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That’s Bernie Farber, left, CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress, participating in the 2009 Toronto Gay Pride Parade. He’s wearing a T-shirt that says “Nobody Knows I’m Gay.”

When a Toronto Star columnist, Antonia Zerbistias, remarked in jest: “I didn’t know he was gay. Not that there is anything wrong with that,” the humourless Farber demanded a retraction and apology.

Apparently, the T-shirt message was tongue in cheek, if you’ll excuse the pun. To compound the embarrassment, the Toronto Star issued a retraction saying Zerbistias “fell short of the Star’s usual level of accuracy.”

What a bunch of ass kissers! In any case, Bernie Farber now has a good reason to deny being gay. The Toronto Gay Pride Parade accepted a group called “Queers Against Israeli Apartheid.” The Canadian Jewish Congress is up in arms, accusing the gays of “hatred” and, can you believe it, “anti-Semitism?”

(left, Canadian PM, Steveleh Harper)

The immediate result: the supposedly Conservative Stephen Harper government has cut off $400,000 in grants to Toronto Gay Pride. They had not been able to take this brave step until now, when Organized Jewry has taken umbrage.

“Anything that promotes the destruction, demonization and delegitimization of Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, is inherently anti-Semitic.” Bernie Farber whined in the Toronto Star.

In fact, Israel is not the world’s only Jewish state. There is the US, France, Russia and UK, where the leaders are all Illuminati part-Jews. Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper has his nose so far up Israel’s butt, he can see Barack Obama’s heels. Now that Jews have a national homeland, shouldn’t Americans, French, Russians, British, Australians, Germans and Canadians have one too?

In Canada, the main political parties compete to pander to Israel. A few months ago, the clueless Conservatives thought they could score points by accusing the opposition Liberals of being less than obsequious toward Israel. The Liberals heatedly denied they were any less sycophantic than the government. Meanwhile, a large segment of the Canadian public opposes Israel’s savage apartheid policies and wonders how as Canadians, they have been disenfranchised.

APARTHEID

Israel’s latest gambit is to expel Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza!

According to a report published by Haaretz Newspaper last Sunday, the Israeli occupation forces will consider any Palestinian who has no special permit to be in a certain area within the occupied Palestinian territory an infiltrator and therefore will become a ‘criminal offender’ under Israeli law.

“What the occupying power is doing is punishing Palestinians for existing,” a Fattah spokesman Dr. Shaaath said. “Under this new Apartheid law, a Palestinian from the West Bank found in the Jordan Valley, a Gaza ID holder living in the West Bank, a Jerusalemite married to a Palestinian ID holder or a foreigner married to a Palestinian who lives in the West Bank can all be considered criminal offenders, meaning they can be imprisoned for up to three years or deported.”

Dr. Shaath stated that “this policy must be added to the suffering experienced by thousands of foreign passport holders of Palestinian origin being denied entry into their homeland as well as the hundreds of already divided families by Israeli Apartheid policies”.

ISRAEL’S APARTHEID POLICIES (FROM WIKIPEDIA)

The disingenuous Farber (not pictured left) denies Israel is an Apartheid state. What do you call this?1. MARRIAGE — The measure known as the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, passed by the Knesset on 31 July 2003, during the second Palestinian uprising, the law does not enable the acquisition of Israeli citizenship or residency by a Palestinian from the West Bank or Gaza Strip via marriage. The law does allow children from such marriages to live in Israel until age 12, at which age they are required to emigrate. This applies equally to a Palestinian spouse of any Israeli citizen, whether Arab or Jewish, but in practice more Israeli Arabs than Israeli Jews marry Palestinians. The law was originally intended to be temporary but has since been extended annually.

In June 2008 after the law was renewed, Amos Schocken, the publisher of the Israeli daily Ha’aretz, wrote that the law “severely discriminates when comparing the rights of young Israeli Jewish citizens and young Israeli Arab citizens” who marry, and that “Its existence in the law books turns Israel into an apartheid state.”

2. LAND — 93% of the land inside the Green Line is not held by private owners and is managed as public property.60 79.5% of the land is owned by the Israeli government through the Israel Land Administration, and 11-13% is privately owned by the Jewish National Fund (11% according to the Jewish National Fund (JNF), 13% according to Haaretz).6162 Under the 1952 World Zionist Organisation – Jewish Agency Status Law, and the 1954 Covenant between the state of Israel and the Jewish Agency, administration of state lands was handed to the JNF, which states explicitly on its website that the “Jewish National Fund is the caretaker of the land of Israel, on behalf of its owners – Jewish people everywhere.”

3. IDENTITY CARD, or Teudat Zehut, required of all residents over the age of 16, indicates whether holders are Jewish or not by adding the person’s Hebrew date of birth. Chris McGreal, The Guardian’s former chief Israel correspondent, reports that the ID system determines: “where Arabs and Jews are permitted to live, access to some government welfare programmes, and how they are likely to be treated by civil servants and policemen.” In the same article McGreal, also the chief South Africa correspondent during the apartheid years, compared Israel’s Population Registry Law of 1965, which calls for the gathering of ethnic data, to South Africa’s Apartheid-era Population Registration Act.

CONCLUSION

While organized Jewry defends these racist discriminatory policies in Israel, it is actively campaigning to prevent the United States from stopping illegal immigration. What a bunch of hypocrites!

Both Zionists and their progressive, leftist and gay opponents are Illuminati shills. This is an illustration that Zionism, while a primary instrument of the NWO, is not synonymous with the Illuminati. The Illuminati control people and events by nurturing and sponsoring both sides of every conflict.

Nevertheless, I congratulate gay activists for taking a principled stand on Israeli apartheid and its brutal treatment of Palestinians and Arabs in general.

“I feel Al Jazeera English is a reliable source of information, and I think what they are offering is a perspective from the Middle East region, but the professionalism of the reports, including on lesbian topics, has global standards,” says Hossein Alizadeh, Middle East and North Africa program coordinator at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).
Gay activist El-Farouk Khaki says Al Jazeera English’s entry into Canada is good news for the representation of queers in media.

“What we suffer from is invisibility in Canada within the larger Muslim community,” says Khaki. “Some of the more traditional, conservative groups do not recognize our existence.”

Al Jazeera English regularly reports on gay issues. In recent months, its coverage included segments about the gruesome murders of close to 100 gay men by al Mahdi Shi’ite militias in Iraq in 2009, the killing of gay youths in a Tel Aviv club last summer and India’s court decision to decriminalize gay sex.

But Al Jazeera’s Arabic network “is not interested in covering gay rights issues the way Al Jazeera English does,” says Alizadeh. Comparing Al Jazeera Arabic with Al Jazeera English “is like comparing apples and oranges.” Al Jazeera Arabic is geared towards a Middle Eastern audience and does not challenge cultural values or orthodox religion, he says.

