Persecution of Homosexuals (United Kingdom)
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[edit] Muslims comprise just 2% of the total British population, yet they commit 25% of all anti-homosexual crimes
- LONDON (Reuters) - The Gay Police Association (GPA) has been reprimanded for an ad which implied Christians were responsible for a huge rise in violent attacks on homosexuals.
- The advert, placed in The Independent newspaper under the banner “in the name of the father” showed a Bible and a pool of blood.
- It was a one-off, used to back up the GPA’s claim that the association had recorded a 74 percent increase in homophobic incidents, where the sole or primary motivating factor was the religious belief of the perpetrator.
The truth behind this rise in attacks is buried in the fourth paragraph of this al-Reuters report:
- The association said the accompanying text made clear Christians were not the only group accused, in fact a quarter of the alleged incidents were provoked by Muslims, it said.
Charles Johnson, LGF, October 18, 2006
[edit] Iranian Parliament Member tells British officials in London that homosexuals should be executed, originally indicating that homosexuals should be "tortured"
Yahyavi, a member of the committee on energy affairs in Iran's Parliament, was a member of a delegation to Britain sent from Tehran to discuss its nation's nuclear program.
"According to Islamic law, homosexuality is a grave crime," Yahyavi was quoted as saying. "It's a severe crime that goes against the laws of nature. It is human nature to procreate and homosexuals do not procreate."
The Iranian legislator added, "We do not have any opposition to this type of behavior as long as it is done behind closed doors, but those who (engage in) this behavior in public should be put to death."
The protocol shows that Yahyavi originally indicated that homosexuals should be "tortured," but he quickly corrected himself and said they should be "put to death."GayMiddleEast, November 13, 2007
[edit] City Council says "Bristol schools have a legal duty to report and deal with homophobic harassment as part of the curriculum since April 2007", but Muslims' fury forces schools to shelve anti-homophobia storybooks
Up to 90 gathered at the schools to complain about the books which are aimed at pupils as young as five.
. . .
Bristol City Council said the two schools had been using the books to ensure they complied with gay rights laws which came into force last April.
They were intended to help prevent homophobic bullying, it said.
But the council has since removed the books from Easton Primary School and Bannerman Road Community School, both in Bristol.
A book and DVD titled That's a Family!, which teaches children about different family set-ups including gay or lesbian parents, has also been withdrawn.
The decision was made to enable the schools to "operate safely" after parents voiced their concerns at meetings.
Around 40 are said to have gathered at Easton to speak to staff and another 50 at Bannerman Road.
Members of the Bristol Muslim Cultural Society said parents were upset at the lack of consultation over the use of the materials.
Farooq Siddique, community development officer for the society and a governor at Bannerman Road, said there were also concerns about whether the stories were appropriate for young children.
"The main issue was there was a total lack of consultation with parents," he said.
. . .
A spokesman for Bristol City Council said: "All Bristol schools have a legal duty to report and deal with homophobic harassment as part of the curriculum since April 2007."
She said the council had "temporarily withdrawn" the use of the materials in question and was liaising with various groups to "ensure that the topic can be addressed in an inclusive manner in the curriculum".
Ben Summerskills of gay rights group Stonewall said: "The small number of parents who make a fuss will cause children to think there is something wrong."Laura Clark, Mail Online, April 2, 2008
[edit] Women preachers at London's Central Mosque (claimed as being moderate) are promoting extremism, telling the female congregation that Christians are "vile and disgusting" as well as calling for the murder of gays
The Central Mosque has been heretofore erroneously represented as being moderate.
The television investigation follows on the heels of a previous and similar study of other UK based mosques - Undercover Mosque - which revealed that they were pushing a radical Muslim agenda, with official assistance by the Saudi government.
Undercover Mosque, though critically acclaimed, ran afoul of elements of British law enforcement because of its "controversial" nature. Instead of acting to curb the religious hate being spread in these mosques, unbelievably the documentary's producers were accused by the West Midlands Police department of engaging in distortion and intentionally attempting to inflame the situation.
The police departments attempted censorship was rejected by Ofcom, which regulates British communication, and in a separate libel action, the West Midlands Police department was forced to pay the producers of Undercover Mosque $100,000 and apologize for their actions.
