Psychologist to be investigated over opposition to LGBT lessons

A psychologist who has played a key role in opposing the introduction of relationship and sex education lessons in schools is being investigated by her profession’s governing body over her fitness to practise.

Dr Kate Godfrey-Faussett, who has extensive experience working with young children and families, is a leading figure in Stop RSE, a campaign against relationship and sex education (RSE) lessons in schools.

In a speech broadcast online, Godfrey-Faussett, who converted to Islam 25 years ago, has that said many young Muslims were “turning to same-sex relationships because they haven’t had the guidance”. She has complained about the “queering” of the “Muslim community” and said Muslims should “work psychologically or in a mental health capacity” with those experiencing same-sex attraction. [The Guardian] Read more

Islamic bigotry has been fuelled by the left

.... The Labour Party recently signed up to a definition of Islamophobia devised by the all-party parliamentary group on British Muslims. “Islamophobia,” it says, “is . . . a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” Besides being a clunky non-word, what is “Muslimness”?

Hardline Deobandi or Salafist Islam, which has erased tolerant traditions, branding itself the true Islam, demands women wear the hijab and even the niqab, although neither is Koranically prescribed. Are Muslim feminists appalled that British state schools permit parents to cover the heads of six-year-old girls, enshrining a culture of modesty, constriction and separation from infancy, targeting “Muslimness”?

.... Now there’s lots to do. First up, let’s focus on the rights of Muslim women, especially those in conservative communities, who resort to Sharia courts in domestic disputes and are often counselled to stay with violent partners. It is appalling that Muslim couples are not compelled to undergo civil marriage, with wives left in penury after a religious divorce. [The Times (£)] Read more

Inside the angry Muslim protests over lessons about LGBT relationships in Birmingham primary schools as teachers face abuse

IT’S home time, and wide-eyed children streaming through the primary school gates are met by a wall of noise from placard-holding protesters.

As two police officers look on, demo orchestrator Shakeel Afsar bellows into his megaphone: “Our children!” A throng of around 50 Muslim demonstrators, some in black niqabs, chant back: “Our choice.”

One home-made banner reads: “Say no to the sexualisation of children.” Another, scrawled in black marker pen, says: “Let kids be kids.”

For the past two weeks, protesters have gathered at Birmingham’s Anderton Park Primary School’s gates demanding an end to LGBT lessons for children as young as four.

Ringleader Mr Afsar, 31, whose niece and nephew attend the school, told The Sun: “Parents feel the school is forcing a different moral way of thinking on the children.”

A tinderbox cause for some religious communities, opposition to the lessons in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues, has spread through WhatsApp and social media and seen parents raising concerns in Manchester, Croydon, Oldham, Blackburn and Bradford. [The Sun] Read more

Head of LGBT protest school urges Government to act and says: 'We feel under siege'

The head at a Birmingham primary school has called for the Government to reject attempts to dilute messages of equality around LGBT issues - or risk a "bleak future."

Anderton Park Primary School in Moseley has been the subject of daily protests from some parents over the equality lessons.

Headteacher Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson has now called for action from the Government - and revealed the strain her staff have been under.

She said: "If someone is going to tell us that there are elements of the equality agenda that we just can't talk about, then I think we have a constitutional crisis. It is a terrifying prospect.

"This is the thin end of the wedge.

"If we succumb to what parents demand on this particular issue, and agree not to mention LGBT equality to young children, what do we say if there is a far right parents' group demanding we stop saying religions are equal, or black people are equal to white people? Where does it end?" [Birmingham Mail] Read more

Outlawing ‘Islamophobia’ would help jihadis

Last weekend the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, described the massacre in Christchurch as the result ‘of failing to root out Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment from our society’. His intention is to crack down on Islamophobia and give it a formal definition. He is right about anti-Muslim sentiment. But he is dangerously, terrifyingly wrong about Islamophobia.

.... Sadiq Khan wants the Tories to define Islamophobia as ‘a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness’. This definition would go down well in any autocratic Islamist regime, as it is so wide-ranging that it could apply to almost anyone or anything — even Khan has been accused of Islamophobia.

