Interesting action going on overseas. Islamists have stirred up some drama by posting stickers, calling for a gay-free zone.
The Pink Paper reports:
The stickers were distributed around the Whitechapel, Shoreditch and Poplar areas over the weekend. Specifically, they were targeted at schools and pubs, including the gay-friendly George and Dragon.
The professionally produced, anonymous stickers say: “Arise and Warn. Gay free zone. Verily Allah is severe in punishment.”
The 'Gay free zone' slogan is within a diagonal bar across a rainbow flag.
Equality campaigner Peter Tatchell – who has been attacked by Muslim groups three times in the capital – condemned the behaviour.
He said: "These stickers are part of a trend by Islamists and fundamentalists to target LGBT people. It is happening at universities and in communities. The main victims of this hate-mongering are LGBT Muslims.
"A venue attached to the East London mosque hosted a speaker who invited his audience to: 'Spot the fag.' There have been a series of homophobic threats and assaults by Asian youths on LGBT people in the East End over recent years.
"I’ve been attacked by Muslim youths three times in and around Brick Lane. In all three attacks, the assailants shouted religious slogans. My LGBT Muslim friends who live in the area are nervous and anxious. They fear attack and dare not reveal their sexuality.
Later on, more folks weighed in on the issue:
The Muslim Council of Britain said it “[stands] firm against discrimination and violence against any people”.Again, very interesting.
It added: “These stickers are wrong and not in keeping with our Islamic teaching to respect our neighbours.”
However, Jack Gilbert, the co-chair of LGBT forum Rainbow Hamlets, suggested that the stickers could be the work of the groups such as the English Defence League.
“We have evidence that they were very likely to have been produced by far-right sources in order to forment community tension,” he said.
He added that police were aware of the stickers and urged people to report them if they come across them.
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