“Gay activist El Farouk Khaki”–now where have I heard that name before? Oh yeah, it was here:

On May 23, 2009, Khaki made the opening remarks at a Queers Against Israeli Apartheid event to “reignite Toronto’s queer community in the fight against apartheid”.15 Shortly after, B’nai Brith condemned him and implied that he is “part and parcel of the anti-Israel machinery that continues to churn out hateful and divisive propaganda.”16

B’nai Brith executive vice-president Frank Dimant said Khaki should be subject to “disciplinary action” by Pride Toronto. Khaki is the 2009 parade grand marshal for Toronto’s pride parade.16

In retort Khaki with his partner Troy Jackson formed the Human Positive foundation, an organization which stands for Justice, Freedom and Dignity for All peoples to speak above the “anything said in critic of Israel is antisemitism” propaganda movement. Khaki a Human Rights Activist believes that no country is above critique. As a result his Human+ Float was the recipient of Best Embodiment of the LGBTTIQQ2S award from Pride Toronto

Quel honor. I salute Mr. Khaki. Oh, not for his prize-winning float, which I’m sure was a beaut. No, I’d like to thank him for shedding light on a little discussed phenomenon–i.e., that you can be a bona fide “moderate” and still be every much an enemy of Israel as any fire-breathing radical.
In “honour” of float boy and A-J English’s Canadian debut, I’m reviving one of my favorite parodies:

Come on, babe, why don’t we paint the news?
And Al-that-Jaz.
We’re gonna praise some ‘rabs
And then we’ll slam some Jews
And Al-that-Jaz.
Start your day with scenes of lots of gore
It’s sure to stir the blood and leave you wantin’ more.
But then we’ll say again
It’s just like CNN
And Al-that-Jaz.

Don’t you love those scenes from Palestine?
And Al-that-Jaz
That ghastly Gaza stuff has gotta blow your mind.
And Al-that-Jazz.
Who’s to blame?
You know it’s hard to tell
If it’s America or if it’s Is-ra-el.
But you will never lose if you just blame the Jews
And Al-that-Jaz.

Oh, we’re first to scoop with those Osama tapes
And Al-that-Jaz.
Then it’s great to show you who decapitates
And Al-that-Jaz.
Poke some fun at Arab despots.
See who shows up in our guest spots:
Someone who you’ll wanna boo
And Al-that-Ja-az

Don’t you think it’s kind of like the Ceeb?
And Al-that-Jaz.
Oh, look, there’s Avi L., who is our token Hebe.
And Al-that-Jaz.
Sure, we know that we cannot go far
Broadcasting Hockey Night in sunny, hot Qatar
Don Cherry–Mr. Big–ain’t gonna do that gig.
And Al-that-Jaz.

Oh, just tune us in and then turn off your brain
And Al-that-Jaz.
You will soon be hooked and singing this refrain
And Al-that-Jaz:
“Golly, it’s so good to see ya,
Better than al-Arabiya.
We’re so queer for al-Jazeer’
And all that jazz.”

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For all those who might assume that the purpose of gay pride parades is to foster goodwill toward a group that has too often been marginalized and disrespected, think again.

Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) clearly believes it’s an opportune time to spotlight, in addition to their lifestyle choice, controversial political beefs. I mean, why waste a good opportunity when your float is on display?

QuAIA says it will be targeting Israel — the only country in the Middle East to tolerate the gay lifestyle — for its treatment of Palestinians when Toronto’s Gay Pride Parade takes place on July 4.

The folly of such messaging is so obvious that it’s difficult to know where to begin criticizing the group.

Middle East politics is highly divisive. If a group wishes to condemn one side or the other in that debate, it should be done outside the context of a feel-good event that is meant to create positive feelings toward homosexuals. Gays do not need new enemies. There is no purpose in gays alienating Jewish people or pro-Israeli Christians with an anti-Israel message.

Members of QuAIA surely would be better off launching this sort of campaign, on their own time, as concerned Canadians or pro-Palestinian activists. There is nothing about the homosexual lifestyle that gives these folks special insight into Middle East politics.

Moreover, taxpayers in Toronto ante up about $175,000 for the parade. Many will not favour such political messaging being part of the parade. Indeed civil officials already are talking about the possibility of funding being yanked for the parade if the Israel bashers don’t dummy up. The website on the Toronto parade advertises the event as being “not only about pride in your community, but celebrating diversity and the variety of life in Toronto while respecting subtle differences amongst its citizens and visitors, and creating an inclusive experience for all.”

As Toronto mayoral candidate George Smitherman, who is himself gay, said Wednesday, “I protest the plan to use pride, a celebration of the LGBT community, as a backdrop for this debate. It’s time for the Pride committee to act, prevent their participation and in so doing, protect this amazing institution that many have laboured to create.”

Another mayoral candidate, Rocco Rossi, remarked: “It would be incredibly tragic to target the only country in the Middle East that has, not one, but two gay pride parades.”

The queers involved should take their message somewhere else; as one Israeli website commentator suggested perhaps they should try Iran.

Of all the interesting things you can find on the net…

The Islamic World’s Dirty Little Secret: They’re The World Champions When It Comes To Surfing Porn

Despite all their protestations of piety and clean living as well as their condemnation of anything they deem to be “Unislamic” it seems that our friends from the Religion of Peace have a keen desire to dive right in to internet porn

In fact, it looks like they surf porn more than anyone else. I’ve highlighted some of their favorite internet, er, hobbies:

Arabic is the 2nd most common language that is used to search for “gay sex.” It’s the number one language for search involving “sexy.” As you can see in that same graph, Iran is at 3 and Egypt is at 4, listed under regions where search on “sexy” was most conducted.

Arabic is the 2nd most common language that is used to search for “gay man.” The countries that most search for this is currently Malaysia (#1) and Indonesia (#2). For “gay girl,” Arabic is also the 2nd most common language

For “child porn,” Turkey is the 2nd country where this is most searched. Turkish is the #1 language used

Turkey has one of the most searches for the word “porno.” Morocco is at 5. Turkish is #1 language used to conduct the search in. Indonesia is currently #1 country that search for the word “vagina.”

Turkey is not an Arab country, nor are some of the other countries I listed. But they are Muslim, so I thought the findings were fascinating to say the least. All of this information is not in the least bit shocking, but it’s quite ironic.

Oh, those naughty, naughty boys. Covering their women while they surf porn with sweaty-eyed gusto. And here are some more fun filled facts about our sexually repressed representatives of the Religion of Peace:

Egypt is currently #1 for “fat sex.”

Pakistan, Morocco, Turkey and Egypt are at the top of the list when it comes to “animal sex.”

