Hypocrisy & double-standards over who is remembered.
More homophobia from the Muslim Council of Britain.
London – 6 January 2005
“The Muslim Council of Britain’s boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day reeks of prejudice and hypocrisy,” said Peter Tatchell of the lesbian and gay human rights group OutRage!.
The MCB has announced it will not participate in HMD on 26 January because it is “not sufficiently inclusive.”
“The MCB seems to have completely reversed its previous objections to HMD. Five years ago, it argued that HMD was too inclusive; now it says it is not inclusive enough. The only thing that is consistent about the MCB is its opposition to the human rights of lesbians and gay men,” said Mr Tatchell.
“In 2001, when the MCB first announced its boycott of the Holocaust commemorations, it argued they were too inclusive.
“The MCB objected to the fact that gay victims of the Nazi death camps were remembered,” he added.
Justifying its refusal to participate in Holocaust Memorial Day in 2001, the MCB issued a news release stating that it objected to the inclusion of “the so-called gay genocide”.
“The MCB seems to disparage the suffering of gay people under Nazism,” said Mr Tatchell.
“The MCB would be honoured to participate in a national memorial day providing that it clearly affirmed that the lives of all people, regardless of race or religion, are to be valued equally,” the MCB announced on 5 January 2006.
“The MCB’s view that everyone should be valued equally clearly does not include gay people. Earlier this week the leader of the MCB, Sir Iqbal Sacranie, condemned the gay community, saying same-sex relationships were harmful, immoral and spread disease,” said Mr Tatchell.
“Instead of sowing division and stirring intolerance, the MCB should be working to secure a fair and just society, free from both Islamophobia and homophobia,” concluded Mr Tatchell.