Free Republic

More Afghan refugees are heading to Asheville. Nearly 100 are expected to arrive within the next month. The refugees will arrive very quickly, starting next Tuesday. Caption: Asheville area agencies prepare to help nearly 100 Afghan refugees expected next week "It's going to be fast and furious," said Laura Collins, who is coordinating the effort with Lutheran Services of the Carolinas Refugee and Immigrant Services.

Safe Places To Pray For Gay Muslim American. The title asks where can queer Muslims go to pray In the media, being queer and Muslim often seems to amount to being a victim. In articles on violence against LGBTQ people in Muslim-majority countries, or pieces on the challenges of coming out, the queer person’s connection to Islam is often used to imply that these cultures are especially intolerant. With this narrow focus on tragedy, it can be hard to understand the day-to-day lived experiences of queer people who identify religiously or culturally with Islam—particularly the difficulty they face in trying...

As Islamic State-driven violence rages on in Iraq, people are using any means possible to escape, and for some that means dressing in drag. On Monday, the Iraqi army arrested 20 male Islamic State members dressed as women in the northern city of Baquba, according to spokesman Ghalib al-Jubouri.

British gay Muslims are joining the global fight for equality and seeking gay Islamic marriage. The BBC's 5 live Investigates speaks to one couple about their 'nikah' - a Muslim matrimonial contract - and asks how they balance their sexuality with the Islamic faith. "We met about three years ago, at an iftar - a breaking of fast during Ramadan. "I think a lot of Muslims find that time of year very spiritual and very enlightening, and so I think that's why our relationship developed, because we spoke about our faith." "Eventually we went on a date."

They met in Mumbai, fell in love and sought to marry. However, there were several obstacles in the way. The 42-year-old, a social worker of Indian origin from the UK, and his 30-year-old love, a sales executive from Ahmedabad, belong to different religions. One is a Hindu and the other a Muslim. Also, both are men. Fearing an outcry in conservative Gujarat, they packed their bags and drove from Surat to Kathmandu last week. On Tuesday, the couple will wed in a Hindu temple in Kathmandu under the aegis of Blue Diamond Society (BDS), Nepal’s first gay rights organisation that...

''Human rights are gay rights," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said recently, "and gay rights are human rights, once and for all." That's a touchy-feely liberal talking point, but don't tell it to the Muslims. Eventually, the Obama administration might have to decide to which radical group it's most important to pander: homosexuals or Muslims. There is some friction between these two Obama constituencies.... Given the Obama administration's fawning outreach to Muslim majority states, this drive for homosexual equality seems something of a disconnect. The Democratic conundrum illustrates an aspect of the clash of civilizations Mr. Obama is willfully...

Woman artist gets death threats over gay Muslim photos Matthew Campbell THE Dutch were debating the limits of freedom of expression last week after an artist who photographed gay men wearing masks of the prophet Muhammad was forced into hiding and her work removed from a museum exhibit. Speaking on the telephone from an unspecified location in the Netherlands last week, the artist, an Iranian exile who goes by the pseudonym of Sooreh Hera, said she had been threatened with “execution”. She accused the director of the municipal museum in The Hague of cowardice for caving in to Muslim extremists....

A Magnum photo essay. During his coverage of the fall of Afghanistan's Taliban regime in 2002, photographer Thomas Dworzak discovered a stash of pictures showing male Taliban members in curious, effeminate poses.

Boys of the Taliban By Jamie Glazov FrontPageMagazine.com | January 1, 2007 Just recently, the Taliban issued a new set of 30 rules to its fighters. Many of the instructions were to be expected: rule No. 25 commands the murder of teachers if a warning and a beating does not dissuade them from teaching. No. 26 outlines the exquisite delicacy of burning schools and destroying anything that aid organizations might undertake -- such as the building of a new road, school or clinic. The essence of the other rules are easily left to the imagination, basically involving what militant Islam...

There's a new film coming out called "In the Name of Allah," which is a film that explores the struggles of homosexual Muslims. Now, Muslim extremists are going nuts over these Mohammed cartoons (see here, here, here and here) and are destroying embassies around the world and going after cartoonists for just drawing the forbidden Mohammed icons. That tops their list. Second on their hit list is probably homosexuality. I don't think

Sandi Dubowski, who won the Teddy gay and lesbian award in 2001 for his controversial doc "Trembling Before G-d," may cause an even bigger stir with "In the Name of Allah," which explores the struggles of homosexual Muslims. Gay Indian Muslim helmer Parvez Sharma is directing the pic, which looks at gay, lesbian, and transgender Muslims across the Muslim and Western worlds. "The world right now needs to understand Islam, and these are the most unlikely storytellers of Islam," Dubowski said, who is producing 'Allah.' -snip-

The Dutch MP who wrote a controversial film on Islam that led to the murder of director Theo Van Gogh is planning a third instalment. Somalia-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali said that in the third Submission feature "God himself will answer their questions". The first film told the story of women who asked for Allah's help after being raped, beaten and forced into marriage. The sequel focused on homosexuality in Islam, but Ali said that using Allah in part three would be "the hardest part". "Who could play Allah? Also you need actors that are not afraid to take on the...

ABU DHABI — Senior officials have condemned the queer acts practised by 26 youth at a gay party held in a hotel in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday night. A group of 26 men, many of whom were dressed in female outfits and the rest in Arab attire, were arrested by the police on Wednesday following a tip-off that such a party was being held. Speaking to Khaleej Times, experts, educationists and men of law have called on parents to play their role and give importance to the role of schools and national associations in inculcating the teachings of Islam and...

Well DUmmies, your allies (Hamas) wants to irradicate you. What 'cha gonna do now? Dr Zahar condemned homosexual marriage, saying: “Are these the laws for which the Palestinian street is waiting? For us to give rights to homosexuals and to lesbians, a minority of perverts and the mentally and morally sick?”

Canada's Gay Muslims Unite By Stephanie LevitzCanadaEast.com | June 20, 2003 When Faisal Alam e-mailed thousands of Muslim students six years ago, asking if any among them were gay, he unknowingly lit a flare that illuminated a community largely hidden in the shadows.A trickle of responses soon became a deluge, leading to this weekend's first Canadian-sponsored conference on homosexuality and Islam. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Muslims from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and South Africa will gather in Toronto for three days of exploring how they can reconcile their sexuality with a faith understood by many...

BRITISH marines returning from an operation deep in the Afghan mountains spoke last night of an alarming new threat - being propositioned by swarms of gay local farmers. An Arbroath marine, James Fletcher, said: "They were more terrifying than the al-Qaeda. One bloke who had painted toenails was offering to paint ours. They go about hand in hand, mincing around the village." While the marines failed to find any al-Qaeda during the seven-day Operation Condor, they were propositioned by dozens of men in villages the troops were ordered to search. "We were pretty shocked," Marine Fletcher said. "We discovered from...