Support for gays, Hamas at NY's LGBT Center sparks fury

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
07/10/2011 04:05
Analysis: Hamas's violent campaign against gays airbrushed out of controversy as Queers Against Israeli Apartheid unlawfully occupy center.

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What is perhaps not common knowledge among members of the LGBT community are the positions of Hamas toward the West and LGBT communities. Hamas cofounder Mahmoud Zahar has said, “You in the West do not live like human beings. You do not even live like animals. You accept homosexuality. And now you criticize us?”

In an April broadcast on Hamas’s Al-Aksa TV, which was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Syrian academic Muhammad Rateb al- Nabulsi said, “Homosexuality involves a filthy place, and does not generate offspring. Homosexuality leads to the destruction of the homosexual. That is why, brothers, homosexuality carries the death penalty.”

The British gay news website Pink News has reported that Zahar blasted rights for gays in Israel and said, “Are these the laws for which the Palestinian street is waiting? For us to give rights to homosexuals and to lesbians, a minority of perverts and the mentally and morally sick?” All of this helps explain why experts in gender studies have condemned QAIA.

Dr.Phyllis Chesler, a professor emerita of psychology and women’s studies at City University of New York, termed the activists “Queers for Jihad.”


http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=228625

8. Tel Aviv, Israel

A known leader in LGBT rights in the Middle East, Israel's way ahead of the curve when it comes to adoption, marriage and military equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-identified people. Homosexuals are allowed to serve open in the military (1993), same-sex couples have the same inheritance rights as couples of the opposite sex (2004) and individuals in a lesbian couple are able to adopt each other's children (2005). It's no wonder that Out Magazine designated Tel Aviv the Mediterranean metropolis that celebrated its 10th pride parade this year -- the gay capital of the Middle East.


http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/28/top-10-places-to-celebrate-gay-rights

pick to quote.

I'm pretty sure she wouldn't kill them, but I don't imagine she's a big supporter.

and they actively carry out the death penalty

“I would like to congratulate QAIA for standing up, rather sitting down, for their anti-Semitic principles,” Lucas wrote in an email responding to the QAIA decision. “Their decision to stage a sit-in at New York’s LGBT Center will provide a shining example to Israel haters everywhere... Your cause –– sitting in sympathy with homophobic Hamas –– is of course so much more important than the services provided by the Center to the gay community of New York... I applaud your tenacity, and appreciate the irony in your sitting in at the LGBT Center to protest the one country in the Middle East where women and gays and lesbians enjoy freedom and safety.”



http://www.chelseanow.com/articles/2011/07/07/gay_city_news/news/doc4e15ce498112c075992096.txt

'Yes, Lucas, the proud Islamaphobe who does more to harm relations with Muslim-Americans than your average bigoted New Yorker — going so far as to claim Muslims “have not contributed to civilization in any way, in any field — political thought, science, music, architecture, nothing for century after century” and saying plainly “I hate Muslims” — is now a welcomed guest of the very Jewish community center he convinced to be intolerant by threatening a boycott.

http://www.queerty.com/how-come-the-nyc-lgbt-center-is-welcoming-michael-i-hate-muslims-lucas-20110318/

Just anti-Homophobe.

And if the GAY FUCKING HATERS happen to be muslim fundamentalists?

Well fuck them and all queer hating homophobic pigs.

There's not some exemption for being an Islamophobe just because someone's gay.

Have homophobic legislation on its books,and discriminates against people amongst their own population,up to and including the death penalty,for the 'crime'of being born Gay, should not be recognized or allowed to join the community of nations.


Agree?

Do you not see the ugliness in that broadbrush comment? It's the same as someone saying 'I hate Jews'. Anyone who makes such ugly comments or who defends those who say them really should have a good, hard look at themselves and their embrace of such outright bigotry.

Is a member of an oppressed minority group.

Homophobia should NEVER be in vogue.

Just because someone's gay doesn't give them an exemption where saying 'I hate Muslims' isn't bigoted. Bigotry in oppressed minorities is as unacceptable as it is when it comes to anyone else.

Hatred of Muslims is every bit as unacceptable as hatred of the LGBT community...

Homophobic countries(or potential)should not be allowed to continue their evil ways.

As far as I am concerned ,all aid should be witheld in such cases.

I find it telling that you don't want to talk about the Islamophobia of Michael Lucas and want to turn the discussion into homophobia. You do realise he said he hates Muslims, and didn't say he hates homophobia in some Muslims countries?

If you want to start a thread about Islamaphobia, go ahead,I will agree that it is Evil and contribute.

But please do not try DEFLECT from the very serious issue of Gay hatred and violence in Muslim countries and territories,by hijacking this one with an attempt to change the subject.

That is just offensive !

If you don't want people to respond to what you post, then maybe DU isn't the place for you?

DU is not a place for a progressive Jew who is militant in his/her support for LGBT rights,without exception ?

Are you for real , Violet ?

I said in response to yr comment that people shouldn't talk about Islamophobia in this thread: 'You posted something written by Michael Lucas, who's an Islamophobe. If you don't want people to respond to what you post, then maybe DU isn't the place for you?' I didn't say anything at all about DU not being a place for progressive LBGT Jews and wouldn't say anything like that...