In the Monday program - Undercover Mosque, The Return - a female reporter shot video documenting shockingly fundamentalist sermons delivered by women preachers to the female congregation which called for violence against non-Muslims, adulterers and homosexuals, saying, "Kill him, kill him. You have to kill him, you understand. This is Islam."
These same preachers told their congregation that Christians are, "vile and disgusting."
The undercover reporter also showcased a DVD, on sale in the Central Mosque's bookstore, which characterized non-Muslims [kuffars] "Evil, wicked, mischievous people," adding, "you can see the evil in their face."
This same DVD called Jews abominations who have a, "disgusting gross belief - their time will come like every other evil person's time will come."
The new documentary also demonstrated the ties between this mosque and official Saudi ministries which are supplying hate-filled Wahhabist books and teaching material to further religious orthodoxy, undercutting the logic behind the government's partnering with the Saudis for purposes of suppressing Islamic radicalism.PipelineNews, September 2, 2008
[edit] Muslim gangs carry out violent attacks on gay people in East London
. . .
With 47 homophobic attacks in Tower Hamlets over the last 12 months, one man called the Advertiser to say: “It’s time we stood up for ourselves. I’m fed up with people almost excusing this kind of violence.”
Police have branded last Thursday’s assault as “evil” and are treating it as homophobic. Cops believe the 20-year-old had been walking to the gay-friendly George and Dragon pub in Hackney Road with a woman when he was attacked at the junction of Boundary Street and Austin Street in Shoreditch onThursday.
He was hounded by a group of around five teenage boys, hit over the head with a glass bottle then stabbed seven times in the back and chest. He underwent life-saving surgery at Whitechapel’s Royal London Hospital on Friday morning.
The stabbing is also being linked to an assault in the same area 24 hours before in which a man and woman were both attacked and were kicked and punched by a group of youths.
. . .
His Respect colleague Cllr Miah added: “There is no justification, in any language or any belief, for savagely setting upon a young man like this.” The gay community has grown in Bethnal Green and Shoreditch over recent years and Alan Booth, 45, who lives in Columbia Road, said it was time to fight back against homophobic violence.
He said: “It has just got worse and worse around here—it’s left people frightened to go out. The problem is with a minority of Bengali youth: but that minority is significant.
“Just because we’re gay doesn’t mean we aren’t men. It’s time we stood up for ourselves. I’m fed up with people excusing this kind of violence and the gay community are as guilty as anyone else in that.
“It’s time we got some intelligent, sensible people together to discuss what we can do to make it safer for the gay community and for everyone in Shoreditch.”
The three men arrested in connection with the attack have since been released on police bail.EastLondonAdvertiser, September 4, 2008
[edit] Muslim preacher calls for gays to be stoned to death, adding that this would include gay business secretary Lord Peter Mandelson
The former lawyer, who lives on benefits, added that this would include gay business secretary Lord Peter Mandelson, who, under Sharia law, would first be educated about the “evils” of homosexuality then executed if he confessed to a same-sex relationship.
He was speaking at a press conference in London organised by Islamic extremists to justify a protest in Luton last week against soldiers returning home from Iraq.
Choudary said: “If a man likes another man, it can happen, but if you go on to fulfil your desire, if it is proved, then there is a punishment to follow. You don’t stone to death unless there are four eyewitnesses. It is a very stringent procedure. “There are some people who are attracted to donkeys but that does not mean it is right.”
Conservative MP Patrick Mercer told the Daily Mail: “These statements show the depravity of this man’s beliefs. They must incite hatred and encourage terrorism, and I would encourage the Metropolitan Police to investigate them as rigorously as possible.”
A Scotland Yard spokesman said police would investigate Choudary’s remarks if a complaint was made. Choudary has previously called for Sharia law to be implemented in the UK.PinkNews, March 23, 2009
[edit] 2009 Gallup survey finds that British Muslims have zero tolerance for Homosexuality. Not even a single British Muslim interviewed believed that homosexual acts were morally acceptable
“The most dramatic contrast was found in attitudes towards homosexuality,” the study said. “None of the 500 British Muslims interviewed believed that homosexual acts were morally acceptable.”
