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On Thursday night, I happened upon the tail-end of an incident outside the SEIU party in which a man was arrested for allegedly threatening Muslim women. I saw the man being handcuffed and though little more of it until tonight when about a dozen headscarf-wearing Muslim women (and their allies) "flash-mobbed" the lobby of the Minneapolis Hilton in reaction to (as yet, unconfirmed) reports that the arrested man was an attendee of RightOnline.
After the women left under hotel security escort, AmericaBlog author John Aravosis fielded increasingly angry questions from RightOnline attendees. Dan Choi, of course, glommed onto the scene and when I left he was still refusing to leave and had begun glad-handing baffled RightOnline attendees as they came off the escalators, shaking their hands and saying "God bless you beautiful Americans! God bless the Fair Tax!" Ugh. Here's my clip.
"Why is it bigoted to speak against a force that is slowly but surely trying to exercise domination over the entire world?" - Pat Robertson, speaking without the slightest fucking trace of irony.
Hundreds of Islamists rallied outside the U.S. embassy in London today in a mock funeral for Osama Bin Laden. Riot police had to step in and separate the group from counter-protesters from the neo-Nazi English Defence League. Many more photos at the link.
London police have made an arrest in connection with the anti-gay "Fear Allah" stickers that appeared around the city earlier this year. The stickers prompted the formation of East London Pride, a group that was later revealed to have been organized by one of the co-founders of the violent far-right English Defence League.
An 18-year-old man has been arrested in connection with homophobic stickers plastered around London’s east end. The teenager, from Leamouth, was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence yesterday, police said. He has been bailed to return to police on Sunday May 8th pending further enquiries. The stickers, which have been found in Brick Lane, Poplar, Bow and Canary Wharf, show a red line through a rainbow flag and the words ‘gay-free zone’. They say: “Arise and warn. Gay free zone. Verily Allah is severe in punishment.” At least 70 have been reported.Another 18 year-old was detained and released without charges last month after being found in possession of the stickers. The name of the man arrested yesterday has not been disclosed. Some local LGBT activists have long suspected that the stickers were planted by non-Muslim agitators intent on sowing violence between the gay and Muslim communities.
The Malaysian government has ordered 66 boys to report to a camp where they will be "trained" out of their effeminate ways in order to prevent them from becoming homosexuals.
The boys between 13 and 17 years old reported Monday for what is officially being called a "self-development course" after their schoolteachers in Terengganu state identified them as students who displayed effeminate mannerisms, said Razali Daud, the state's education director. They will undergo religious and motivational classes and physical guidance, Razali said. He declined to give further details. The camp is meant "to guide them back to the right path in life before they reach a point of no return," Razali told The Associated Press. "Such effeminate behavior is unnatural and will affect their studies and their future."Homosexual acts are punishable in Malaysia by up to 20 years in prison.
Unswayed by the dozens of people killed in reaction to his burning of the Koran, Pastor Terry Jones now says he's thinking about putting the prophet Mohammed "on trial" with an effigy hanging to follow.
"As far as judging Muhammad, it would take place in the same way. We would try to obtain experts on both sides of the bench, and if Muhammad was found innocent … then we would issue a public apology to Islam, to the Quran, to the followers of Muhammad for our actions at insulting [them]. If he was found guilty, then we would do in the same manner as the Quran burning. We would offer probably four or five different forms of punishment, and then the form of punishment that the people voted upon, that would be the punishment that would be executed." Klein asked what kind of "punishment" Jones had in mind. "Probably they would be forms similar to International Judge the Quran Day," Jones said. "On that day we had four forms of punishment – they were burning, grounding, shredding and facing of a firing squad. We would probably pick some of those kinds of forms, and if Muhammad was found guilty … we would put together some type of picture or some type of dummy figure to represent him, and then the execution would be done on that particular object we created."Jones is also planning to stage an anti-Islam demonstration in Dearborn, Michigan, home to the nation's largest Muslim community.
"Those who fault [Pastor Terry] Jones for the behavior of Muslim extremists in Afghanistan must answer: Where does the blame-shifting end? Is Salman Rushdie, whose Satantic Verses earned him a fatwa from the Ayatollah Khomeini, to blame for the murder of his Japanese translator? Should the Danish cartoonist who drew images of Mohammed foot the bill for repairs to his nation's embassy in Damascus, which was burned by a mob in 2006? Why don't we just veil our women and execute our gays while we're at it, since that's what the radicals want? [snip]
"It is one thing to say that Jones' Koran-burning was a stupid and offensive thing to do. He is not Rushdie, after all, whose 'provocation' was the exercising of the creative spirit. It is another thing entirely, however, to move to the accusation that Jones is culpable for the murderous acts of people half way around the world. People who riot and murder at the burning of a book do not need a pretext to act like savages. That's exactly what they already are." - Homocon journalist James Kirchick, writing for the New York Daily News.
