Zanzibar imams halt gay wedding

[emad]

BBC

Muslim clerics in Zanzibar have blocked a bid by two gay lovers to exchange marriage vows.

The discreet ceremony was stopped after reports reached members of the Zanzibar Imams' Propagation Association.

Police have arrested four imams who allegedly assaulted the couple. They have also launched investigations with a view to prosecuting the partners.

Zanzibar is a predominantly Muslim island, where acts of homosexuality are illegal and few people are openly gay.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4543987.stm

[sui generis]

1. there is a reason they're considered the third world

they probably burn black cats and read entrails too

[CJCRANE]

2. No they don't.

Gay weddings were only banned last year. It's only recently that people have become more intolerant, I used to live there in the 90's and nobody cared what you got up to behind closed doors.

The main cause of the rise in fundamentalism in that part of the world is a reaction to the whole War on Terror/Iraq invasion issue which has given extremists a lot more influence.

On edit: the whole crackdown on gays there is also partly political - it's well known there that the leader of the opposition is gay, so the new tougher laws make his life more difficult.

[livinginphotographs]

3. It's given extremists more influence

both there and here.

Funny how the fundie bigots in this country fail to see their similarities to the fundies in other countries.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[livinginphotographs]

6. Not exactly.

It's the religious right's fault, of whom Bush is nothing but a tool. And you can quote me on that (wink wink).

[livinginphotographs]

7. Wow, I called that one, huh?

[sui generis]

5. okay you caught me

talking outta my ass. busted. I know not much about Zanzibar, just that it's not considered "developed world".

I do agree with you though, the rise in fundamentalism is a reaction to too many inputs. Was talking to my SO about this yesterday; that it seems like just about half the human population is much more oriented to atavistic urges that might have been beneficial to survival two and three hundred years and more ago, but are out of place in a modern society and a culture of technology and communication.

Xenophobia, and obsession with reproductive control are absurd in an overpopulated world. The flip side of non-acceptance of homosexuality is only one step away from REQUIRING that I have offspring or be considered immoral. That might work for a tribal unit or a newly agrarian community trying to ward off hunter-gatherers and preserve land (and therefore resource) ownership within a community, but in the 21st century nobody gets to tell me what I can and can't do with my body.

It's always disturbing to see any society focus on a minority population as a scapegoat for its ills, so being a member of such a minority is even more unsettling.