So the Mayor should be careful what he wishes for. If he gets his way, the jihadis would be delighted. It would be tragic if, in an attempt to protect Muslims, we ended up taking the jihadis’ bait. [The Spectator] Read more

George Clooney calls for hotels boycott over Brunei's LGBT laws

George Clooney has called for a boycott of nine luxury hotels, including the Dorchester on Park Lane in London, because of their links to Brunei, which plans to impose death by stoning as a punishment for gay sex and adultery from next week.

“Let that sink in. In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarianism this stands alone,” the film star and activist wrote in an opinion piece for Deadline.

In a novel form of political activism aimed at the global elite, he called for the public to join him in immediately boycotting the hotels operated by the Dorchester Collection luxury chain: three in the UK, two in the US, two in France and two in Italy. [The Guardian] Read more

George Clooney calls for hotel boycott over Brunei LGBT laws

Hollywood actor George Clooney is calling for a boycott of nine luxury hotels with links to Brunei, after the country said gay sex and adultery would soon be punishable by death.

From 3 April, homosexuals could face being whipped or stoned in the tiny South East Asian state.

In 2014, Brunei became the first East Asian country to adopt Islamic Sharia law despite widespread condemnation.

Mr Clooney said the new laws amounted to "human rights violations".

"In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarianism this stands alone," the actor wrote in a column for the entertainment website Deadline.

"Brunei is a Monarchy and certainly any boycott would have little effect on changing these laws", he said. "But are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations?"

He said Dorchester Collection hotels in the US, UK, France and Italy, which are owned by the Brunei Investment Agency, should be avoided by those who oppose the measures. [BBC] Read more

Why People Fear Islam

.... A map of the world where lesbian and gay people are criminalised and can expect to face harsh penalties is essentially a map of the Islamic world. A similar map can be drawn showing the worst oppression of women. It goes without saying, almost any credible list of the worst human rights offenders on Planet Earth will feature a majority of Islamic countries.

This is why people in the West fear Islamic immigration. It is not about racism and it is not about prejudice. Obviously there is a small racist contingent who oppose any and all immigration, particularly from countries with different skin colours, but there is nowhere near the level of opposition to immigration from Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, or Secular Humanists and Atheists, from anywhere in the world. We have to be honest about why this is the case.

If we’re honest, it is because we fear – for good reason – the regressive social attitudes and violent punishments for moral crimes that the Islamic world imposes. [Harry’s Place] Read more

Protests over LGBT+ classes ramp up at Birmingham school as MPs back more inclusive curriculum

Protests over lessons on same-sex relationships continued into their ninth day at a Birmingham primary school just hours after MPs voted in favour of a compulsory LGBT+ inclusive curriculum in schools.

Megaphone-wielding demonstrators at Anderton Park Primary School want classes teaching respect for LGBT+ relationships to be suspended until a resolution can be reached with parents who oppose the lessons.

Around 50 adults held placards and chanted “our children, our choice” outside the school gates as parents picked up pupils on Thursday afternoon. A group of children joined in with the demonstration.

The protest came after a large majority of MPs – 538 – voted on Wednesday evening in favour of new regulations to make relationships and sex education (RSE) compulsory in English schools from September 2020. [The Independent] Read more

Erdogan says time has come for Hagia Sophia to be a mosque

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday (Mar 27) it was time to rename Istanbul's landmark Hagia Sophia as a mosque, saying that it had been a "very big mistake" to convert it into a museum.

"Hagia Sophia will not be called a museum. It will be taken out of that status. We will call Hagia Sophia a mosque," Erdogan told A Haber television during an interview.

"Those who come to Hagia Sophia will visit Hagia Sophia mosque," he said.

The former church and mosque, now a museum, often sparks tensions between Christians and Muslims over Islamic activities held there, including the reading of verses from the Koran or collective prayers.

Its secular status allows believers of all faiths to meditate, reflect or simply enjoy the astonishing architecture of a building dating back to the sixth century. [CNA] Read more

In Saudi trial, detained women speak of torture, abuse

Saudi women activists detained for almost a year offered their defence at an emotionally charged hearing on Wednesday, alleging torture and sexual harassment during interrogation, courtroom sources said.