For “children sex,” Pakistan is at #1, Egypt #2 and Iran #3. The most common languages used to conduct the search in are Arabic and Turkish

For “sexy child,” Pakistan is #1, followed by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey. Common languages are Persian, Arabic, and Turkish

For “homo sex,” Indonesia is #1, Morocco is at 6

For “rape,” Pakistan is at 1. Malaysia is at 3

For “bird sex,” Egypt is at 1. (Come ON!)

These are evidently very busy people. Between blowing people up, protesting en masse, condemning Israel and the U.S. they find the time to surf some serious porn on the web. And judging from the categories they appear to have searched I’d say that these people have some dark issues. Note the number of child sex, gay sex, and violent sex related sites that are searched.

But we’re the immoral ones.

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UIC Pride is essentially a group with two main goals: to create a community in which LGBT individuals can feel safe and accepted and to educate UIC and the wider community on LGBT issues that may be overlooked or ignored. It is the second of the above goals that is being fulfilled in this piece.

The Middle East isn’t exactly the best place in the world for human rights in general and LGBT rights in particular. Homosexuality is illegal in Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Gaza, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, with penalties ranging from three years in prison to death. In Iraq, homosexuality was illegal until 2003, after the US invasion. In Egypt and Jordan, homosexuality is technically legal but there is absolutely no protection from hate crimes or honor killings; gays are often persecuted under lewd conduct laws, and there are reports of gays seeking asylum elsewhere. The Palestinian Authority has legalized homosexuality and there are even LGBT organizations for West Bank Palestinians . . . However, these organizations are located in Israel.

Amidst all of this oppression, one nation stands up for what is right: Israel. In Israel, homosexuality has been legal since 1963 de facto and since 1988 de jure. Israel is the only nation in the Middle East that allows same-sex couples full adoption rights. It is the only nation in the Middle East that allows gays to serve openly in the military, something even our nation has yet to allow. Israel even recognizes same-sex marriages performed abroad, as there is no civil marriage in Israel.

In 1951 Israel signed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees covenant, guaranteeing asylum for anyone persecuted on the basis of sexual orientation. In concordance with this, Israel’s Interior Ministry has said that any gay Palestinian can apply to remain in Israel indefinitely, making Israel one of the few options available to desperate and oppressed gay Palestinians. Gay Palestinians in the territories are often accused of collaborating with Israel and arrested and/or are pressured into becoming suicide bombers to purge their moral guilt. We showed a film with the UIC Levine Hillel Center this past year with a plot along those lines.

Israel is not perfect. Last year there was a fatal attack at a Tel Aviv gay and lesbian center when an extremist gunman entered and opened fire. Though this attack drew condemnations from all across Israeli society and the highest levels of government, it shows that there are still obstacles to overcome in Israel. That’s what’s so amazing about Israel though; the obstacles can, and likely will, be overcome. Furthermore, although gay Palestinians are able to apply to stay in Israel, many do not. It could either be that they’re unaware of their rights or they fear they’ll be deported if they go through the authorities. They know what will happen to them if they’re sent home and they grew up learning to mistrust the Israeli government.

Despite Israel’s flaws, it is still amazingly progressive when it comes to sexual freedoms. Some organizations that claim to fight for gay rights would do well to remember that. Many of them end up fighting on the side of Israel’s enemies, their enemies, the enemies of freedom, those who would kill them sooner than look at them. While hating on Israel may be fashionable these days, we have decided to stand on the right side of history.

We choose to stand with freedom and democracy, with the only chance for a prosperous Middle East. We stand with those in Arab countries who long for the same rights we have won in America, and even more so in Israel. We stand with the best hope Middle Eastern LGBT individuals have. We stand with Israel.

We pray for peace in the Middle East. We pray for all those throughout the region and the world who are forced to hide who they are and for all those who will be unable to do so and have to face the consequences.

And finally, we wish Israel a very happy sixty-second birthday with many more to come

JERUSALEM (Feb. 2) – When Eli Kaplan had his initial psychological assessment when being inducted into the Israeli military eight years ago, he wasn’t asked about his sexual orientation, but he told the interviewer anyway that he was openly gay. In Israel, it wasn’t a problem then nor is it now.

“The army practices an inclusionary policy,” said Yagil Levy, an expert on the army and society and a professor at the Open University. “It doesn’t have any options to exclude any Jewish group that wishes to join.”

Once Kaplan was accepted into the Israeli navy, he faced a further interview to determine his security clearance level. “The interviewer started asking me a lot of questions about whether I had come out to my family and friends,” he said. “He basically wanted to know if my being gay was something that could be used to blackmail me. But it really wasn’t such a big deal.”
Israeli soldiers near the West Bank town of Burin on Jan. 29, 2010

Kaplan ended up in one of the navy’s most elite units, where he served as a drill sergeant for incoming mechanics. He said that while he was a little less open about his sexual orientation with recruits than he was with his commanders, he never encountered homophobia during his three years in the Israeli military .

In light of that experience, Kaplan, who now works in theater design in New York, finds the current U.S. policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” ridiculous.

“It’s a reminder of how America still has so many racial and other issues going on,” he said in a phone interview. “It makes me really proud of Israel. I think Israeli society is much less homophobic than other countries.”

The right to be openly gay has been acknowledged in the Israeli military since 1993, and there is little evidence that policy has caused any problems. Even beyond the army, Israeli law is generally progressive on issues of sexual orientation. Even though marriage is controlled by the ultra-Orthodox rabbinic establishment, Israeli authorities recognize same-sex marriages performed abroad, and same-sex partners receive the same economic benefits as married couples.

“Out” magazine has named Tel Aviv the gay capital of the Middle East in acknowledgment of its thriving gay culture.

Military expert Levy said the editor of the primary army newspaper, Bamachane, is openly gay. He estimates the percentage of gay soldiers at 10 percent in general and somewhat less in field units.

Former soldier Kaplan said certain intelligence and naval units were known for having a large proportion of gay soldiers.

I began my mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces in the summer of 1994, just a year after the government decided that gays could serve openly in the military. At the time, I had not yet solidified my sexual orientation, having had encounters with both men and women. I was generally confused.

caption id="attachment_29763" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Asking and Telling in Israel"/caption

One thing I did know was that I wanted to join an infantry unit and also serve as a paratrooper—like a “real man.” Basic training was grueling, with sleepless nights, agonizing exercises, and long runs in full battle gear. Those hardships taught me the value of friendship: men struggling together, bleeding together, and supporting one another while pushing themselves to the limits of their abilities. They also taught me that there’s a flip side to military machismo: a helping hand when times are tough or a brotherly hug when missions are accomplished successfully. These friendships enabled me to open up to the other men and talk about my sexual identity. The reactions were always supportive; regardless of whom you share your bed with, these friends would say, we know you are a good fighter and a member of the team.

