In an article for Attitude magazine Johann Hari advocated an open discussion on homophobia in the Muslim community.

Writing in response to the Gay-Free Zone stickers posted in London’s East End, Hari highlights several homophobic incidents typical of that area, including the stabbing of student, Oliver Hemsley, in 2008. Hari is critical of the people who “politely” accept the image of young men handing out homophobic material in Whitechapel.

Hari suggests that a desire to appear tolerant towards the East End’s high Muslim population has prevented a debate about the issue. He also draws attention to a poll conducted in 2009, which suggested that British Muslims had a zero-tolerance policy towards homosexuality. Hari writes, “Every one of the Muslims they polled objected to it. Even more worryingly, younger Muslims had more stridently anti-gay views than older Muslims. These attitudes have consequences – and they are worst of all for gay Muslims, who have to live a sham half-life of lies, or be shunned by their families.”

He goes on to suggest that sympathy from the gay community for another minority has assisted the silence. However, he writes, “When gay people were cruelly oppressed in Britain, we didn’t form gangs to beat up other minorities. We organized democratically and appealed to our fellow citizens’ sense of decency.”

Hari states that the most crucial step towards change must occur in the school system: “Today, schools in Muslim areas like Tower Hamlets are deeply reluctant to explain that homosexuality is a natural and harmless phenomenon that occurs in every human society: they know that many parents will go crazy. Tough. It should be a legal requirement, tightly policed by Ofsted, and any school that refuses should be shut down.”

He concludes the article by expressing the belief that British Muslims can change their attitudes, and declares that gay people should not tolerate homophobia expressed by Gay-Free Zone stickers.

Johann Hari is an award-winning journalist, currently writing regularly for The Independent and The Huffington Post.

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