At Muslim LGBTQ retreat, attendees try to reconcile their faith and sexuality

There was speed dating, a talent show and a baby naming. But there was also a locked Facebook page. And a strict rule: Attendees should not disclose the retreat’s exact location. That’s because the 85 people who gathered in the Pennsylvania woods over Memorial Day weekend had come from 19 states and three countries for…

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J’accuse the Islamic community

Milan- “It should have been a day of celebration but it has turned in yet another act of discrimination and racism against Muslims.” The ANSA news agency reported the accusations of Sharif Lorenzini, Bari, director of the Italian Islamic Community, with respect to a water park “Acquaneva of Inzago,” in the province of Milan. At…

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University of Leicester Launches Inquiry into Segregated Seating

15 April 2013   The University of Leicester announced that it will launch an inquiry into an on-campus event, hosted last month by the student Islamic Society, which featured gender-segregated seating and separate entrances for males and females. The event, a talk entitled, “Does God Exist?,” featured Hamza Tzortzis, a lecturer on Islam. Mr. Tzortzis…

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Annual French Muslim event adjusts its speaker list

28.03.2013 Union of French Islamic Organisation Following a controversy, this year’s conference by the Union of French Islamic Organisations in Bourget (Seine St-Denis) refrained from inviting the Egyptian celebrity preacher Yousself al-Qaradawi who is closely associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. The appeasement politics played by the organizers follows last year’s French Presidential election campaign during…

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Meeting Featuring Anti-Gay Islamist Canceled by University of East London

20 March 2013   A meeting featuring Khalid Yashin, an anti-gay Islamist preacher, scheduled to be hosted by the University of East London (UEL) last Friday, 15 March, was canceled after lobbying by the UEL LGBT Society and the Peter Tatchell Foundation. The meeting was scheduled to be held on the UEL Stratford campus.  …

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