Tag Archives: Islam

The Guardian reports: The US secretary of defense Pete Hegseth has a tattoo that appears to read “infidel” or “non-believer” in Arabic, according to recently posted photos on his social media account. In photos posted on Tuesday on X, the Fox News host turned US defense secretary had what appears to be a tattoo that says “kafir”, an Arabic term …

Reuters reports: Iraq’s parliament passed a law criminalising same-sex relationships with a maximum 15-year prison sentence on Saturday, in a move it said aimed to uphold religious values but was condemned by rights advocates as the latest attack on the LGBT community in Iraq. The law aims to “protect Iraqi society from moral depravity and the calls for homosexuality that …

The New York Times reports: Gambian lawmakers have voted to revoke a ban on female genital cutting by removing legal protections for millions of girls, raising fears that other countries could follow suit. Of the 47 members of the Gambia National Assembly present on Monday, 42 voted in favor of a bill to overturn the ban, sending the decision to …

Reuters reports: Lebanon’s culture minister moved to ban the film “Barbie” from cinemas, saying it “promotes homosexuality” and contradicts religious values. Minister Mohammad Mortada is backed by powerful Shi’ite armed group Hezbollah, whose head Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has ramped up his rhetoric against the LGBT community, referring in a recent speech to Islamic texts that call for punishing offenders with …

The Associated Press reports: Malaysia’s government said Thursday that all Swatch products that contain lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer elements — including watches, wrappers and boxes — were banned, warning that anyone found with one could be jailed for up to three years. The ban has been published in the Federal Gazette — which makes it official — as …

Reuters reports: Iraq’s official media regulator on Tuesday ordered all media and social media companies operating in the Arab state not to use the term “homosexuality” and instead to say “sexual deviance,” the regulator said. The Iraqi Communications and Media Commission (CMC) said in a statement that the use of the term “gender” was also banned. It prohibited all phone …

Seattle’s NBC affiliate reports: A Sammamish planning commissioner who made anti-LGBTQ+ remarks during a meeting last week has resigned. Sammamish Mayor Kali Clark accepted Wassim Fayed’s resignation immediately Monday. The city strongly condemned Fayed’s comments, but activists say there needs to be more accountability. During a June 1 meeting on the first day of Pride Month, Fayed spoke to his …

76 Crimes reports: The president of the West African nation of Niger is laying the groundwork for enacting harsh anti-homosexuality laws in his country, where same-sex intimacy is currently legal. He proposes the death penalty for people in same-sex marriages. Mohamed Bazoum, president of Niger, is preparing for a newly established committee of experts to develop the new anti-homosexuality laws. …

Agence France-Presse reports: Visitors to Bali will not be put at risk by Indonesia’s newly ratified criminal code, the island’s governor said, dismissing concerns that revised laws which include articles criminalizing sex outside marriage may scare away tourists from its shores. Indonesia’s parliament last week passed the controversial bill that also prohibits cohabitation between unmarried couples. Seeking to reassure visitors, …

The Associated Press reports: Indonesia’s Parliament unanimously passed a long-awaited revision of the country’s penal code on Tuesday that criminalizes sex outside of marriage for citizens as well as foreigners, prohibits promotion of contraception and bans defamation of the president and state institutions. Rights groups criticized some of the revisions as overly broad or vague and warned that adding them …

The New York Times reports: Iran has abolished the morality police, according to an announcement by the attorney general carried on state media, following months of protests set off by the death of a young woman who was being held by the force for supposedly violating the country’s strict Islamic dress laws. The decision, reported by state news outlets late …

Reuters reports: Indonesia’s parliament is expected to pass a new criminal code this month that will penalise sex outside marriage with a punishment of up to one year in jail, officials have confirmed. The legislative overhaul will also ban insulting the president or state institutions and expressing any views counter to Indonesia’s state ideology. Cohabitation before marriage is also banned. …

Reuters reports: Protests in Iran entered a more violent phase on Sunday as students, who defied an ultimatum by the Revolutionary Guards and a warning from the president, were met with tear gas and gunfire from security forces, social media videos showed. The confrontations at dozens of universities prompted the threat of a tougher crackdown in a seventh week of …

The Associated Press reports: An Iranian government official denied on Monday that Tehran was involved in the assault on author Salman Rushdie, though he justified the stabbing in remarks that represented the Islamic Republic’s first public comments on the attack. “Regarding the attack against Salman Rushdie in America, we don’t consider anyone deserving reproach, blame or even condemnation, except for …

ABC News reports: A suspect has been charged with attempted murder in the attack on author Salman Rushdie at a speaking event in New York state. The alleged attacker is Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey, a law enforcement official told ABC News. He was arrested at the scene and is currently in New York State Police custody. Matar …

The Guardian reports: The actor Chris Evans, who voices the main character in the new Pixar animated movie Lightyear, has applauded its depiction of a gay couple, saying those who react negatively should be disregarded. “The real truth is those people are idiots,” Evans said. “Every time there’s been social advancement as we wake up, the American story, the human …

Agence France-Presse reports: Saudi officials are seizing rainbow-colored toys and articles of clothing from shops in the capital as part of a crackdown on homosexuality, state media reported. Targeted items include rainbow-colored bows, skirts, hats and pencil cases, most of them apparently manufactured for young children, according to a report broadcast Tuesday evening by the state-run Al-Ekhbariya news channel. “We …

ABC News reports: The United Arab Emirates has banned the upcoming Pixar animated film Lightyear from showing in cinemas amid reports that the film includes a kiss between two female characters. The Emirates, home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, announced through its Media Regulatory Office of the country’s Ministry of Youth and Culture that the film would not be opening …

The Bangkok Post reports: Forced exorcism is a common story for gay and transgender people in the world’s biggest Muslim majority nation, where a conservative shift has seen the community increasingly targeted in recent years. Homosexuality is legal everywhere in Indonesia except conservative Aceh province which adheres to strict Islamic laws. But it is still widely believed that being gay …

NBC News reports: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday threw his weight behind Turkey’s top Muslim cleric, who caused a storm by claiming homosexuality “brings disease and causes this generation to decay.” In his first sermon during the holy month of Ramadan on Friday, Ali Erbas also maintained that hundreds of thousands of people every year are exposed to HIV …