Remarkable. They couldn’t find a single British Muslim who would come out publicly in support of homosexuals. Not one.IHateTheMedia, May 22, 2009
[edit] Failed Muslim asylum seeker beats and kicks a gay sales assistant to death
Mossab Belhocine, 19, of Forest Road, Walthamstow, kicked and beat 28-year-old David Cooper to death in November last year.
The Algerian national kicked his victim so hard an imprint of his trainer was left on Mr Cooper’s face.
During the eight-day Old Bailey trial the court heard how Belhocine, also known as Adam Saidi, met Mr Cooper in Soho before the pair travelled to the victim's flat in Calderwood Street, Woolwich.
The killer says he punched and kicked the sales assistant to stop him from raping him, but the court was told the Algerian had been planning a robbery.Mhairi Macfarlane, Guardian, July 9, 2009
[edit] Vice Chancellor of City University London, allows the Islamic Society to host Muslim preacher who advocates the murder of gays and apostates
. . .
Another speaker given a platform at the same City University event on 4 November, Murthadah Khan, was also caught on the Undercover Mosque documentary calling Jews and Christians “enemies” and “filthy”.
“It is utterly disgraceful that the student’s union has defended the
hosting of these two hate preachers, and that the Vice Chancellor has
not responded to complaints from students.
. . .
Harry's Place, November 22, 2009
[edit] Families force suspected homosexual men into arranged marriages
In 2009 it received more than 220 emails and calls to its help line about male victims, up from 134 in 2008.
Many male victims were forced into marriage because their families know or suspect they are gay, it said.
The majority of cases involve families from South Asia, particularly Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
Professionals working with young people were urged to be vigilant during summer, a time when incidents increase.
Men accounted for 14% of the total number of forced marriage cases, numbering 1,682, referred to the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) last year.
However, due to under-reporting, the figures are thought to be well below the actual number of forced marriages.
It is estimated that there are more like 10,000 incidents of forced marriage involving British nationals each year and that up to 20% are men.
The FMU, a joint initiative between the Foreign Office and the Home Office, said that men were often victims for a "variety of reasons".
They included family commitments and expectations, securing visas or the desire to control behaviour and protect a family's reputation, the unit said.BBC News, July 1, 2010
[edit] ‘Gays are un-Islamic.’ Muslims with megaphones disrupt the 3rd Derby Gay Pride festival, a street festival followed by a street parade of gays and lesbians
Derby has a large muslim community and up to 2,000 people attend Friday prayers at the Jamia Mosque on Normanton road.
Posters advertising a protest against the festival were seen in the Normanton Road area of Derby earlier on in the week. The posters urged muslims to demonstrate against the Derby Gay Pride festival as ‘gays are un-islamic’.
Around a dozen muslims gathered outside St Peters Church, some with megaphones and ‘chanting in a foreign language’ according to my source who was in the area.
A woman stood in front of them waving a placard that said ‘Live and let live’ and trying to argue her point along with a couple of men. The muslims just drowned them out with megaphones.
A group of 30-40 shoppers stood around trying to see what was happening before walking off in disgust, either shaking their heads or calling the muslim group scum.DerbyPatriot, July 10, 2010
[edit] Radical Islam is being openly practised at a leading university campus. Gay and Jewish students feel scared and intimidated
Think tank Quilliam said they had evidence of hard-line Islamist ideology being promoted through the leadership of the university's student Islamic Society at City University in central London.
The group had intimidated and harassed staff, students and members of minority groups, it was claimed.
. . .
They said the president - Saleh Patel, was recorded saying: 'When they say to us 'the Islamic state teaches to cut the hand of the thief', yes it does!
'And it also teaches us to stone the adulterer.
'When they tell us that the Islamic state tells us and teaches us to kill the apostate, yes it does!
'Because this is what Allah and his messenger have taught us and this is the religion of Allah and it is Allah who legislates and only Allah has the right to legislate.'
'When a person leaves one prayer, one prayer intentionally, he should be imprisoned for three days and three nights and told to repent.
'And if he doesn't repent and offer his prayer then he should be killed. And the difference of opinion lies with regards to how he should be killed not as to what he is - a kafir or a Muslim'.
According to students interviewed for the report, the actions of leading members of the ISoc made members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Society (LGBT) feel 'scared'.
Some Jewish students felt 'intimidated', and the group's actions forced ordinary Muslim students to adopt hard-line Islamic practices which led to some Muslim students publishing an open letter complaining that their religion had been 'hijacked' by the ISoc.
