Mosque leader compares being gay to paedophilia and murder

Dr Mohammad Naseem, chairman of the mosque at the centre of a BBC censorship row, said Asifa Lahore, a Muslim drag queen, was 'free to leave Islam'

The Telegraph, UK/March 20, 2014

By James Edgar

The chairman of a mosque at the centre of a BBC censorship row over the issue of being both Muslim and gay has compared homosexuality to being "a compulsive murderer, gambler, or paedophile".

Free Speech, the BBC 3 debate show, deliberately dropped the question “When will it be right to be Muslim and gay?” on its March 12 episode at the request of the Birmingham Central Mosque where it was being filmed.

The live programme, which featured a panel including government minister and Lib Dem peer Susan Kramer, broadcast a pre-recorded question by Asifa Lahore, who bills himself as Britain’s “first and only gay Muslim drag queen”.

However, the host Rick Edwards, interrupted before any of the panel or studio audience had a chance to answer, saying the question had been dropped in response to the concerns of the mosque.

A week on, Dr Mohammad Naseem, the mosque's long-time chairman, defended his decision in a letter sent to Huffington Post UK, the news website. 

He wrote: "There are people with homosexual tendency in Muslim countries but they respect the law and control their desire as others do.

"Human beings do have weaknesses and tendencies which are not socially acceptable and so they try to have a control over them and do not give in.

"A compulsive murderer, gambler, paedophile etc. could present the same logic and ask for accommodation by the society. Are we going to accept on the basis of freedom of action?"

Dr Naseem said Lahore "does not know his religion and has not got much links with it".

"He would have, otherwise, known that it is prohibited in Islam. If he wants to persue [sic] his inclination then he is free to leave Islam and follow any ideology that suits him," Naseem continued.

He claimed in the letter that the BBC had misled the mosque, and that they had only been informed two hours before the programme that it intended to discuss homosexuality.

Dr Naseem said the subject of homosexuality was not the topic for a TV discussion show but something that should be investigated by "specialists in the fields of zoology, botany, genetics, sociology etc", adding that the "mosque management will be delighted to join such a group and help to seek an understanding of the subject in depth."

"It is premature to discuss the subject when we do not know much about its causes and effects," Naseem said.

"Not being able to accept them in religion should not be confused with denying them their human rights such as their right to have education, employment, housing and respect."

Free Speech said in a statement: “The Birmingham Mosque had offered the venue as a location for an episode. When asked if there were any issues for discussion that would be off limits, no concerns were raised.

"Neither the production company nor the BBC would have chosen a venue that unduly limits topics for discussion.

“As with all Free Speech programmes, parts of the programme are promoted on radio, online and on social media platforms ahead of transmission to raise awareness of a topics potentially in the programme.

“Content from a pre-recorded segment, which covered the topic of homosexuality and Islam, was played ahead of transmission on Radio 1 and on local radio. The mosque received threats which gave us cause for concern to the security of their community.

“Discussions took place within two hours of the programme being broadcast live as to the best way to proceed bearing in mind the security of the mosque and respect for their concerns over offending their community.

"As a result the production company, together with the BBC and the mosque, made a considered decision to postpone the debate of the topic until March 25th but agreed to show the pre-recorded segment.

“This was a decision taken responsibly, with a great deal of thought, consideration and respect and not in any way about censorship of an issue. We were transparent with the audience about the decision.”

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