(New York, N.Y.) – On the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia, the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) stands with members of the LGBTQ+ community around the world who face violence and hatred from extremists, and highlights the role that anti-LGBTQ+ hate and prejudice plays in various extremist ideologies. CEP CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace said:
“Anti-gay incitement and violence is an overt characteristic of Islamist organizations. The terrorist group Hamas is infamous for its horrific and legally-sanctioned persecution of gay Palestinians in Gaza, including executions of their own Hamas senior members. LGBTQ+ people living in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan experience similar intimidation and oppression from their governing authority. Even in the West, British clerics like Anjem Choudary spout dangerous homophobia in their interpretation of Islamic precepts.
“We must likewise recognize the convergence of views regarding nonconforming sexuality between Salafi-jihadism and neo-Nazism. With historical precedent, sections of the European far-right such as the pan-Scandinavian Nordic Resistance Movement express overt homophobic rhetoric, often directing their ire at the so-called ‘gay lobby.’ It is no surprise that neo-Nazis and jihadis often express mutual admiration for their shared anti-gay visions.”
Homosexuality and “sexual deviance” are criminalized under the Hamas and Taliban regimes in Gaza and Afghanistan, respectively, while ISIS—which still controls pockets of territory in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and across North and West Africa—is notorious for hurling gay men off rooftops and stoning them. In 2016, a Hamas commander, Mahmoud Ishtiwi, was shot to death for “moral turpitude”—a euphemism for homosexuality. Israel issues temporary work visas for LGBTQ+ Palestinians facing discrimination.
Around 100,000 gay men were arrested and tried under the Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945, with some 50% convicted. Contemporary Nazi movements seek to continue the Hitlerian objective of suppressing, if not eliminating, homosexuality.
To read CEP’s compilation of anti-gay rhetoric from Islamist and far-right terrorist groups and individuals, click here.
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