Report author Lucy James, said: 'It is deeply shocking that such extremism is being openly promoted on a university campus in central London.Daily Mail, October 18, 2010
[edit] Muslim parents try to persuade lesbian daughter to take her own life after beating, burning, abusing and forcing her to marry in an attempt to protect family 'honour'
"I tried to introduce it to them, because I knew it was a thing you don't talk about. It's forbidden. But once you mention 'homosexual' the discussion is over. You can't go into detail about it."
Far from accepting the situation, Reviva's parents set up weekly meetings with eligible bachelors - and reacted with violence when their teenage daughter refused to play along.
"The worst thing they tried was burning my hand on the stove. Anything they could grab, they'd hit you until you'd sort of pass out.
"They always tried to hit me where it couldn't be seen, to hide the scars. Because don't forget I was meant to get married, so I was meant to have skin that isn't damaged."
Reviva says she attempted suicide several times, knowing that she could never satisfy her parents, for whom she reserves an unmistakable venom.
. . .
In a desperate attempt to force the situation, her father even signed her away in an Islamic marriage to a man in another country, who she had never met.
Reviva, who was still at school, used her impending exams as a delaying tactic to ensure the relationship was never consummated and it was ultimately annulled.
Far from ending, her ordeal intensified. The troubled teenager was taken to her grandmother's house in the Middle East where, as she recalls with a chilling lack of emotion, her parents tried persuading her to take her own life.
"I was damaging the family honour. I was making the family looking like a modernised, westernised, filthy family. So what they wanted to do is get rid of what is damaging the honour.
"They put you in a room on your own, I don't get any food, or any water, and I have to just sit there and wait to die or kill myself."
To aid the process, a gun, a knife, and pills were left in the room, along with a can of petrol and a box of matches. In her view, Reviva says it would have amounted to murder, not suicide, should she have decided to kill herself.
"But I wasn't in a situation where I felt I have to end my life. Even if I was, I wouldn't have done it the way they wanted me to do it."Adrian Goldberg, BBC News, October 24, 2010
[edit] 5000 children attending Islamic schools in the UK which teach their pupils that ‘gays should be executed’
According to a BBC Panorama investigation to be screened tonight, the Sharia law classes use textbooks which tell children that the penalty for gay sex is execution, that “Zionists” are plotting to take over the world for the Jews and the correct way to cut off the hands and feet of convicted thieves.
One book for six-year-olds asks children what happens to someone who does not believe in Islam. The answer, according to the programme, is “hellfire”.
. . .
According to the Daily Mail, one textbook for 15-year-olds identified by the programme says: “For thieves their hands will be cut off for a first offence, and their foot for a subsequent offence.”
Diagrams showing where cuts should be made accompany the text, which says: : “The specified punishment of the thief is cutting off his right hand at the wrist. Then it is cauterised to prevent him from bleeding to death.”
Gay sex is punished by execution, the schools allegedly teach. However, children are told that clerics are said to differ in whether the guilty person should be stoned, thrown off a cliff or burnt.
Other textbooks are said to ask students to list the “reprehensible” qualities of Jews and claim that Jews are transformed into pigs and monkeys.PinkNews, November 22, 2010
[edit] Ibis Hotel to host Muslim conference which includes speakers who have stated homosexuality must be treated “harshly” to protect society and that “a slow and painful death by stoning” is the punishment
Speakers include Shaykh Abdullah Hakim Quick, who was recorded saying that the Islamic position on homosexuality is “death” and the Muslims will have to do more than “call names” to counter it.
Another speaker is Abdur-Raheem Green, who is said to have written on his website that adultery and homosexuality must be treated “harshly” to protect society and that “a slow and painful death by stoning” is the punishment.
. . .
Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell is calling for the Ibis group to cancel the conference’s booking, saying that events calling for Muslims to be killed would not be allowed.
He said that five more conference speakers – Shaykh Ala El Sayed, Shaykh Yusuf Estes, Shaykh Shady Suleiman, Hamza Tzortzis and Yusuf Chambers – had made anti-gay statements.
. . .
“Neither the government nor the police would allow an event with speakers who had called for the killing of Muslims to ‘keep society pure’ and stop the spread of their religion. Such extreme anti-Muslim hate speech would not be tolerated.
