Alix Rijckaert: Muslim mayor flies flag for gays in Dutch suburb
A harassed gay minority in a conservative suburb in otherwise tolerant Amsterdam has found a guardian angel in the local Muslim mayor. Ahmed Marcouch, 41, is on a self-appointed mission to end homophobia in Slotervaart, just a stones’ throw from the capital but light-years away from its anything-goes mentality. To make his point, Mayor Marcouch recently invited Amsterdam’s annual Gay Pride parade to pass through his constituency when it takes place in August. “It is necessary to confront this issue, to say that homosexuals are normal people like all of us and that we require them to be respected,” Marcouch told AFP. Slotervaart’s population is mainly of immigrant origin, many of the Muslim faith, like Moroccan-born Marcouch himself who came to the Netherlands in 1979 at age 10. The suburb has recently been in the news for homophobic incidents, with gays being called names, spat on and generally bothered.
[Article continues at link. Muslim oppression just a stones' throw away - get it? Sorry. A word of congratulations to Mayor Marcouch for ignoring the clear dictates of his own religion and instead acting on the better aspects of secular government. If the Muslim world can follow his lead, it should have a place in the 21st Century. Islam can retain all its commandments to kill homosexuals, just like Christianity has, but it can follow Christianity's lead and simply ignore those parts of its unignorable holy book. Slotervaart is a few thousand feet from where Theo van Gogh II was shot eight times and nearly decapitated with a knife, then had two knives stabbed in his chest. One of the knives pinned a note explaining the motives of his killer to his body. Theo van Gogh was murdered by a Muslim man for 'insulting Islam' with his film Submission. Between making Submission and being killed, van Gogh made another film called 06/05. This film was about the death of Pim Fortuyn - who was murdered for 'insulting Islam.' This is the background of Mayor Marcouch's decision, and we wish him every success in defending the West from his brothers and sisters in the Religion of Peace. - Trevor Blake]