Today's press release from GOProud:
Today, GOProud, the only national group gay conservatives and their allies, released an open letter on action in Libya and on the need to stand up for the basic human rights of gay people across the globe. GOProud circulated the sign on letter to other national gay groups, and all declined to sign it. “It is a sad for gay people across the globe when so many national gay groups would literally sacrifice their lives at the altar of political correctness,” said Jimmy LaSalvia, Executive Director. “It may be an inconvenient truth for the left, but it is still the truth – the spread of radical Islam, and the proliferation of brutal dictatorial regimes that support jihadist terrorism, represent the greatest threat to the safety of gay people worldwide.” “The leadership of the gay left in this country is more concerned with demonizing Christians in this country for not supporting gay marriage then they are in standing up to the spread of radicalized Islam that literally kills people for simply being gay or lesbian,” continued LaSalvia.GOProud's letter essentially calls on President Obama to assassinate Moammar Qaddafi.
The greatest global threat to the basic human rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons is the spread of radical Islam and the proliferation of repressive dictatorial regimes. Radical jihadist Islam is a barbaric ideology that fails to recognize the basic human rights of women, gays and religious minorities. Its spread represents an existential threat to Western civilization – and to LGBT people in particular – and we must be willing to confront it across the globe. Additionally, repressive dictatorial regimes, regardless of their religious ideology, represent some of the worst offenders of basic human rights for LGBT people. Respect for basic human rights shouldn’t be determined by geography and freedom shouldn’t know borders. Today, the United States has an opportunity today to strike a blow in defense of the basic human rights of LGBT people – and indeed all people – by removing Libyan dictator Moammar Qaddafi.I have a feeling that if GOProud issued a letter declaring that kittens are cute, they still couldn't get anybody else to sign on.
"Immigration is obviously a matter for Congress, since authority to control immigration is vested by the Constitution in Congress. But we must never forget that immigration to the United States is a privilege, not a right, and that we should follow the wisdom of the Founders who urged that we only admit to our shores those who will strengthen our nation and assimilate themselves into it, adopting our flag, our history, our heroes, and our values. This is something that devout Muslims simply cannot do. The privilege of immigration should be reserved for those willing to integrate into our culture, become unhyphenated Americans, and adopt American values." - American Family Association spokesbigot Bryan Fischer, renewing his call to ban all Muslims from immigrating to the United States.
Fischer's radio show is heard daily on almost 200 stations nationwide and has become the favorite stopping place for prospective 2012 GOP presidential candidates.
"In 1989, thousands of gay activists, angry at the Vatican for preaching abstinence instead of safe sex, rallied outside a church in New York, some of them actually going inside and disrupting a worship service. In 2011, faced with far worse provocations by a faith that, unlike Roman Catholicism, poses a mortal threat to gays, gay-rights groups in London not only decided to remain silent lest they 'offend' Muslims, but in addition chose to turn on their own, denouncing fellow gays as 'racists' and 'Islamophobes' for feeling obliged to stand up — even if in the meekest of ways — to people who would, without question, murder them if they had the power to do so.
"No, the officers of London’s gay-rights organizations, and the commenters at Pink News, aren’t the only people in West who have responded to Muslim bullying with cowardly toadying. But British gays should damn well understand, at this point, that there’s no place for them in the sharia-run Britain to which millions of British Muslims openly aspire and that the Archbishop of Canterbury has already accepted as inevitable. If they’re so desperate not to offend Muslims, they’d better kill themselves pronto — for, as they still somehow fail to grasp, their very existence is an offense to these people." - Bruce Bawer, writing for the right-wing Pajamas Media about London's "Gay-Free Zone" controversy.
"Islam has no fundamental First Amendment claims, for the simple reason that it was not written to protect the religion of Islam. Islam is entitled only to the religious liberty we extend to it out of courtesy. While there certainly ought to be a presumption of religious liberty for non-Christian religious traditions in America, the Founders were not writing a suicide pact when they wrote the First Amendment. Our government has no obligation to allow a treasonous ideology to receive special protections in America, but this is exactly what the Democrats are trying to do right now with Islam. From a constitutional point of view, Muslims have no First Amendment right to build mosques in America. They have that privilege at the moment, but it is a privilege that can be revoked if, as is in fact the case, Islam is a totalitarian ideology dedicated to the destruction of the United States." - American Family Association spokesman Bryan Fischer, who regularly hosts the approving leaders of the GOP on his radio show.
Raymond Berry, one of the organizers of London's coming and first-ever East End Pride parade has resigned after being exposed as one of the founders of the English Defence League, a radical anti-Islamic skinhead group renowned for violent street clashes at its protest marches. East End Pride formed last month ostensibly in response to stickers which warned gays to "fear Allah" because the East End was now a "gay-free zone." Some local activists suspected at the time that the stickers had been planted by a group like the EDL in order to inflame tensions between gays and Muslims, although whether that is indeed the case has not yet been proven.
