Harry's Place

You’ve have seen the “dirty bloody fag” video which shows a self-styled “Muslim Patrol” promoting their vision of moral virtue.
Here is the BBC’s report, which contains the following:
The East London Mosque responded to the video saying: “Individuals claiming to be self-styled ‘Muslim patrols’ have been harassing members of the public on the streets of east [...]

The London mayor, Boris Johnson, has vetoed the appearance of adverts due to appear on London buses paid for by a religious cult which claims to be able to “cure” homosexuality through “spiritual healing”.
Mayor Johnson said, according to The Guardian:
“London is one of the most tolerant cities in the world and intolerant of intolerance. It [...]

As we discussed yesterday, Jonathan Freedland believes that when Harry’s Place publishes articles – by Muslim liberals – expressing concern about the extreme politics of the East London Mosque/London Muslim Centre, this constitutes “monstering“:
[T]here are plenty of Muslim moderates we could meet. Trouble is, most are rapidly deemed beyond the pale by our community’s self-appointed [...]

Readers will remember that an ‘East End Pride’ event was cancelled earlier this year after EDL involvement was identified.  Today a march organised by East London Pride will take place – the route will begin in Hackney, go through Tower Hamlets and end in Bethnal Green. Peter Tatchell supports the march, but also has some [...]

A very important article by Jack Gilbert in today’s Guardian. Here is how it starts:
It’s late afternoon on Bethnal Green Road, in east London, and I am rushing from the tube for a meeting. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I catch something that brings me to a stop: a rainbow flag turned [...]

There’s a row going on, down at the East London Mosque. As usual, the row is about homophobia.
Here’s the story in a nutshell. The East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre have been in the spotlight because of their  history of hosting meetings with outspoken hate preachers who have endorsed anti Gay bigotry, including support [...]

This is a Press Release from Homintern
Key Points:

LGBT, Feminist, Humanist and Muslim activists express their support for the East London Mosque’s significant statement promising to prevent its premises from being used as a platform for homophobic speakers.
The Mosque’s statement is an important step in building trust and goodwill in the local community.
We urge the Mosque [...]

This is a guest post by Peter Tatchell (from his New Statesman article)
The negligible media coverage of Mohammed Hasnath’s conviction is rather surprising. His case has since prompted explosive claims of judicial homophobia, the criminalisation of free speech and the failure of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities to challenge [...]

Another day, another ‘interfaith’ initiative. Australia’s Christian Post reports that various Christian leaders have been upset by billboards put out by a group called ‘MyPeace’, which feature the slogan ‘Jesus: A Prophet of Islam’. But what are the Christians upset about? After all:
“MyPeace” … has said that the purpose of the campaign is to encourage [...]

This is a press release from Rainbow Hamlets
“Even the magistrate expressed the view that this was intended to offend and distress people, but somehow neither British Transport Police nor the CPS came to the same conclusion when charging him. We have little confidence in the way the investigation was conducted.” Said Co-Chairs, Jack Gilbert and [...]