And so, oddly enough, it was my military service that helped me make sense of my sexual orientation. By the time I became a young officer, I’d come out of the closet to my family and friends and had a steady partner. I did not pin a gay-pride flag on my duffel bag or hang one at my base; I don’t think that would have been appropriate in the military, given the diversity of opinions and beliefs. But I never lied about my preferences, and by the time I became a senior officer in an elite unit, most of my fellow officers knew my story. Yes, I was a gay officer in a special-forces unit—and a damn good one, at that.

As Israelis, we are taught from a young age to admire the United States. The American dream offers an alternative to the somewhat harsh reality of life in the Middle East. But that dream has been betrayed by the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that governs gay and lesbian service in the U.S. military. Repealing it will help America fall in line with what many other countries have already accepted—that, in the 21st century, sexual preferences should not be a matter of shame or secrecy, not even in the military. The thought of living a lie while serving—of not being able to share one’s personal life with fellow fighters and commanders—is hard to bear. (And it’s ridiculous: if Israel, a nation that is forever on high alert, can defend itself just fine with open homosexuals in its defense forces, then any other nation’s army should also be able to integrate.)

I was lucky—I had the distinction of serving under a two-star general with an extremely open mind. To him, my sexual orientation was never an issue. He believed that work and personal life are separate matters. In this environment, I felt comfortable bringing my partner to various events. And just as before, the other members of my unit, in general, reacted positively.

More recently I have served the Israel Defense Forces as editor in chief of its weekly magazine, Bamachane. Less than a decade ago, before my tenure began, the magazine caused a public outcry when it put a photo on the cover of an out-of-the-closet officer waving a gay-pride flag. The military responded by suspending publication for a few weeks; the establishment didn’t think the image was becoming of someone high-ranking. But last June, during Israel’s gay-pride week, the IDF asked me to appear in front of foreign reporters and share my story—a sign of even further cultural acceptance of gays in the military since the early ’90s. That week, for our main feature, we profiled a gay officer named Josh who wed his partner in Canada (gay marriage is not yet legal in Israel). In the piece, we wrote about a recent promotion he’d received. His new rank was bestowed on him with his Orthodox commander on one side, and his partner, Lior, on the other.

Battling against a deeply patriarchal society, Arab Israeli and Palestinian lesbians are uniting to break the taboo of homosexuality and politicise the right to be female and gay. “We are Palestinian, we are women and we are gay,” is the slogan coined by Aswat, the association campaigning for lesbian Arabs to be accepted in Israeli and Palestinian society, and whose name in English means “voices”.

“A lot of lesbians and Arab homosexuals have double lives, marry and lead a secret existence. People say it is forbidden by religion,” says Rauda Morcos, Aswat coordinator, at its headquarters in Israel’s northern city of Haifa. “Society is hyprocritical. But we are against this issue remaining secret. We want it dealt with as a political and social issue,” she said. In late 2002, Rauda decided to put her money where her mouth was and take action with fellow lesbian Samira, her former roomate. The two women set up an Internet forum for Arab lesbians in Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. A year later they founded Aswat.

Today the association, funded by European and US groups, organises monthly and totally anonymous support meetings, raises gay awareness and disseminates information about homosexuality. “We want people to manage on their own, take their destiny into their own hands,” says 27-year-old Aswat member Rima. “Women have to be given the confidence so that they can then change the mentality around them.” But to be autonomous in a society where the family is central to social life and a self-help network represents a real challenge to that way of life.

“No one can publicly declare they are homosexual without support. You need to be strong, even financially, because you need an alternative to family support should you loose it,” points out Rauda. Her experience is a prime example. When she was “outed” as a lesbian without her consent, she was sacked as an English teacher and her life became a living hell in the northern Arab Israeli village of Kfar Yassif. “People called me up just to insult me. My car was ruined, sprayed with words like ’bitch,’ ’lesbian’. My uncles stopped talking to me,” she remembers. One anonymous story on Aswat’s website alludes to the confusion of being gay in Jerusalem, a predominantly religious city, and the support perhaps acquired from the organisation that allows its author to speak out.

“I was on the bus and a guy, who looked like gay and he did not knew about it, sat near me. He looked at me confused and told me ’nice bag’, I said ’thanks’. He then asked me ’it is girl’s bag, you know’. “I said ’yes I know’. Some moments passed by, and he still troubled and puzzled, asked: ’do you like girls of boys?’. I answered the most boring answer ’none of your business’.

“However, today if I were to be asked same question I would have answered I like ’girls who are boys who like boys like they are girls’, paraphrasing Blur’s amazing song Boys and Girls.” If, with the passing months, Aswat is becoming more visible and widely recognised in Israel, it is also attracting the wrath of the Islamic Movement, which has become an incontrovertible fixture in the Arab Israeli community. “Under Islamic law, homosexuality is unlawful, a kind of illness that needs to be treated,” said Sheikh Ibrahim Sarsur, an MP in the Israeli parliament and a member of the movement.

“Our Arab society cannot tolerate this phenomenum, to allow it to become an overt part of our daily life,” the lawmaker added. It is comments like that which send shivers down Samira’s spine. “We are trying to do our job and not give them more importance than they deserve,” said the 31-year-old out shopping for a Drag Queen theme night in a Tel Aviv nightclub not far from her home in the sprawling metropolis. She knows that the path is still long and paved with stones for gays, particularly in the Palestinian territories.

“We don’t have any illusions. We know, for example, there will be no gay pride in Gaza. But quietly and surely we will change things.” Aswat is starting to snowball. An association, even if for the moment it remains a secret, was set up in Ramallah in March by four gay students. “Officially we do social work against the occupation or the wall. But in private we are trying to help gays,” said one of its founders on condition of anonymity, who has infiltrated Tel Aviv illegally for the Drag Queen night.

Iranian.ws – Persian Journal

caption id="attachment_28498" align="alignnone" width="220" caption="arab-gay-muslims"/caption

caption id="" align="alignnone" width="516" caption="gay-lebanon"/caption

A few items I came across that are worth mentioning. While the oligarchs of our country continue to procrastinate over which irrelevant ministry they’ll receive (seeing as none of them do any work anyway), some other things are happening in Lebanon … believe it or not.

The country has boasted about its return on the tourist map, with record numbers holidaying in Lebanon this summer (mainly expats and rich Gulf Arabs).

Beirut’s nightlife is getting rave reviews in many circles as things seem to be getting back on track after years of political instability and a war with Israel in 2006. However (there’s always an ‘however’), with Beirut’s emerging night scene comes with it an ugly side, as covered by this insightful article from the AFP … Lebanon’s booming prostitution network.

Tourists flocking to the country, coupled with economic depression and political instability has meant more young girls are being swallowed up in the sex trade, often with no limits and little chance of escape.

In a country that “officially” deems prostitution illegal, and operates a moral police unit, those who enter the sex line of work often have no protection, no rights and are completely ostracised from a wider community that still holds religious values extremely high. In other words, these young girls are often left at the mercy – or lack thereof – of their “pimps”. What appeared most disturbing in the AFP article was that, in some cases, prostitution is within the family at the helm of abusive, poor husbands.

