Gay Free Zone Stickers: Stuck On You

"Why did a few anti-gay stickers in East London provoke an outcry by gay groups, while far worse homophobia passed without protest?" asks Peter Tatchell on New Statesman online.
"While bigoted opinions should always be challenged, in most instances only explicit incitements to violence and damaging libels (such as false allegations of tax fraud or child abuse) should be criminalised.
"Moreover, why did the Hasnath stickers provoke howls of rage from the LGBT community, when far worse homophobia in the same area of East London stirred hardly a murmur of protest? I don't recall any campaigns by LGBT groups or anti-fascist organisations in response to the wave of horrific queer-bashing attacks in the East End. Surely this actual physical violence - which left at least one gay man permanently disabled - is much more deserving of protests than a few stickers? Where is the LGBT outcry over homophobic assaults?
"Nor can I remember any protests when the East London Mosque/London Muslim Centre hosted a series of virulently homophobic speakers, including Uthman Lateef and Abdul Karim Hattim. The latter gave lecturers in which he invited young Muslims to 'Spot the Fag'...
"Equally, there were no protests when Abdul Muhid openly incited the murder of gay people in East London and when the Crown Prosecution Service refused to bring him to trial. In my opinion, encouraging murder is many times more serious and dangerous than calling for a Gay Free Zone. Again, no protests by LGBT groups..."
Peter Tatchell concludes;
"Many LGBT campaigners are now terrified of similar false, malicious allegations of racism or Islamophobia..."
But is anyone surprised by that when it has been proven that gay racists and gay Islamophobes have been exploiting this situation?

• The Islamophobia/Homophobia debate continued to rage on over the weekend with more claims - 'Homophobia In Tower Hamlets: How A Small Group Of Bigots Are Trying To Stitch Up The East London Mosque' (Islamophobia Watch) - and counter-claims; 'East London Mosque under pressure over hate preachers' (Andrew Gilligan, Telegraph online)...

• There is an open letter "[Calling] on East London Mosque to Stop Providing Platform for Anti-Gay Hate"
"The East London Mosque claims to have no responsibility over those who speak there. The East London Mosque also claims to be opposed to the 'gay-free zone' campaign and homophobia. We demand that the East London Mosque live up to its stated word, take ownership of its platform and stop allowing its premises to be used to promote gay-hate campaigns...
"We celebrate East London's diverse multicultural communities and affirm the need to tackle all intolerance. Both Muslims and LGBT people - especially LGBT Muslims - know the pain of prejudice, discrimination and hate crime. We stand together with our neighbours, united against all hate. Anti-Muslim bigotry and homophobia have no place in our communities."
Salman Farsi, Communications Officer from the East London Mosque, has responded via The Guardian:
"Any speaker who is believed to have said something homophobic will not be allowed to use our premises, whether that is us organising an event or someone else. As for the condemnation of homophobia, our director has gone on the record on this."

Update: Interesting comment on PT's article on Islamophobia Watch.

Isalamophobia: "Fanatic" Puts Up Four Stickers - Now Charged

'Muslim fanatic fined £100 for 'gay free zone' stickers'
Fagburn doesn't know about you, but I think this is the end of the world.
Some stickers, you say?
How dare he?
Apparently the young chap was "a bit foreign".
He'd get less time if he repeatedly ran over the head of a baby.
I may put up a sticker.

The Daily Mail: "The London Taliban"

Here's a funny thing - The Daily Mail is standing up for The Gays!
But only cause they hate them Muslamics even more;
'Wear A Headscarf Or We Will Kill You: How the 'London Taliban' is targeting women and gays in bid to impose sharia law'
"An Asian woman who works in a pharmacy in east London was told to dress more modestly and wear a veil or the shop would be boycotted.
"When she went to the media to talk about the abuse she suffered, a man later entered the pharmacy and told her: 'If you keep doing these things, we are going to kill you'."
Anything else apart from this?
Some anti-gay stickers have been put up - we still don't know by who yet - and "the daubing of paint on posters for clothing shop H&M featuring women in bikinis." [See above photo - and again, by who?]
It's hardly downtown Kabul in the 1990s, is it?
How interesting that the Mail - so often happily gay-bashing, standing up for religious nutters "rights" to be bigoted, and complaining about the sexualisation of popular culture is getting irate about this.
The story is actually a more hysterical rewrite of one in The Sunday Times; 'London Taliban Tell Women To Cover Up'
Is this really anymore offensive than any of the recent calls for the burqa to be banned in Britain in The Daily Mail?

Update: Almost all the right-wing papers ran "London Taliban" scare stories Monday, all based on the one incident reported in The Sunday Times.

• Here's an excellent edition of BBC Radio 4's Face The Facts on the UK media publishing negative, distorted and untrue stories about Muslims and Islam.

