Peter Tatchell - Campaigns - Islam

Islam

Tatchell is critical of Muslim fundamentalism, and first wrote on the growth of Islamic fundamentalism in Britain in 1995. However, Tatchell has condemned Islamophobia in his writings, saying "Any form of prejudice, hatred, discrimination or violence against Muslims is wrong. Full stop". He has described the Qur'an as "rather mild in its condemnation of homosexuality". Tatchell also points out that much of his prison and asylum casework involves supporting Muslim prisoners and asylum seekers—heterosexual, as well as LGBT. In 2006, he helped stop the abuse of Muslim prisoners at Norwich jail, and he has helped secure parole for other Muslim detainees. Half his asylum cases are, he reports, male and female Muslim refugees. Two of his highest-profile campaigns have involved Muslim victims of injustice—Mohamed S, who was framed by men who tried to kill him and jailed for eight years, and Sid Saeed, who brought a racist and homophobic harassment case against Deutsche Bank.

Tatchell has described Sharia law as "a clerical form of fascism" on the grounds that it opposes democracy and human rights, especially for women and gay people. He was the keynote speaker at a 2005 protest at the Canadian High Commission over Ontario's arbitration law, which already permitted religious arbitration in civil cases for Jews and Christians, being extended to Muslims. Tatchell argued there should be no separate systems of arbitration for any religion. In 1995 he wrote that "although not all Muslims are anti-gay, significant numbers are violently homophobic ... homophobic Muslim voters may be able to influence the outcome of elections in 20 or more marginal constituencies."

Tatchell describes the umbrella group Muslim Council of Britain as "anti-gay", asking how "they expect to win respect for their community, if at the same time as demanding action against Islamophobia, they themselves demand the legal enforcement of homophobia?". He noted that the MCB had joined forces with right-wing Christian fundamentalists to oppose every gay law reform from 1997 to 2006. The opposition of MCB Chairman Sir Iqbal Sacranie to homosexuality and registration of civil partnerships led Tatchell to observe "Both the Muslim and gay communities suffer prejudice and discrimination. We should stand together to fight Islamophobia and homophobia". Tatchell subsequently criticised Unite Against Fascism for inviting Sacranie to share its platforms, describing him as a bigot and a "homophobic hate-mongerer." This was in response to Sacranie's denunciation of gay people as immoral, harmful and diseased on BBC Radio 4. When the MCB boycotted Holocaust Memorial Day, partly because it included a commemoration of the gay victims of Nazism, Tatchell wrote that "the only thing that is consistent about the MCB is its opposition to the human rights of lesbians and gay men".

A colleague of Tatchell's, the Islamic theologian Muhammad Yusuf, a research fellow with Interfaith Alliance UK, withdrew from a planned lecture on "an Islamic reformation that reconciles Islam with democracy and human rights, including human rights for women and gay people" after he received threats from Islamist fundamentalists. Yusuf said that "senior Islamic clerics" told him they could not guarantee his safety if he went ahead. The lecture was to raise funds for the Peter Tatchell Human Rights Fund.

Tatchell chose Malcolm X as his specialist subject when appearing on Celebrity Mastermind, explaining that he considered him an inspiration and hero (his other inspirations are Mahatma Gandhi, Sylvia Pankhurst and Martin Luther King). However, his endorsement of Bruce Perry's biography in an article calling for black gay role models has led to criticism due to Perry's claim that Malcolm X had male lovers in his youth.

Following the hanging of two teenage boys, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni by Iranian authorities, Tatchell reiterated his long-standing view that the Islamic Republic of Iran is an "Islamo-fascist state". Tatchell insists the two youths appear to have been hanged merely for being gay. He bases this opinion on information from gay activists inside Iran and from gay friends of the hanged youths who were with them at a secret gay party before they were arrested. The Iranian government and state-licensed media claim the youths were guilty of rape of a 13 year old boy at knifepoint. Tatchell observes that trumped up charges are routine in Iran. Left-wing political oppositionists are, for example, often had up on false charges such as spying, adultery, drug taking, sodomy and alcoholism. No claims by the Iranian government or judiciary should ever be taken at face value, he says. International human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch preferred campaigners to focus on the propriety of hanging two teenagers rather than the disputed connection to gay sex. Faisal Alam, founder of American Gay Muslim group Al-Fatiha, argued in the magazine Queer that Iran was condemned before the facts were certain, and in 2003 the United Nations Committee Against Torture noted that "from different and reliable sources that there currently is no active policy of prosecution of charges of homosexuality in Iran". This is disputed by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. They confirm that the death penalty exists for homosexuality in Iran and that gay and lesbian people suffer persecution, including arrest, torture, imprisonment and execution by slow strangulation. This is corroborated by the Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees (formerly the Persian Gay and Lesbian Organisation), most of whose members are based inside Iran and regularly provide reports of homophobic beatings, torture and imprisonment by state agents.

In 2004, then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone criticised Tatchell for perpetuating Islamophobia over comments he made concerning the pending visit of the Muslim scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Two years later, Livingstone stated that he "probably shouldn't" have called Tatchell an "Islamophobe", but defended his actions at the time by saying "in politics you engage with people which you have profound disagreements with...", giving as an example then-Mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov's support of London for the 2012 Olympics as vital to the bid's success in spite of Luzhkov's regular bans of Moscow Pride.

Concerning the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, Tatchell spoke at an event whose organisers termed a "Rally for free expression" defending the publication of cartoons of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and in support for free speech in general. Tatchell had expected "thousands" to attend the event, which was held on 25 March 2006, but police estimated only 250 people attended.

Tatchell's speech at the rally included the following: "As well as challenging religious-inspired tyranny, let us also say loud and clear that we defend Muslim communities against prejudice and discrimination. Let us declare that we deplore the homophobia, race hate, Islamophobia and antisemitism of the British National Party."

Speaking to the Guardian following the release of the Borat film in the UK, Tatchell criticised Sacha Baron Cohen for his double standards and ‘self-censorship', saying "he regards Christians and Jews as fair game, he never gives Muslims the same doing over".

In February 2010, Women Against Fundamentalism defended Tatchell against allegations of Islamophobia and endorsed his right to challenge all religious fundamentalism: "WAF supports the right of Peter Tatchell and numerous other gay activists to oppose the legitimisation of fundamentalists and other right wing forces on university campuses, by the Left and by the government in its Preventing Violent Extremism strategy and numerous other programmes and platforms".