But something the article didn’t pick up on was that prostitution has always been a feature of Lebanon. During my time in the country, young men my age would often profess their desire to sleep with a “hooker”, only because Lebanese girls in the village were out of reach due to traditional values.

Although I was immediately repulsed by this, it seemed quite common for a young man to prove his manhood sexually (albeit with a prostitute) and boast about it, while a young woman would be held in high esteem if she retained her virginity until marriage. A young man to be a virgin, or a young woman not to be a virgin, equally drew the ire from the community.

There’s no shortage of gender stereotyping in Lebanon.

It does show, however, that while our political elites fluff about power sharing, social and economic matters on the ground level are largely left untouched. Despite media, NGO and civil society efforts, there is little hope for the many young girls from impoverished families now stuck in the tragic world of forced and abusive prostitution.

Lesbian mag back onboard

But not all is bad news in the evolving Lebanese society. The Arab world’s first lesbian magazine, Bekhsoos, is set for a relaunch by the Lebanese lesbian group, Meem, after an initial hiccup – as reported here in the LA Times. It follows the successful emergence of the first Arab gay rights movement, Helem.

The absence of effective governance in the country has prompted citizens to fill the void via a civil society that is now attempting to tackle the tough social issues head on. It’s promising to see the emergence of civil movements in Lebanon, whether they’re proponents of gay rights, women’s rights, pension rights, or simply a counter-voice to the dominant political sectarianism.

There are those in the country – albeit a minority – that are determined to push Lebanon ahead regardless of the political climate. Whether our politicians wake up and jump on board is another matter, but the expansion of our civil society should continue nonetheless. Here’s to Bekhsoos !

It is rare that events concerning gays and lesbians in other countries make the front page of mainstream newspapers. So when The New York Times covered the arrests and torture by the Egyptian military of fifty-two gay men in May 2001, the astonishing picture in the “paper of record” of so many gay men covering their faces with white towels as they were herded with cattle prods into a Cairo courthouse was enough to propel many gay and lesbian people in the West to look seriously at the conditions of their own kind in the Middle East for the first time. As Monica Taher of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said, “It was a wake-up call for gay and lesbians, especially in the U.S.”

This wasn’t the first crackdown on gays in the Middle East (or in Asia, Africa, Latin America, where similar assaults were occurring). It just became the most newsworthy, and put a tiny spotlight on what many of us involved with international gay and lesbian issues had been reporting in our respective media. It finally nudged enough funding sources to support a documentary I was doing at the time called Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the Developing World. Freaked by a new breed of determined U.S. Christian fundamentalists filling the federal corridors everywhere in the Age of Bush, PBS, which had broadcast my earlier documentaries on gay life, ultimately couldn’t bring itself to air this film. That made a weird kind of sense. It’s one thing for the establishment U.S. media to make a fuss over poor victims of an Arab tyrant, and another to embrace the reality that these gay Arab men represented before they were victims: the push-pull between liberation and backlash that has accompanied gay people everywhere—including, ironically, PBS.

The roundup of the Cairo 52—many of them arrested for dancing on a disco party boat on the Nile—came after a brief flourish of gay visibility in Cairo and other big international cities like Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, a time that was quixotically called the “neo-gay ’90s.” This public emergence of gay identity (as opposed to the practice of same sex, which has been going on all over the world for millennia) roused fundamentalists in those regions and led authorities to move to shut down gay cafes, gay websites, gay theater, gay meeting spots, gay disco boats, and gay people. As Julian Jayaseela, a political activist and AIDS worker in Kuala Lumpur, told me, “There is a price to pay for visibility. It definitely attracts the bullet.”

I suppose I should have known that this basic, earthy dialectic of gay life would elude Joseph Massad, an associate professor at Columbia University and the author of Desiring Arabs. I have never been a big fan of academia, especially when it comes to sexual politics. I know, the Queer Theorists and Queer Studies crowd are finally allowed to get down to the nitty-gritty, but some of these folks really have to go out of their way to make sex not sound sexy or smutty but smart. To prove that they are not enjoying themselves but are real academics, they write as if some committee were looking over their shoulder, and just as they got to the point where you can almost smell real life, someone brought out the antiseptic and put on the klieg lights.

Massad isn’t a Queer Theorist; his focus at Columbia is modern Arab politics, and in his book the rich history of Arab culture around sex and desire is drowned in a lot of nonsense about a “Gay International,” which he seems to think is a reactionary imperialist idea. Massad understands that visibility attracts the bullet; he just thinks that those who come out have brought it on themselves and, worse, are pawns of Western neocolonialists bent on “destroying social and sexual configurations of desire in the interest of reproducing a world in their own image” in the name of liberation.

“By inciting discourse about homosexuals where none existed before,” he writes, “the Gay International is in fact heterosexualizing a world that is being forced to be fixed by a Western binary.”

In other words, sex was all cool and fluid in the ancient East, and guys used to be able to “penetrate” other guys and not have to worry about being called anything. Those were the good old days, when sex didn’t have to have horrible Western identities. Everyone was straight, so life was easy and gay. Then along came the “Gay International” and ruined it all, compelling poor straight people or bisexuals in those countries who are practicing their same-sex expressions into a gay (or straight) identity, and bringing out the worst in governments that previously paid no attention but now are forced to call in the hangman for the lovers who choose the wrong side.

Of course, Massad says this all very academically, with tons of footnotes, so you automatically think he must know what he is talking about. But when all is said and done, it reminds me of arguments we’ve all heard about gay people ruining the American male bonding party of old days because they insist on being gay. And it’s really sad for the guys on the football team who used to like all that butt slapping after a great play, because now, thanks to the gays—who demand that they shouldn’t be imprisoned or bashed, and even go so far as to have their own parades, and sing gay songs, and make movies and TV shows—the regular guys can no longer slap each other’s butts without someone suspecting they might be queer. And if sometime that suspicion grows strong and the pressure is really on, they might have to bash someone, and then hire a lawyer to argue “gay panic.”

Massad is absolutely right that things have changed in the East. The old rules have been broken. They’ve been broken in the West, too, where forty years ago no one in the mainstream knew gay from anything. They’ve been broken because just to be gay means in some way to break the rules.

I’d guess that in every culture there are people—straight, “straight,” bi, gay—who mourn the passing of the old days. Sometimes that’s sincere, because there was something sweet in the old homoerotic social affections before straight people thought they could mean anything more. And sometimes it’s a fantasy, even a racist fantasy, because people fetishized the secrecy, the danger of the exotic: “In Mexico City or Marrakesh, we go and make love, and we’re not gay, we’re just men!”