Stickergate: Some Elementary Comments

Someone has put a few crappy anti-gay stickers up in east London.
It's hardly the Reichstag fire, is it?
So what does this story feed into that's made it flare up?
It has exposed a faultline that reminds me of the trial of OJ Simpson - many made up their mind who did this the second they heard.
It's also brought a lot of gay racists out the woodwork/closet/dungheap.
If someone keeps mentioning that people are "brown-skinned", it's fairly safe to assume they have a problem with brown-skinned people.
Looking at messageboards it's clear that gay racists would be thrilled if this could be blamed on a Muslim.
And if "no-one's talking about Muslim homophobia", why do I keep reading articles about it - from the usual reactionary suspects?
Has even one article about gay Islamophobia been published in the wake of Stickergate?
At the time of typing we do not know who put the stickers up.
One thing we do now know as a result of Stickergate is that the English Defence League tried to exploit it as a way of picking up support from gay men.
If they weren't behind it the EDL would have welcomed it.
To stir up or celebrate division between oppressed groups is the morality and tactics of Charles Manson.
I wish I could end on an upbeat Pollyanna/Pangloss note, but I can't think of anything good that's come out of all this.

Gay Free Zone Stickers: Bigots Against Bigotry

British Transport Police have released this CCTV image of a man they want to speak to in connection with the "Gay free zone" stickers that appeared in east London earlier this year.
Detective Constable Elaine Sexton said; “These stickers are offensive and we are keen to identify the man in the images as we believe he has information which may assist the investigation.”
No-one has been arrested.
No-one has been charged.
No-one has been found guilty.
But good to see the gay racist lynch mob is already on the warpath.
Makes you proud to be British.
And gay.

East End Gay Pride: Not An EDL Free Zone

Blogger Latte Labour has been keeping watch on English Defence League support for East End Gay Pride - and how organisers of the event are happy to allow EDL supporters to join their Facebook group.
Oh dear...
We still don't know who is behind the "Gay Free Zone - Fear Allah" posters that have appeared in parts of London this year; Fagburn thinks it could just as easily be some of the gay cunts who support the English Defence League, or some hate-filled homophobic Islamist cunts.
But it's interesting to note how EDLeaguers are getting behind East End Gay Pride.
Time for East End Gay Pride to declare their event an EDL free zone.

• Johann Hari has added a correction after the online version of his article, 'Can We Talk About Muslim Homophobia Now?' "This article originally said Tower Hamlets had the single highest rise in homophobic violence in the UK, when in fact it merely had one of the highest rises over the past decade. Credit to Peter Lilley for emailing to point this out..."
This is a somewhat mendacious non-apology, if you read Lilley's letter again - it's posted in Comments here.
And Hari may have to print a Correction to this Correction: It was PATRICK Lilley who pointed this out.
Facts really aren't Hari's strong point.

"Gay Free Zone" Posters In London: Is EDL Behind Them?

Being a thoroughly modern kinda guy I was chatting to people on Facebook last night.
A friend had posted about some anti-gay posters that have appeared in Hoxton, near the gay pub The George & Dragon;
"Loads of these posters have been seen around London. Who is behind them?"
There's been a lot of chatter about these "Gay Free Zone" posters this week.
They were first noted by blogger, Trial By Jeory, Extremists declare Tower Hamlets “gay free zone”, on February 2nd. A friend of his had seen some stickers [both posters and stickers have appeared] in Spitalfields, in East London.
On Thursday, The Daily Star picked up the story.
They're not usually known for getting angry about homophobia - but boy do they love any excuse to demonise Muslims.
FURY AS ISLAM FANATICS DECLARE GAY-FREE ZONE
"MUSLIM extremists have declared a “Gay Free Zone” by launching a hate campaign at homosexuals.
"They have plastered an inner-city area with posters warning gays they will be “severely punished” by Allah.
"Angry locals in Tower Hamlets, east London, say the messages have been placed near schools and are aimed at children.
"One resident, who helped take down 20 posters, said: “They are an incitement to violence, an incitement to kill gay people.
“To put them opposite a school is shocking. There were also kids in a playground in the park where I found one. It’s a campaign of hate.”
Hmmm...
On Monday, the great Charlie Brooker devoted his column in The Guardian to a much praised attack on The Daily Star, and its rampant Islamophobia;
'Q: When does a tabloid become crude propaganda? A: When it starts printing it'
"...the Daily Star is either grossly irresponsible in its sloppy representation of the facts, or engaging in overt anti-Muslim propaganda.
"Who can blame a reader who, after reading such a skewed version of events, is gripped with anti- Muslim fervour?
"On the same page was a phone poll: DO YOU AGREE WITH THE EDL POLICIES? 98% of the respondents did. If I read the Star every day, and believed it, I'd join the EDL too."
Do you know my first thought when I heard about the anti-gay stickers? It's what I posted on Facebook last night;
"I think it's probably the English Defence League doing this, in all seriousness."
My friend replied; "Yeah, i agree that this may not be what it first appears. I made that point a few days ago and think it's really important to establish who's behind it. Quite easily a far-right tactic to create tensions."
Several people commented that they had suspected the same thing.
The EDL is often banging on about homophobia and Islam - and appear keen to attract gay supporters; they even claimed in December to have dis-invited Koran-burning Pastor Terry Jones to adddress a rally, in part because of his homophobia.
Of course, there is a strong homophobic current among Islamists.
Last month five Muslim men were arrested in Derby for distributing a leaflet that called for the execution of gay men.
So we shouldn't be surprised if some hate-filled Islamic fuckwits have been plastering east London with these posters.
But equally I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out the EDL were behind it.
Here's how Charlie Brooker concluded his column on Monday;
"I believe this is a wonderful country. All of it. The people are inherently decent and fair-minded. All of them. We should resist crude attempts at division, wherever they come from. Because we deserve better. All of us."