The remaining organizers of East End Pride have issued a statement to Pink News:
"It has come to light that Raymond has previously had dealings with the English Defence League, however he has assured us that he is no longer any part of the EDL group. [Mr Berry] stated that he has previously attended march’s [sic] organised by the EDL and UAF [Unite Against Fascism], however he found both organisations too extreme for his beliefs. None of this information was previously disclosed to the rest of the East End Gay Pride team, until it came to light late yesterday evening. The remaining members of the East End Gay Pride would like to state for the record that we do not support or condone anything that the EDL stand for."Pride London, the city's main and long-running event, says that it continues to support East End Pride, which still intends to hold next month's planned parade.
"We have evidently been misled. Pride London remains committed to assisting any such event, and while we continue to accept that Raymond was not fronting the event for the EDL, and that the EDL remains unlinked to the event itself, we believe that his continued involvement would be inflammatory. East End Gay Pride asked our assistance to steward the event to ensure that the event remained only a pro-gay and not an anti-anything event."What a fucking mess.
UPDATE: East End Pride has now been canceled. And noted activist Peter Tatchell has withdrawn his support for the group.
“We fear the march will be exploited and hijacked by the far right to create divisions and stir up intolerance against Muslim people. OutRage! opposes both homophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry. All forms of intolerance are wrong. The gay, Muslim, Jewish, Asian and black communities know the pain of prejudice and discrimination. We should stand together, united against hate. Let’s celebrate East London’s multicultural diversity. Don’t let bigotry divide us. Together, we can defeat the hate-mongers.”
"A group of gay lefty organizations who CLAIM they exist to work on behalf of gay people actually put out a press release on Friday attacking Rep. Peter King’s hearings on Islamic radicalization. Nevermind that radical Islam teaches that the penalty for being gay is DEATH. Honestly, the Onion couldn’t have written this release. Signing on to this attack on the King hearings, a de facto defense of radical Islam, included the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Equality California (who might as well just become the Communist Party of CA) and Lambda Legal. I guess all the work of fighting FOR gay people is done so these lefties can now spend time defending the barbarism of radicalized Islam." - GOProud head Chris Barron, writing on his personal blog.
From the above-referenced press release:
LGBT Americans are no stranger to this type of scapegoating. In the 1950s, Joe McCarthy targeted LGBT people, and sought to portray them as dangerous and un-American. In a report titled "Employment of Homosexuals and Other Sex Perverts in the U.S. Government," a group of United States Senators concluded that "homosexuals and other sex perverts are not proper persons to be employed in Government" because "they are generally unsuitable, and they constitute security risks." Those hearings—like the "Muslim Radicalization" hearings—heard testimony from supposed experts that reinforced these prejudices. In the years that followed, thousands of LGBT civil service employees were harassed, terrorized, or fired from their jobs. [snip]
Added Lambda Legal Executive Director Kevin Cathcart: "Every American, regardless of ethnicity, religious belief or sexual orientation, should be asking 'where does this lead?' We've all been down this road before, most notably during World War Two and the Cold War, with tragic consequences for tens of thousands of American citizens. Singling any group out as a whole because of a suspected lack of loyalty on the part of a few of its members is wrong; doing it when the internment of Japanese-Americans and the spectacle of the McCarthy witch trials are still within living memory is simply repugnant."
Some British gay activists are calling for the cancellation of next month's Pride parade in London's East End because it might inflame anti-gay sentiments among the Muslim community. The parade was organized in response to "Fear Allah. Gay-free zone" stickers that began appearing around the East End earlier this year. Critics of the parade accuse its organizers of having ties to skinhead groups which were thought by some to have planted the stickers to create tension between Muslims and gays.
An open letter signed by Out East chair Thierry Schaffauser and Terry Stewart of the Hackney Community Engagement Board claims that the Pride march may “divide our communities” or be used “to oppress other marginalised groups”. Out East organises Hackney Pride and the letter has also been signed by Denis Fernando of Unite Against Fascism and the Greater London Association of Trade Union Councils. It says: “We believe that the most appropriate response to the stickers is to liaise with Muslim communities and others to create bridges and communicate with each other. We want both homophobia and Islamophobia addressed as a collective problem and not feed one against the other, we do not recognise these as distinct categories. We will refuse any attempt to divide our communities or take the risk that an LGBTQ event is used to oppress other marginalised groups, in particular LGBTQ Muslims who will be the most affected by this rising antagonism.” In response, the organisers of East End Gay Pride said in a statement: “We can 100 per cent confirm that the EDL [English Defence League] or the SWP [Socialist Workers Party] have absolutely nothing to do with this event in any way, shape or form.Pink News reports that an 18-year old man was arrested last month with some of the stickers in his possession, but he was released without charges because it was unclear whether the stickers violated the Public Order Act on hate speech. The Muslim Council of Britain and local Muslim groups have denounced the stickers.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim ever elected to Congress, got quite choked up during today's ridiculous "Islamic radicalization" hearings hosted by Rep. Peter King (R-NY), who himself has a history of backing terrorist groups. I've been watching the hearings live on CNN and only Hollywood could come up with a more McCarthyesque scenario.