Jessica Geen, PinkNews, January 14, 2011
[edit] Five Muslims delivering and handing out leaflets calling for homosexuals to be executed are the first ever to be prosecuted under the new anti-homophobia laws
It is the first prosecution since laws outlawing homophobia came into force last March.
The pair were yesterday charged with distributing the leaflet, titled “The Death Penalty?”, outside the Jamia Mosque in Derby in July last year.
They are also accused of placing the leaflets through local letterboxes during the same month, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
The pair, who were arrested after a tip-off from the public, have been charged with distributing threatening written material intending to stir up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.
. . .
“Following complaints from the public, Derbyshire Police mounted a thorough investigation.”
Andrew Hough, The Telegraph, January 28, 2011
Ahjaz Ali, 41, Umer Javed, 37 and Mehboob Hassain, 44, are accused of distributing threatening material.
. . .
BBC News, January 2011
[edit] Muslims call for gay-free zone in East London, a venue attached to the East London mosque hosts a speaker who invited his audience to 'Spot the fag', and gay students at South Bank University are threatened
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.
"Only last week there were reports of threats being sent by Islamists to gay students at South Bank University. LGBT History Month posters have been defaced by extremist Muslim students. Several universities have hosted hate preachers who endorse the killing of LGBT people.Peter Lloyd with Dylan Jones, PinkPaper, February 15, 2011
[edit] Muslim on benefits and on bail for defacing women's fashion ad board, caught on CCTV posting stickers warning gays that homosexuality is wrong and "Allah is severe in punishment" outside church, hospital, etc.
The stickers showed a rainbow flag with a black line through it stating "Gay free zone".
They caused outrage among the community, with one Jewish resident said it reminded him of Nazi signs his mother had faced in the 30s declaring an area a "Jew free zone".
Others said it made them fearful for their safety.
. . .
The stickers, which were posted at Bow Church DLR, on the inside of a bus, at a bus stop in Whitechapel and outside the Royal London Hospital, showed a rainbow flag with a black line through it.
Above the flag was printed "Arise and warn" and below it said "And fear Allah: Verily Allah is severe in punishment." Both were followed by references to the English version of the Koran.
Mr Watts told Westminster Magistrates Court that Hasnath was arrested after he was spotted on CCTV putting up the sticker at Bow Church and confessed to police he had also been handing them out to young Muslim men in the area.
"He said this was because in the Koran it was forbidden for any person to be a homosexual and as a practising Muslim it was against his religion," Mr Watts said.
. . .
Hasnath, who lives with his family in Tower Hamlets and survives on job seekers allowance, was fined £100, ordered to pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge. The offence could not carry a custodial sentence.
. . .
The Telegraph, June 3, 2011
[edit] Police cover up violent campaign to turn London area Islamic. Muslim mob of 30 storm local gay pub beating and abusing patrons. Previous attack by Muslim mob left 20-year-old gay student permanently paralysed
. . .
Tower Hamlets’ gay community has become a particular target of extremists. Homophobic crimes in the borough have risen by 80 per cent since 2007/8, and by 21 per cent over the last year, a period when there was a slight drop in London as a whole.
Last year, a mob of 30 young Muslims stormed a local gay pub, the George and Dragon, beating and abusing patrons. Many customers of the pub told The Sunday Telegraph that they have been attacked and harassed by local Muslim youths. In 2008 a 20-year-old student, Oli Hemsley, was left permanently paralysed after an attack by a group of young Muslims outside the pub. Only one of his assailants has been caught and jailed.
Even during meetings of the local council, prominent supporters of Tower Hamlets’ controversial directly-elected mayor, Lutfur Rahman – dropped by the Labour Party for his links to Islamic fundamentalism - have persistently targeted gay councillors with homophobic abuse and intimidation from the public gallery.
The Labour leader, Josh Peck, was attacked with animal noises and cries of “Unnatural acts! Unnatural acts!” when he rose to speak. The Conservative leader, Peter Golds, was repeatedly heckled as “Mrs Golds” and a “poofter”.