Eleven women responded to charges that rights groups say include contact with international media and human rights groups, in the second hearing of a high-profile trial that foreign reporters and diplomats are barred from attending.

Some of them wept and consoled each other and their family members gathered before a three-judge panel in Riyadh's criminal court as they accused interrogators of subjecting them to electric shocks and flogging and groping them in detention, two people with access to the trial told AFP.

At least one of the detained women tried to commit suicide following her mistreatment, a close relative said.

The government, facing intense international scrutiny of its human rights record, denies the women were tortured or harassed. [AFP] Read more

Brunei introduces death by stoning as punishment for gay sex

runei is to begin imposing death by stoning as a punishment for gay sex and adultery from next week, as part of the country’s highly criticised implementation of sharia law.

From 3 April, people in the tiny south-east Asian kingdom will be subjected to a draconian new penal code, which also includes the amputation of a hand and a foot for the crime of theft. To be convicted, the crimes must be “witnessed by a group of Muslims”.

Brunei, which has adopted a more conservative form of Islam in recent years, first announced in 2013 its intention to introduce sharia law, the Islamic legal system that imposes strict corporal punishments.

It was a directive of the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, who is one of the world’s richest leaders with a personal wealth of about $20bn (£15bn) and has held the throne since 1967. He described the implementation of the new penal code as “a great achievement”. [The Guardian] Read more

Muslim campaigners condemn New Zealand women for donning headscarves in solidarity with mosque shooting victims, saying: 'The hijab is NOT empowering for us'

New Zealand women who wear a headscarf in solidarity with Muslim women have faced a backlash from campaigners who say it is not 'empowering'.

Some women including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern have covered up in the wake of the Christchurch mosque shootings which killed 50 people on March 15.

Ardern won widespread praise for putting on a headscarf when she met members of the Muslim community after the terror attack.

But women's rights advocates said it was a sensitive issue for many women who campaign against the obligatory wearing of headscarves.

Critics pointed out that women in conservative Muslim countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia were forced to cover up for the sake of modesty or risk public rebuke, fines or arrest. [Daily Mail] Read more

'Professor against political correctness' had his Cambridge fellowship withdrawn after posing next to a man in an 'I'm a proud Islamophobe' t-shirt, university's vice chancellor reveals

A controversial Canadian academic had his Cambridge fellowship withdrawn after posing next to a man in an 'I'm a proud Islamophobe' t-shirt.

Jordan Peterson, a psychology professor, was offered a two-month visiting fellowship at Cambridge University.

It was revoked last week after Dr Peterson was pictured posing with a man wearing an anti-Islam t-shirt last year on February 18 while on his 12 Rules for Life Tour in Auckland, New Zealand, as reported by Varsity.

The phrase emblazoned on the front of the t-shirt of what is thought to be a Peterson fan says 'I'm a proud Islamaphobe.' (sic)

Apart from misspelling 'Islamaphobe', which is actually spelt Islamophobe, the t-shirt also lists a number of other offensive statements about Islam. [Daily Mail] Read more

Birmingham LGBT lessons row school staff 'distraught'

The head of a school trust embroiled in a row over classes about LGBT rights says staff have been left "distraught".

The No Outsiders programme at Parkfield Community School in Birmingham has been paused after protests by parents.

Hazel Pulley, chief executive officer of the trust which runs the school, said some staff had lost weight and were not sleeping.

She added the situation had been the most "challenging" she has seen in 27 years in education.

There have been protests outside the school in Alum Rock over No Outsiders, with some parents claiming the lessons were age-inappropriate and incompatible with Islam.

Ms Pulley, of Excelsior Multi-Academy Trust, confirmed its lessons have been temporarily stopped to allow for discussions with parents.

The Leigh Trust has also said it would be halting lessons at four of its schools until reaching an agreement with parents. [BBC] Read more

'Muslims don't date, we marry'

.... Back then he was working for a bank in the City of London. He enjoyed his job, but at the same time he increasingly realised that there was a gap in the market for a decent dating app aimed at Muslims who were looking for a partner from within their religious community.