Something's been really bothering me about the 'exchange' on Michael Lucas' hatred of Muslims. First off, I'm strongly opposed to homophobia regardless of where it is or what religion or nationality the homophobe is. The problem I have with yr claim that Lucas isn't Islamophobe and that he's anti-homophobe is that I'd have as little patience for it if a Palestinian were to say 'I hate Jews' and someone else defended them saying 'they're not antisemitic, they're opposed to bigotry against Arabs'. And then the person doing that starts posting repeatedly lots of stuff about how badly Israel treats the Palestinians, as though posting that somehow negates the original bigoted comment. Just like you can't make broadbrush generalisations about Jews based on Israel's occupation of the Palestinians, you also can't make broadbrush generalisations about Muslims based on the treatment of gays in some Muslim countries. Given what's happened in Oslo, and seeing how hatred and intolerance can fuel extreme violence in some extremists, I think it's even more important than it ever was to not broadbrush entire ethnicities or religions...

Well then FUCK HAMAS !

Very similar I know but different.

Would you agree that homophobia by any group including Muslim officials,Jewish community centers or official Jewish state reps and Countries should not be tolerated or condoned EVER ,with ZERO tolerance?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Israel

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Israel are considered the most developed in the Middle East.<1> In November 2005, a groundbreaking court decision in Israel ruled that a lesbian spouse could officially adopt a child born to her current partner by artificial insemination from an anonymous sperm donor; this ruling came despite protests by the minority Orthodox Jewish parliamentary parties. Common law marriage which grants most of the official marriage rights to the spouse has been achieved, but full official same-sex marriage has not yet been sanctioned. However, same-sex marriages performed elsewhere are recognized.

Israel also has one of the highest percentages of support for same-sex marriage in the world, with 61% of Israelis supporting civil marriage for same-sex couples.<2>

Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Cyprus are the only countries in the Middle East<3> where homosexuality between consenting adults in private is not illegal and homosexuals are not persecuted under law. In most other Middle Eastern countries homosexuality is illegal, often punishable by corporal punishment, prison, and even the death penalty. Israel was the first country in Asia where homosexuals were protected by anti-discrimination laws,<4> and remains the only country in the Middle East to provide such legal protection.






http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_topics_and_Islam#Legal_status_in_modern_Islamic_nations

Legal status in modern Islamic nations

Homosexual relations are a crime and face punishment in some Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia, or Islamic Republics such as Iran. The death penalty is currently in place in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mauritania, northern Nigeria, Sudan, and Yemen.<29><30> It formerly carried the death penalty in Afghanistan under the Taliban, but subsequently has changed from a capital crime to one that is punished with fines and a prison sentence.

The legal situation in the United Arab Emirates is unclear. In many Muslim nations, such as Bahrain, Qatar, Algeria, Uzbekistan and the Maldives, homosexuality is punished with jail time, fines, or corporal punishment. This has led to controversy regarding Qatar, which is due to stage the 2022 World Cup. Human rights groups have questioned the awarding in 2010 of the right to host the competition, due to the possibility that gay football fans may be jailed. In response, Sepp Blatter, head of FIFA, joked that they would have to "refrain from sexual activity" while in Qatar. He later withdrew the remarks after condemnation from rights groups.<31>














I think Lucas' attitude is understandable amongst most Gays who are discriminated against on a daily basis.

And you think it's okay for them to hate Muslims? Are you for real?

But official policy in most Muslim countries ,and would be countries,is HATE and violence and even death for Gays.

Agreed?

This should not be allowed up to and including witholding recognition.

His attitude is a bigoted one where he's openly expressed his hatred of Muslims. I doubt there'd be many in the LGBT community who'd find such hatred understandable at all.

Irshad Manji is gay.

https://www.irshadmanji.com/support

Support for Gay/Lesbian Muslims





I'm a lesbian/gay Muslim. Any words of support?

If you're a gay or lesbian Muslim who wants to know how I reconcile my sexuality with my spirituality, here are some materials for you to read:

Do you understand how wrong that is?

But would you agree that homophobia by any country should not be tolerated EVER.

I response to me pointing out that he'd said 'I hate Muslims' and that he was an Islamophobe, you said 'Not Islamaphobe. Just anti-Homophobe.'

Homophobia ,should NEVER be tolerated from wherever it eminates.


Agree?

And you've been defending him and what he said about Muslims. Neither homophobia nor Islamophobia should be tolerated, and even more so when it comes to sick individuals who use their opposition to one sort of bigotry as an excuse for their support of another sort of bigotry...

Got it?

I hope so.

And saying 'I hate Muslims' in as blatant as it gets when it comes to something being Islamophobic...

Your posts are becoming more and more reactionary in this thread.

I will never apologize for defending LGBT rights.

We are done here.

I didn't realise that being bothered that a DUer would think that saying 'I hate Muslims' isn't Islamophobic is 'reactionary'. Sorry, but hatred of Muslims, or apologising for those who do so is NOT defending LGBT rights at all....

But never mind that, do you agree that recognition of any blatantly HOMOPHOBIC state,with Gay hating legislation on their books,should be witheld,by civilized countries,until rectified ?

In response to Lucas being called an Islamophobe and having it pointed out to you that he'd said: 'I hate Muslims', you responded with: 'Not Islamaphobe. Just anti-Homophobe.' Sorry, but someone who says 'I hate Muslims' is every bit as much an Islamophobe as someone saying 'I hate Jews' is antisemitic. You act as though Islamophobia is a 'never mind' triviality, but it isn't.

again that is offensive.

I can't help if being reminded of what you've said in this thread offends you. Though if you find something offensive, yr free to alert on any 'offensive' post...

But would you agree that any state that sanctions homophobia should be smashed?