Muslims

I don't believe in all the right wing propaganda about most Muslims being terrorists, and I strongly oppose the Iraq war and accompanying assults on our civil liberties; however, to be quite honest, I would be cautious if someone told me he/she was a Muslim. Why? I am openly gay, and it seems to be that there is an extremely large amount of anti-gay attitutes among many Muslims (not all of course, but quite a few). Almost every Muslim country has laws against gay people, and some even have the death penalty. I understand that there is a great diversity of views, but for this reason, I sometimes have my own preconcieved notions. I do know some Muslims who are not anti gay, but I also know that MANY are. My cousin does political asylum law, and deals with many cases of women that are trying to get out of oppressive situations in Muslim countries. Despite that, she is not anti-Muslim or anything, but like me, finds Islamic Fundamentalism troubling (we also feel the same about Christian Fundamentalism).

Is there any religion that's not anti-gay? The 3 Abrahamic religions certainly are. You should be just as wary of Christians and Jews, if homophobia is your concern.

Buddhism, Shinto, Taoism, and most traditional Native American religions are not particularly homophobic nor are most traditional pre-patriarchial religious beliefs. Only Islam, Christianity, Judaism (although reform Judaism even accepts gay marraige now from what I understand)are particularly homophobic. Islam as it is practiced today is often quite homophobic. I am smart enough to know that not all Muslims have these beliefs though. Trust me, I am quite wary of the fundy Christians as you can probably tell from previous posts (and polls). On another point, Jewish people tend to often be quite accepting of gay people, especially around where I live (L.A. area). As a demographic group Jews and Atheists are much more accepting of gay marraige than Christians and Muslims. I know that there are differances in attitudes between many Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Jews though just as I know that there is a diversity of opinion with Christians and Muslims. I believe that Israel is the only Middle Eastern country where homosexuality is not illegal. Please correct me if I'm wrong since I'm not 100% sure.

That's probably true about Israel, and if we're to believe Mahmoud Ahmedinejad (sp?), homosexuality doesn't exist in Iran!

Muslims...many kinds. Many people. Holy Quran: a beautiful book to take on its own terms. People in general: known to mess up good things, and misinterpret much. The Quran says, "woman, cover thy bosom". That's all that is written about the veil. It says only to be decent and modest.

Iran...having personally been there, there are as many kinds of people there as anyplace in the world. The first religion to believe in one God was in Iran and it is called Zoroastrianism. Islam was brought to Iran, and it is only a part of the culture.