Free Thinker:

About 20 CEMB [Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain] activists marched on Saturday with placards bearing a range of messages from “We’re here, we’re kaffir, get used to it” to “Allah is gay”. Several wore body paint across their chests depicting eyes crying rainbow-coloured tears.

Maryam Namazie, spokeswoman for CEMB and a Freethinker columnist, said the group was protesting the treatment of LGBT people in states under hardline Islamic leadership, such as Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen and Iran – where homosexuality is a capital offence.

Namazie told the Standard it was “apt” to name the East London Mosque on the placards.

At Pride, we were highlighting the 13 states under Islamic rule that kill gay men – 14 if we include Daesh-held territories.

Namazie said that the signs did not say “Fuck Islam” but “Fuck Islamic homophobia”, adding:

In my view Islam, like all religions, is homophobic. Why is it not possible to say this without fear of reprisal or accusations of Islamophobia?

She said:

Pride is full of ‘God is gay’ and ‘Jesus had two fathers’ placards as well as those mocking the church and priests and pope, yet hold a sign saying ‘Allah is gay’ – as we did – and the police converge to attempt to remove them for causing offence.

For Regressive Leftists, of course, “Islamophobia” is a far worse offense than homophobia. And that prioritization is itself offensive to real progressives. But on to Jesus and Mo, in which Mo expresses the hypocrisy of the excuse-Muslims “soft racism”:

Earth to Reza Aslan: Muslims in “liberal” Islamic countries call for boycotting Starbucks because it supports LBGT rights

July 6, 2017 • 1:15 pm

Reza Aslan has repeatedly touted Malaysia and Indonesia as examples of “liberal” and enlightened Muslim-majority countries. When arguing that female genital mutilation (FGM) is not a Muslim practice, for instance, Aslan says it’s limited to Central Africa, is a cultural rather than a religiously based mutilation, and isn’t practiced in Muslim lands like Malaysia and Indonesia.  It’s all part of his shtick to exculpate any religion for anything bad—especially the Religion of Peace.

Well, those claims about Malaysia and Indonesia were pretty much demolished by Muhammad Syed and Sarah Haider (the co-founders of Ex-Muslims of North America) in a 2014 post at The Friendly Atheist called “Reza Aslan is wrong about Islam and here’s why. ” Remember that the next time you hear these Aslan-ian apologetics.

If you need more evidence, today’s Los Angeles Times reports that Muslim groups in both countries are calling for a boycott of Starbucks. The reasons don’t do credit to either Islam or to Aslan:

Malaysian group Perkasa, which supports a hard-line form of Islam and nationalism, this week called on its more than 500,000 members to stay away from Starbucks coffee shops. This week and last, leaders of Indonesia’s second largest mainstream Muslim group, Muhammadiyah, with an estimated 29 million members, denounced the chain.

The groups were apparently reacting to comments made several years ago by former CEO Howard Schultz in support of gay rights that drew renewed attention amid an increasingly anti-LGBT climate in both of the predominantly Muslim countries.

Perkasa said in a statement that the Malaysian government should revoke the trading license given to Starbucks and other companies such as Microsoft and Apple that support LGBT rights and same-sex marriage.

More illiberalism:

Sodomy is illegal in Malaysia and punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, but a case before the Constitutional Court is seeking to criminalize gay sex and sex outside of marriage.

The article quotes one Malaysian risk analyst as saying the boycott “won’t amount to much,” and I hope that’s true. But it’s still indicative of a worrying growth of Islamism in previously “moderate” Muslim countries.

Once again, here are the data on acceptance of gays from the 2013 Pew Survey of the World’s Muslims. Malaysia and Indonesia (and Thailand) are right up there with the most homophobic lands:

 

h/t: Grania

You couldn’t make this stuff up. Maybe.

July 7, 2015 • 3:15 pm

by Grania

Just in case you think rightwing homophobic nuttery is confined to a certain political party in a certain country south of Canada and north of Mexico, here’s heartening news. Or not.

Australia’s agricultural minister Barnaby Joyce is finally achieving global fame for claiming that legalising same-sex marriage could damage cattle exports.

The Independent reports him as saying:

“Where we live economically is south-east Asia, that’s where our cattle go” he argued.

“When we go there, there are judgments whether you like it or not that are made about us. They see us as decadent.”

He apparently previously opposed legislation allowing same-sex marriage on the basis that it would prevent his daughters from marrying men, so it is probably safe to say that he is not Australia’s finest example of a logical thinker.

So here’s a poll. Without knowing a thing about the man or his politics, which of the following statements do you believe to be most likely to be actual positions held by Joyce?

Because you are all psychic, you all correctly chose: (answers below the fold)

Continue reading “You couldn’t make this stuff up. Maybe.” →