But the old world was deadly, too, in its repressions and cruelties, and the new one still is. Massad says gay identity is a Western construct, as if to say to Arab political exiles who call themselves gay, among them some of the Cairo 52, “No, no, no, you can’t have gay feelings, that’s Western; you can have only sex feelings.”

But gay liberation is no more intrinsically Western than black revolution is intrinsically Haitian. People have sex and fall in love; they’re different and they don’t want to lie and hide. Some do, but many more want to come out, and if that can happen, it will happen. And if a government is going to lash or torture or kill people who come out, gay people are going to fight for gay people. Just because you’re gay doesn’t mean you don’t have some yelling rights.

The truth be told, for all the hoopla about Will and Grace and Ellen, in reality gay and lesbian people here, never mind those arrested on disco boats in Cairo, are a marginal group. Homosexuals are still not an officially declared minority by the U.S. government. Perhaps reality sets in for those internationally who think about coming out when they realize that state torture, imprisonment, or execution of gay people is not considered a human rights abuse by the U.N. Human Rights Commission. Yes, they can get married in Massachusetts and some European countries, but they can also be hanged in Teheran, imprisoned in Cameroon, or bashed in Mobile.

Perhaps Massad’s silliest attack is on Barney Frank, an openly gay U.S. Congressman whom one would expect to defend the Cairo 52, since he has also defended gay people in non-Arab countries, including the United States. In the book, though, it is Barney the Westerner, the supporter of Israel, who is attacked for defending gay people in the Middle East.

Similar to Queer Theory books, Massad’s academic need to take the thrill out of sex leads you to the point of wanting to throw the whole thing out the window. Massad starts out saying, “Although I will look at different kinds of literature—academic studies, journalistic accounts, human rights and tourist publications . . . I do not seek to flatten them by erasing these differences . . . but rather to demonstrate how . . . a certain ontology and epistemology are taken as axiomatic a priori by all of them.” He then painfully flattens the whole subject matter. Common sense tells you there must be simpler ways to discuss these sexual things and not be afraid to sound like you are not smart enough.

In Michael Luongo’s new book, Gay Travels in the Muslim World, Westerners and Arabs lay out wonderful, simple tales on the cutting edge of those impossible cultural demarcations. (Also the soon-to-be released documentary A Jihad for Love will allow you to actually see and hear real gay and lesbian Muslims take on these issues directly.) Don Bapst, an American tourist, recalls in Gay Travels the time that he didn’t want Paul, his lover, to bring an Egyptian young man back to their hotel room. “Paul said I was being closed minded,” he writes. “But explaining our same-sex relationship to an Egyptian would take months, not minutes. And how could we really develop any sort of genuine communication with someone when hiding that essential aspect of our lives? It would take time to learn how to communicate about such things. We’d have to find a new vocabulary. Hell, we have to learn Arabic for starters. I was sure it was all possible, but it would take more time than we were allowing ourselves on this visit.”

These eighteen stories in Luongo’s compilation, covering the Middle East and including Afghanistan, bring us up close to the changes that have taken place since the old Marrakesh wild days of Paul Bowles and the Arab fetishism of William Burroughs’s Naked Lunch same-sex crowd. In one of them Ethan Pullman (an alias of a Palestinian kicked out of his family because he came out while in school in the United States) grieves the loss of his family: “My story might not be unique by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, there’s really no way to know for sure, because many homosexuals in the Middle East choose to remain silent, out of fear of persecution by governments and family, out of self-imposed loyalty, or, worst of all, out of self-hatred. As long as honor crimes, sodomy laws, and insane fatwas exist in the Muslim Middle East, there will be lives at risk.”

The multiple levels of lives at risk make up the backdrop of a modern-day Jean Genet story told by Jeff Key. He is an American gay GI guarding over an area in Iraq when he catches the eye and attention of a gay Arab brother playing soccer.

“ ‘You’re beautiful,’ the young Arab man says quietly as his eyes dart around to make sure no one hears. We stand there enjoying the torture of our situation. ‘You have. . . .’ And he pantomimes ‘lip balm.’

“I dig in my pocket and produce my dirty, half-used tube. I gotta tell you, I don’t think anyone’s ever put on lip balm in a sexier way. ‘What you call? . . . And he kisses the air. ‘What’s this?’

“I ask and make the kissing noise.

‘Yes.’

“ ‘Kiss. We call it kiss.’

“ ‘Kiss,’ he repeats and hands back the Chapstick.

“ ‘No, no, you keep it.’ I put up my hand to refuse it.

“ ‘Kiss,’ he repeats and pushes it into my palm. Well I’ll be damned; he’s giving me a kiss. I smooth the stuff onto my own lips as he watches, and in an instant my anger at both our culture’s ignorance is diminished, and shame and anger are overcome by bliss and absolute pride—in us, in our people, in our everlasting overcoming ability to love, to show love no matter what. We are everywhere. We are Love, and we shall overcome.

“ ‘Hey Key, let’s roll, dawg.’ Fuck.

“ ‘Goodbye, Akmed.’ And I slap the lip balm back into his palm. ‘Kiss.’

“ ‘Goodbye, Jeff.’

“I leap onto my vehicle with my best cowboy-American-Marine-jumping-on-his horse leap. He sadly smiles.”

Key was injured in Iraq and came home. He knows his imperial oil mission was wrong, and has since been active against it. But he still wonders about the friend that he met for only a few minutes. There is no question that the criminal war and the generally destructive role of U.S. policy in the Middle East will for years bring suspicions at least from the Arab world onto any American, gay or straight, who would walk its streets, and danger for Arabs who would associate with them.

Sexual identity won’t change that, but Key’s straightforward romantic moment cuts across the great divide so beautifully to prove a sensitivity, among so many gay and lesbian people in every culture, behind that slogan first heard shouted loudly by the young gay liberationists as a chant on the first Christopher Street Gay Pride March in 1970, a year after the Stonewall Riots: “We Are Everywhere!” That strong belief keeps the hope of reconciliation alive for gays and lesbians around the world.

Michael Lucas devoted months of searching with Israeli casting scouts to discover fresh-faced, masculine men that would justly represent how sexually arousing the Men of Israel are. Drawn from various parts of the country, the seven men showcase the diversity of the nation. None of the cast has worked in adult movies prior, but for them it came naturally to perform with such raw sexual passionate that will blow you away.

Running Time:
117 minutes

Released:
07/2009

Studio:
Lucas Entertainment

Director:
Michael Lucas

Categories:
Muscles Anal Safe Sex

Stars:
Morr-Foxx Jonathan Agassi Matan Shalev Avi Dar Guy Ronen Naor Tal

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Egypt are coloured by the fact that the very existence of homosexuality is barely acknowledged by Egypt’s ruling administration and much of the public. Homosexual acts are thus covered by general legislation governing public morality. In the 21st century, this legislation has been subject to stricter interpretation, and consequentially homosexual men live under continual threat of persecution and imprisonment.