"At the time there were either these really basic websites for Muslims, or big dating apps that didn't quite get our culture," says Shahzad, who was born and bred in Manchester.

"In the Muslim community a lot of us did, and still do, rely on matchmakers [to find a wife or husband]. These are 'aunties' in the community who know families, and who would match up a son with another family's daughter."

His idea for Muzmatch was that it would be a digital matchmaker app for Muslims who wanted to find someone to marry. [BBC] Read more

One-man Sharia courts ‘discriminate against women’

Women face discrimination as a growing number of “one-man” Sharia councils pop up, an Islamic scholar has warned.

Khola Hasan, a scholar at the Islamic Sharia Council in east London, said that a number of new councils had sprung up, run from living rooms, the back of shops or even through the post.

Sharia councils offer advice and rulings on Islamic law. They mainly deal with religious divorce cases and most of their clients are women seeking to dissolve their Islamic marriage.

An independent review into Sharia councils last year raised concerns that the bodies “engage in practices which are discriminatory to women”, particularly because Islamic law grants men the right to divorce their wives by simply declaring the marriage to be over, but insists that wives must seek permission from a scholar to divorce her husband. [The Times (£)] Read more

Supporters of Birmingham primary school’s gay lessons warned they will ‘burn in hell’

A teacher at the centre of protests over what children learn about relationships has called on the education secretary to make it “crystal clear” that schools are only trying to follow the law.

Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson, the head of Anderton Park Primary School in Birmingham which is rated “good” by Ofsted, says she feels intimidated and upset after protesters outside her school last week chanted “Hewitt-Clarkson, go, go, go” and “Hewitt-Clarkson is a liar”. The school, where most of the pupils are Muslim, called the police.

“It was very intimidating for my staff, parents and the children,” said Hewitt-Clarkson. “Children were crying.”

She added that it reminded her of the Trojan Horse scandal in 2014 when her school was one of a number inspected after claims that Muslims were trying to influence what was taught in secular state schools. [The Times (£)] Read more

Silencing Islamophobes is as futile a response as banning the Qur’an

.... It’s not just figures on the right who inhabit this grey area. Liberals demand restrictions on Muslim immigration as a necessity to defend secular society. Social democratic parties across Europe have ramped up rhetoric against Muslims and migrants, citing a need to stem the rise of the far right. The creation of Fortress Europe, and of Fortress Australia, and their immoral immigration policies, have helped legitimise the idea of continents under siege from invading migrants.

All this is why the calls for stricter censorship to curtail anti-Muslim bigotry miss the point. The dehumanisation of Muslims and of migrants is a process that happens in many ways and through many agencies.

Banning rightwing thinkers hostile to Muslims will no more stop terrorism acts than banning the Qur’an will stop jihadist fighters. Anti-Muslim bigotry was just one strand of Tarrant’s warped worldview. Should we censor, too, the identity politics and anti-globalisation sentiments that also provided the frame for his intent? [Guardian Cif] Read more

Activist warning of 'war on morality' wades into LGBT lessons row

In a YouTube clip published last year, the softly spoken Dr Kate Godfrey-Faussett takes to the stage, apologises for delaying lunch, stutters slightly – saying she has an entrenched fear of public speaking – before launching into an impassioned speech about the government’s “totalitarian endeavour to indoctrinate our children in sexual ideologies”.

Godfrey-Faussett, who describes herself as a chartered psychologist and Muslim academic, is the latest voice entering the tinderbox row over LGBT lessons in Birmingham schools.

The debate has so far led to the removal of hundreds of children from school by parents staging weekly protests against lessons they claim promote LGBT lifestyles.

Despite that hesitant start, Godfrey-Faussett has delivered this performance before at locations around the country, normally to Muslim parents, as part of Stop RSE, her campaign against relationship and sex education lessons in schools. [The Guardian] Read more

Terrorism fears as 3,000 UK children a year go to 'jihadi' schools in Pakistan, secret government report reveals

A secret Government report has warned that more than 3,000 British children are being taken to Pakistan each year and enrolled in extremist summer schools.

