Particularly since Sept. 11, I have written in great detail, and have traveled to speak at gay-pride celebrations and universities, about
what it means to be at the intersection of being gay and Muslim.
Some annoyed readers have sent me e-mails accusing me of being a gay ‘apologist’ for Islam. I find this accusation rather
amusing on two counts: I personally am, and have long been, an atheist; and I wasn’t aware that Islam required an apology, any more
than Christianity or Judaism or Buddhism.
In all of my writing and speaking on this issue, I have tried repeatedly to show gay and lesbian people why we as a group of
people who have been discriminated against and lied about and mis-portrayed, should have a particular interest in the wrongs that
are happening to Muslims in this country.
I’m sad to report that the most common response to my assertions is a big fat ‘Huh?’
Because most gay and lesbian people know no Muslims personally—just like many straight people once knew no gays or
lesbians—we as a community often find it hard to make the links and connections to the importance of protecting the civil and legal
rights of Muslims. Instead, like many Americans, we often get swept up in the murky arguments of ‘security’—a convenient, catch-all
straw man for those who would violate our precious American values.
We forget that gays and lesbians once used to be randomly rounded up by the police, too, and that our enemies have long used
the ‘safety’ argument when dealing with, say, children, as a ruse to justify their extreme behavior and prejudices towards us.
Still, most gay and lesbian people I’ve encountered just don’t feel the same affinity for civil rights with Muslims as we might feel
with African Americans or other groups.
But the connection was starkly illustrated in Charlotte, NC, where members of a fundamentalist religious group gathered to protest
what they consider to be some of the evils of the world. Among their targets: both homosexuals and Muslims.
The group is called Operation Save America, and planned eight days of protests in Charlotte, from July 12 through July 20. (As of
the writing of this column, those protests were still being held.)
Operation Save America was originally a Dallas, Texas-based operation, but this past year it moved to Concord, NC. Philip
Benham, the group’s ringleader, says he is a peaceful man, and that his organization is a peaceful group.
But police are not convinced, and before the protests started, the authorities warned gays, Muslims and abortion-rights activists to
stay clear of the demonstrators because they might try to provoke clashes. The group was present at Charlotte’s gay pride, and
screamed and yelled during the public commitment ceremony of a dozen gay and lesbian couples. (An Operation Save America
press release described the event as a ‘homosexual fiesta … confronted by the word of God.’)
On the group’s agenda this time: Protesting in front of abortion clinics; demonstrating in front of the Metropolitan Community
Church with nine ‘caskets’—one for each Supreme Court judge, to show their unhappiness about the recent Supreme Court decision
to strike down the country’s sodomy laws; and targeting area mosques.
I went to Operation Save America’s Web site, and found these interesting tidbits: A photo of Benham fully dressed in a blue shirt
and tie, submerged above his waist in a swimming pool and holding a red sponge over his head. Water from the sponge has just
been used in what the caption describes as a ‘baptism’ of Norma McCorvey—the woman known better as Jane Roe in the famous
abortion-rights ruling of Roe v. Wade.
The group’s logo is a cross with the words, ‘Jesus is the Standard.’ The insinuation, of course, is that anything else is a
‘deviation.’
But Operation Save America isn’t going for the subtle inferences. They speak their bigotry out loud. In fact, the Web site proudly
discusses the group’s national actions, including one core of volunteers they call ‘Team Intolerant’ in Florida. Operation Save
America even prints up black jerseys printed with the words ‘INTOLERANT’ emblazoned on them in white block letters. Their mantra:
‘Homosexuality is Sin, Islam is a Lie and Abortion is Murder.’
Frightening as all the hatred the group spews on its site in the name of Jesus, I was hopeful that maybe one good thing can come
out of the antics of Operation Save America: Maybe it will help some gay and lesbian people see more clearly how and why we as a
group are, and must be, connected to protecting and defending the civil rights of Muslims and other hated minorities in today’s volatile
America.
E-mail Mubarakdah@aol.com.