The East London Gay Pride march called in response to stupid homophobic stickers seems to be in crisis following revelations by Gay Muslim group Imaan that some of the organisers are members of the EDL.
Peter Tatchel has pulled out and is right to call for the event to be postponed citing the true nature of the extreme agenda being peddled against Muslims. Interesting that no Muslim appears to have been caught putting up the stickers however, the moment they went up some Gay right wing extremists with links to the EDL were almost immediately organising a march. A Gay free zone sticker is a bit like the old Nuclear free zone stickers which after Chernobyl and now Japan seems equally stupid.
LM has written about Gay issues previously however, where is resident Muslim expert on Gay matters Lord Waheed Ali and what does he think of Gay right wing extremists stirring up hate towards Muslims. Moreover, why did it take a Muslim Gay group like Imaan to establish the anti Muslim extremist agenda behind the march which seems to indicate some Gays may have been aware but chose to overlook the Islamophobia within their midst.
**Update** The march has now been cancelled.
Peter Tatchel has pulled out and is right to call for the event to be postponed citing the true nature of the extreme agenda being peddled against Muslims. Interesting that no Muslim appears to have been caught putting up the stickers however, the moment they went up some Gay right wing extremists with links to the EDL were almost immediately organising a march. A Gay free zone sticker is a bit like the old Nuclear free zone stickers which after Chernobyl and now Japan seems equally stupid.
LM has written about Gay issues previously however, where is resident Muslim expert on Gay matters Lord Waheed Ali and what does he think of Gay right wing extremists stirring up hate towards Muslims. Moreover, why did it take a Muslim Gay group like Imaan to establish the anti Muslim extremist agenda behind the march which seems to indicate some Gays may have been aware but chose to overlook the Islamophobia within their midst.
**Update** The march has now been cancelled.
Firstly, we should all condemn the sticker debacle, although no one has been charged with this offence, it clearly is proof that there is homophobia within this area. As a gay muslim myself, whilst I always look to unifying the muslim community on all levels, the Ummah does not always reciprocate. Unfortunately there is Homophobia within our Muslim communities, the Muslim leading organisations in that area are forced to denounce any acts of homophobia yet we still see it ripe in the community. Whilst it is important to oust any right wing politics which at the very heart is trying to victimise the majority, as the gay community we also want to eradicate homophobic rhetoric within our Ummah. The gay Muslim community is the one that is suffering the most, with continued homophobia and Islamaphobia to contend within its Muslim and Gay communities.
ReplyDeleteThey may be stupid homophobic stickers to you, but what if the stickers were in fact anti-muslim? How would the muslim community feel about that? Homophobia is rife in Tower Hamlets and if it means a few of us standing up and being counted on this march, does that make us anti-muslim? No. But it is important that this march does go ahead as long as there is no other hidden agenda.
ReplyDelete@Stephen there IS a pride march in east london already.
ReplyDeleteGood question: why doesn't gay muslim organisation such as Imaan hold a rally against Islamic Homophobia? maybe they are just not that interested...
ReplyDelete