The taboo with regards to homosexuality is extremley powerful, which produces a number of social issues of concern to some human rights groups.

Criminal Laws

Egypt is influenced by the civil law system. As the criminal code is silent on the subject of private, adult and consensual homosexual acts, and cross-dressing, they are not de jure illegal in Egypt. However, since 2000 certain laws have been used to impose what amounts to a de facto ban on homosexuality and cross-dressing.

In 2000, police arrested a Egyptian gay couple and charged them with, “violation of honor by threat” and “practicing immoral and indecent behavior”. Their lawyer asked that the charges be dropped because homosexuality is not a crime, but the judge refused on the grounds that two men had in fact “offended” religious and moral standards 1. The incident became a media sensation, promoting various public figures to view homosexuality as a product of Western decadence and demand that the government execute homosexuals or sent them to a mental institution to be reformed 2.

Within a year, the Egyptian government began a public crackdown on Egyptian gay men by raiding private parties, arresting the guests and charging them with various laws, including violating the the “Public Order & Public Morals” code, enacted in the 1990s to combat “Satanic” and “lewd” expressions, as well as engaging in prostitution and “violating the teachings of religion and propagating depraved ideas and moral depravity.” 3.

The first of these raids was at a Cairo boat party, where all the Egyptian gay men, fifty-two, were arrested and charged with violating these vague public morality laws. The “Cairo 52″ were arrested and tried on vaguely worded laws such as “violating the teachings of religion”, “propagating depraved ideas”, “contempt of religion” and “moral depravity.” Due to logistical purposes, a copy of the Egyptian Penal Code is not easily attainable by foreign persons of interest, or interest groups who cannot read Arabic. The Human Rights Watch has translated and published portions of the penal code online1.

The Cairo 52 were defended by international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International. However, they had no organized internal support, plead innocent, and were tried under the state security courts. Members of the German parliament and the French President called upon the Egyptian government to respect the human rights of its LGBT citizens.23 Twenty-three of the defendants were sentenced to prison with hard labor, while the others were acquitted.4 More men have been arrested in various raids on homosexuals, although foreigners tend to be released quickly.

In many recent situations, the men are being arrested for meeting or attempting to meet other adult men through various Internet chatrooms and message boards. This was the case on June 20th, 2003, when an Israeli tourist in Egypt was jailed for homosexuality for about fifteen days before he was eventually released and allowed to return to Israel.5 On September 24, 2003, police set up checkpoints at both sides of the Qasr al-Nil Bridge, which spans the Nile in downtown Cairo and is a popular place for adult men to meet other men for sex, arrested 62 men for homosexuality.6

As of 2007, crackdown continuescitation needed. In 2004 a seventeen-year-old private university student received a 17 years sentence in prison including 2 years hard labor, for posting a personal profile on a gay dating site.7

The Egyptian government’s response to the international criticism was either to deny that they were persecuting LGBT people8 or to defend their policies by stating that homosexuality is a moral perversion9.

Gender Identity

In the 1990s Sayed Abdullah was the first Egyptian to legally undergo a sex-change operation becoming Sali Abdullah 4. While the law appears to provide for sex-change operations and obtaining new legal documents, the issue of gender identity generally remains taboo.

In 1998 the Egyptian government formally banned the music by Israeli transsexual, Dana International, from being aired or sold in the nation 5.
edit Recognition of same-sex relationships

Egyptian Law only recognizes a marriage between a man and a woman. Same-sex marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships are all prohibited by law. Reports suggest that if such a relationship becomes public, the police may use it as evidence in a criminal indictment for the various laws against immorality.
edit LGBT Rights Advocacy

No national or local law provides civil rights protection based on sexual orientation or gender identity. No Egyptian political party or interest group has formally supported enacting such laws or otherwise endorsed LGBT-rights.

Egyptian human rights organizations are reportedly afraid of defending LGBT-rights given the level of prejudice and hostility involved Egypt’s “Human Rights” Groups. No Egyptian politican has expressed support of LGBT-rights, instead politicans have called for the execution of homosexuals or their segreation from society into prisons and mental institutions until they are reformed.
edit Living conditions

Until 2001, the Egyptian government refused to recognize the existence of homosexuality,10 and now does so only to brush off criticism from human rights organizations and foreign politicians.

Most Egyptians see homosexuality and transgenderism as forbidden and detestable acts, even before the Egyptian government started using the national security courts and various laws against indecency and immorality to arrest groups of LGBT people at nightclubs, private events, and in online chatrooms. Most LGBT native Egyptians and foreigners live in the closet, and any gathering of LGBT people is entirely underground.
edit Media

LGBT-themes are not prohibited per se, although they can prompt controversy from religious conservatives, which can lead to a government crackdown. Recently, LGBT themes have appeared in some Egyptian films.

Controversial films such as “Uncensored” (2009), “Out of Control” (2009), “A Plastic Plate” (2007) and “The Yacoubian Building” (2006) all received controversial and threats of censorship for depicting characters who were gay, lesbian or bisexual 6.

HIV/AIDS

The pandemic first reached Egypt in the 1980s, although public health effort were left to NGO’s until the 1990s.

In 1996 the Health Ministry set up a national AIDS hotline. A 1999 “Egypt Today” cover story dealt with the AIDS-HIV pandemic in Egypt and the fact that it commonly seen as something caused by foreigners, homosexuals, or drug users. The article also mentioned that there was talk of a LGBT organization being created to target the Egyptian LGBT community, and while a same-sex safer sex brochure was published, the organization was never created11 and ignorance about the pandemic is common.

In 2005 the Egyptian government started to allow for confidential HIV testing, although most people fear that being tested positive will result in being labelled as a homosexual and thus a de facto criminal. Some Egyptians have access to home test kits brought back from the United States, but most Egyptians lack accurate information about the pandemic and quality care if they do become infected12.

In 2007 the Egytpian government aired an educational film about AIDS-HIV in Egypt, with interviews from members of Health Ministry, doctors and nurses.

Documentary Baladna Arab Palestinian Israel Youth Identity Druze Bedouin Negev Arapiyat LGBT Gay Lesbian Hip-Hop

In an unusual ruling, the High Court of Justice ordered the state late last week to evaluate the degree to which the life of a young Palestinian is at risk, in part because of his sexual orientation. The Palestinian is asking for permission to remain in Israel because he fears for his life if he is expelled to the Palestinian Authority.

Speaking to Haaretz, he said that “in other times, when they brought me to the roadblock the entire village chased me and beat me, and nearly killed me. I prefer to sit in prison than to go back.”

The official position of the state, which was also presented to the court, is that the committee on persons at risk operates in accordance with the office coordinating operations in the territories, and is authorized to address requests of Palestinians claiming to be under threat for their collaboration with security forces.