The chilling Home Office study says courses at madrasas teach a 'glorified version of jihad', according to a source.

Officials fear some youngsters will be radicalised and return to the UK with a warped ideology and pose a terrorism risk.

'It is highly likely that this education in Pakistan, even for short periods of time, increases the risk of exposure to extremism for British-Pakistani children,' the source told The Mail on Sunday.

'Enrolment at madrasas poses the greatest risk of exposure to more serious forms of religious extremism.'

Two of the 7/7 bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, enrolled on madrasa courses in Pakistan a year before they launched their deadly attack in 2005, which killed 52.

But the security services have established that some Pakistani parents take their children back to their native homeland during summer holidays under the pretext of visiting extended family.

In reality, they sign them up for lessons at some of Pakistan's estimated 20,000 madrasas. [Daily Mail] Read more

Egyptian singer banned after claiming lack of free speech

An Egyptian singer has been banned from performing in her home country after suggesting that it does not respect free speech.

A video clip circulated online shows Sherine Abdel-Wahab, during a performance in Bahrain, saying: "Here I can say whatever I want. In Egypt, anyone who talks gets imprisoned."

Egypt's Musicians Union responded late Friday by barring the singer, popularly known by her first name, from performing. It also summoned her for questioning.

Samir Sabry, a pro-government lawyer with a reputation for moral vigilantism and suing celebrities, filed a complaint against the singer accusing her of "insulting Egypt and inviting suspicious rights groups to interfere in Egypt's affairs." [ABCNews.com] Read more

Liberals in Pakistan fear hate crimes following lynching victim Mashal Khan's death

Mashal Khan, a student in Pakistan, was accused of blasphemy and killed by a mob in 2017. Now, the trial to convict his killers has raised questions about whether legal punishments will help prevent future hate crimes.

Twenty-three-year-old Mashal Khan was a student of mass communications at the Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan, in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He was beaten and shot to death by an angry mob on April 13, 2017, after being accused of blasphemy. The lynching took place within the premises of the university. Soon after, a video of the incident was shared on social media.

According to Mashal Khan's legal team in June 2017, a 13-member joint investigation team (JIT) concluded in its report that the allegations of blasphemy were unfounded and were used as a pretext to incite a mob against the student.

The JIT found that Mashal had been vocal about the rights of students at the university, challenging the appointment of a new vice chancellor for reasons related to students' obtaining their degrees. The investigation also exposed illegal and criminal activities taking place, including the harassment of female students. [Deutsche Welle] Read more

It’s time for my Conservative party to root out Islamophobia for good

.... Whether we like it or not, there is a subculture of Conservative supporters that place Islam at the centre of much that’s wrong with our society. And I think they’re wrong. This Tommy Robinson brigade appears to place ignorance ahead of understanding and does a disservice to British Muslims and the vast majority of Conservatives who bear absolutely no ill will toward the Muslim community. As a political movement we do ourselves no favours by tolerating or ignoring this hateful fringe.

This isn’t an argument to exclude radical Islam from scrutiny or debate. But we don’t honour that debate by indulging the unfounded fears spread by Islamophobes whipping each other into a frenzy online. It is the duty of leaders on the political right to demystify the debate, not pander to people’s cheap fear of “the other”. [Guardian Cif] Read more

Calgary university cancels event by ex-Muslim, citing sensitivity after New Zealand attacks

Citing the recent anti-Muslim attacks in New Zealand, a Calgary university suddenly cancelled an event by Armin Navabi, an Iranian-Canadian atheist activist who was scheduled to deliver a talk critical of Islam.

“I’ve been deplatformed again,” wrote Navabi in a Wednesday tweet.

The event, scheduled for Thursday afternoon, was entitled The Case Against Islamic Reform. Hosted as part of a speaker series organized by the Atheist Society of Calgary, it was to be held at Mount Royal University.

Only two days before the talk, however, a representative from the school informed the society that they were being denied space.

“In light of the shooting last week and the responses to the event we have received from students and staff, we are going to have to cancel hosting your event with Armin on campus on Thursday,” reads an email from the school’s interfaith coordinator since posted to social media. [National Post] Read more