Mr Golds said: “If that happened in a football stadium, arrests would have taken place. I have complained, twice, to the police, and have heard nothing. A Labour colleague waited three hours at the police station before being told that nothing would be done. The police are afraid of being accused of Islamophobia. Another Labour councillor said that the Met is now the reverse of what it must have been like in the 1970s, with a complete lack of interest when white people make complaints of harassment and hatred.”
In February this year, dozens of stickers appeared across Tower Hamlets quoting the Koran, declaring the borough a “gay-free zone” and stating that “verily Allah is severe in punishment.”
The Sunday Telegraph has learned that during a routine stop-and-search at the time police found a young Muslim man with a number of the stickers in his possession. He was released without charge on the advice of the Crown Prosecution Service. Police also had CCTV images of a second unidentified Muslim youth posting the stickers at a local railway station, but refused to release the pictures for several weeks.
Peter Tatchell, the gay human rights campaigner, said: “The police said no-one was allowed to talk publicly about this because they didn’t want to upset the Muslim community. We’ve made very clear the difference between the Muslim community as a whole and these particular fundamentalists, and the fact that the police wouldn’t publicly say what they knew was an absolute disgrace.”
When the CCTV footage was finally released, in early April, the culprit was quickly identified as 18-year-old Mohammed Hasnath, who last week pleaded guilty to a public order offence and was fined £100. Jack Gilbert, of the Rainbow Hamlets gay group, said a more serious charge should have been brought. “The vast majority of the community saw the material as threatening, but the police were not willing to accept it as threatening,” he said.
Hasnath’s “interests” on his Facebook page include Khalid Yasin, a hate preacher who describes Jews as “filth” and teaches that homosexuals must be killed. Yasin has spoken at least four times since 2007 at the East London Mosque, Tower Hamlets’ most prominent Muslim institution. Although the mosque claims to be against extremism, discrimination, and violence, it has hosted dozens of hate, extremist or terrorist preachers and also hosted a “Spot The Fag” contest.
In the same week that it issued a press release condemning the anti-gay stickers, the mosque was also due to host a “gala dinner” with Uthman Lateef, a homophobic hate preacher.Andrew Gilligan, The Telegraph, June 12, 2011
[edit] Gay anti-EDL activists holding placards such as 'Gays & Muslims UNITE! Stop the EDL', fear the threat of violence and are subjected to homophobic hostility from Muslim co-protesters who attempt to destroy placards
As reported on PinkPaper.com, Tatchell had planned Saturday's counter-protest in response to a static demonstration held by the English Defense League which drew more than 1,000 supporters, despite a ban by Home Secretary Theresa May.
He said he was there to: “defend the Muslim community against EDL thuggery” and because he “wanted to stand in solidarity with Muslims who oppose far right Islamists."
But, while holding placards which read 'Stop EDL & far right Islamists. No to ALL hate' and 'Gays & Muslims UNITE! Stop the EDL', Tatchell was subjected to anti-gay hostility from a minority of homophobic Muslims who, ironically, were part of the anti-EDL demonstration.
According to the veteran equality activist, the group attempted to destroy the placards and were intimidating. At one point he feared the threat of violence.
Speaking to PinkPaper.com, Tatchell said: “I was surrounded several times throughout the day by angry Muslim youths who ordered me: ‘You must remove this placard...You can’t walk here with these words...We don’t allow gays in this area...Gays are not permitted here...We don’t have gays in Tower Hamlets’. When I suggested that LGBT Muslims must also be defended against the EDL, I was told: "Gays can't be Muslims...We will never accept them (LGBT Muslims)...They can't come around here...We won't allow it."
He added: "My response was to engage with these Muslims hotheads and argue against them. The discussions got very heated; at times even menacing and scary. There were moments when I thought I was going to be physically attacked."
Despite this, Tatchell said the moment passed without incident – partly because of police presence and also because other members of the Muslim community intervened and offered their support.
He described the latter as being "significant" in diffusing the situation.
Yet it was not just Muslims who opposed Tatchell's presence at the demonstration.
In a statement released earlier today, he claims he also suffered: "dirty looks from a small number of left-wing and LGBT anti-EDL protesters, some of whom said explicitly that our placards were 'insensitive...provocative...inappropriate...divisive'."
They also claimed he was "racist...fascist...anti-Muslim".
Sixty people were arrested at the demonstrations for violent disorder.Telsha Arora, Pink Paper, September 5, 2011