On the other hand, according to the state attorney, the committee is not authorized to discuss the cases of those whose behavior is seen by Palestinian society as being “morally degenerate,” including prostitutes, criminals and drug addicts.

The Palestinian, in his 20s, maintains that his life is threatened because of his sexual orientation and because he has been marked by Palestinians as having cooperated with Israel.

A native of Nablus, he fled his home at 12 and came to Israel as a result of violence and abuse at the hands of his father. At one point he worked as a male prostitute in Tel Aviv’s Gan Hahashmal. Six months after living in Israel, he returned to his family in Nablus.

In the PA he was arrested by Palestinian intelligence who suspected him of collaborating with Israeli security forces. He says that he was jailed, tortured and abused until he was forced to admit such collaboration.

Following his forced confession he was jailed at a facility near the Muqata’a for what he says was two years, waiting for a death sentence to be carried out for alleged treason.

The young Palestinian petitioned the High Court through attorney Yohanna Lerman, a public defender, said that during IDF operations he managed to escape and was asked to identify those who jailed and abused him openly, exposing his own identity.

Following his exposure to the Palestinians as appearing to “collaborate” with Israeli forces, he was granted temporary permits to stay in Israel by the Shin Bet. During his stay in Israel the young Palestinian was arrested and jailed for his involvement in acts of violence and theft.

The committee evaluating the degree to which Palestinians are at risk for alleged collaboration with Israel decided in November that the young man was not at risk. The committee also said that he failed to meet his commitment to avoid illegal activities, which in turn threatens public safety.

The state argued in response to the High Court petition that many Palestinians who have claimed similar risk to their lives for collaboration are actually threatened because Palestinian society considers their behavior to be “morally degenerate.”

“This unfortunate fact cannot impose on the State of Israel the legal responsibility to allow every Palestinian from such groups to live in its territory,” the state attorney’s office wrote.

The court ruled that there must be an authority capable of taking responsibility on deciding whether a threat exists and what its nature is, in areas that are not necessarily linked with collaboration.

“To date the committee, the state and the court avoided interfering, but now the judges have asked that there be a collective approach that also includes the issue of sexual orientation,” Lerman said, pointing out that both local and international law state clearly that someone whose life is at risk cannot be abandoned.

Until about a week ago, the last time anyone thought about Uganda was either (1) never or (2) to convey a generic far away place that you would never want to visit. It’s sort of like saying Timbuktu but sounds way smarter. Now, in a fiery fit of gay rage, the relatively tiny nation (roughly the size of Michigan) has attempted to compensate for its small size by stirring up homophobic hubbub. It’s already a world leader in illiteracy – desiring to become part of a not-so-secret society of nations that punishes gays with the death penalty is just one more feather in Uganda’s unsightly African floral headwrap.

The bill, proposed by MP David Bahati, adds Uganda to that list of other places you would never want or are currently barred from going to like Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates. Coincidentally, most of those countries are ones where Jews wouldn’t feel terribly welcome either. Sure, it’s all fun-and-games shopping for Dolce in Dubai until someone gets stoned to death for showing their sugar daddy a little gratitude.

Normally, when crazy countries (see: Iran) make generic threats, members of sane societies create useless Facebook pages with impossibly long, almost incoherent names like “Ahmadinejad is a terrorist tyrant. Bring peace to the Persian people now. Join to help us reach over 1,000,000 members.” But despite the similar onslaught of fruitless Facebook pages rising up in virtual condemnation against this latest humanitarian crisis, it indeed appears that Uganda’s rogue government isn’t just interested in having an international dick-measuring contest. For the first time in its 47-year history, Uganda actually seems serious about instituting social change. Naturally, in a country where 75% of the population lives on less than $2 a day, it couldn’t be for something truly good. Instead, Ugandan parliament members (with the staunch support of – who else? – Evangelical groups) have drafted legislation that would broaden the scope of what is considered illegal homosexual behavior. People with HIV/AIDS, who have prior convictions of queer conduct, and/or get caught in same-sex acts with those under 18 years old would be subject to the death sentence. As if that weren’t enough of a human rights violation, Uganda will also go after gay expatriates and individuals or organizations that support LGBT rights there.

It may come as a shocker that gays even exist at all in a country where raggy shmattes rule the roads. There are, however, an estimated 500,000 sexual minorities who call Uganda home.

At first glance, this whole setup doesn’t scream special, but there are several factors that make the Ugandan case unique. First, there are key players from the American Evangelical movement – namely, Scott Lively, author of the literary masterpiece 7 Steps to Recruit-Proof Your Child, “healed” ex-gay Caleb Lee Brundidge, and hetero conversion missionary Don Schmierer – that have allegedly contributed to these political developments through their travels and live talks. They’ve said they don’t condone the bill and claim they didn’t know about the implications of their so-called holy work in Uganda. At least it’s likely that one of the three will be caught cruising the bathroom stalls at the Minneapolis International Airport.

Second, Uganda’s religious composition is drastically different from the usual suspects of LGBT human rights violators worldwide, because it doesn’t have a Muslim majority. In fact, Uganda is overwhelmingly Christian with over 85% of the population identifying as either Roman Catholic or Protestant.

Third, Uganda has a curious place in Jewish history (yeah, Hebrew school skipped over that one, because it’s actually interesting). Once upon a time, the British Uganda Plan called for the creation of a Jewish state where ass-fucking fun is now poised to be punishable by death. It was a far better deal than the Nazi scheme to ship the Jews off to Madagascar, but one thing is clear: if the current state of affairs in Israel is any indication, gays would have been freely prancing around a Judeo-African oasis – and with at least a marginally better sense of style.

But, sadly, not all is sweet in the Land of Milk and Honey. Last year, Israel’s reputation was tarnished after a masked gunman waged war on an LGBT center in Tel Aviv. And in 2005, Jerusalem’s relatively somber socio-political pride parade was marred when an orthodox male stabbed three participants. Israel’s black hat Haredim have long been aggressors against sexual minorities both physically and politically feeling more commonalities with their Christian extremist counterparts than most of their Jewish brethren. In a rare instance of cross-religious cooperation, they’ve even joined forces with the Holy City’s Christians and Muslims to ban pride marches in Jerusalem altogether – who knew that anti-gay discrimination was what it took to bring people from different religions together? Still, while Israel has to contend with its own share of gay drama, it’s reassuring to know that gays in Israel can, among other things, qualify for couples’ benefits, serve in the military, and see a drag show. To think, all of that happens in a country founded by people from socialist Eastern Europe and the most intolerable parts of the Arab World.

Uganda’s homo hate bill is scheduled for a vote before parliament in late February or March. Until then, the best that gay Ugandans can hope for are a few meaningless Facebook pages and the off chance that Madonna or Angelina Jolie will be back on the market for more African babies. Luckily, some open-minded Jews are doing what they can: AJWS is already raising funds to help and support gay people in Uganda.