UCC SU funds homophobic hate- rant

cork | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis Wednesday February 23, 2005 11:57 by Paul McAndrew paul at queer dot ie

anti-gay article in UCC Express

The last edition of UCC's student newspaper published a full page anti-gay rant, in its latest attempt to whip up Islamopohbia and homophobia

As a gay student I feel very badly let down by the Students Union at UCC.

If racist material had been widely distribted on campus, let alone an article in an SU funded paper whose sole purpose was to attack black people, there would at the very least have been an immediate statement of condemnation by the Student's Union.

I challenge the SU leadership to deny it.

The SU 's only official response so far has been to defend the publication of the homophobic material, and to intervene to prevent the LGB radio show from condemning it. With friends like these, who needs enemies?

The writer of the original Muslim article says he was approached by the editor, pushed for his views on homosexuality, then misrepresented. The LGB's response was not printed in full, and crucially the part of their statement expressing respect for Islam was omitted, A full page hate rant against gay people was then printed in the ediition of the UCCExpress which was to be on campus during rainbow week, and the LGBT was then told there must be no criticism of the paper in its response

I'm going to write to Indymedia and to the national USI

LGBT students should not be subjected to homophobic hate material on campus

Paul McAndrew- paul@queer.ie
Here is the text of an opinion piece that was published in the UCC SU's UCC Express newspaper this week.

Quote:
It's great to be straight

Homosexuality is not innate, but a lifestyle choice, writes Marwan Boustany.

The UCC lgb society's recent criticism of the Muslim cultural society can be interpreted as propaganda: why is their opinion enlightened and the Muslims' backward? The truth must be spoken no matter who is displeased by it; the truth is not a democratic decision. For this reason I for one welcome the debate/discussion on Islam and homosexuality.

The Muslim position on homosexual is indeed clear: the actions and society of homosexuals is a depraved and abominable one. The Qur'anic indication that it should be avoided clearly indicates that it is seen as something choice based, namely one chooses to act homosexually, or again, one is not forced to act homosexually by any biological factors.
In the Qur'an, we are also shown how homosexuals revel in their perversion and mock those who would seek to advise them against what they are doing. In a Muslim society there is no place for homosexuals.

In response to the implication of the LGB society that the Muslim position is unenlightened, I hope to now briefly indicate why it is the LGB that is in fact backward, logically and scientifically.

Psychiatrist Jeffrery Satinover, M.D. notes "like all complex behavioural and mental states, homosexuality is ... neither exclusively biological nor exclusively psychological, but results from an as-yet-difficult-to-quantitate mixture of genetic factors, intrauterine influences... postnatal environment (such as parent, sibling and cultural behavior), and a complex series of repeatedly reinforced choices occurring at critical phases of development."

There is clear and irrefutable evidence to the fact that homosexuality is not innate and immutable; there have been two major published registry studies, one based on the Minnesota Registry, the other based on the Australian registry. The larger of the two registry studies is the Australian one, done by Bailey, Martin an others at the University of Queensland. Using the 14,000+ Australian twin collection, they have found that if one twin was homosexual, 38% of the time, his brother was too. For lesbianism, the concordance was 30%. This study is important, because twins share idential DNA, hence if their homosexuality was geneticall forced or determined by genes we would expect closer to 100% concordance between the twins. This is enough for us to say that not only is homosexuality not genetically forced, it will in fact never be found to be as such. They can choose to be/do otherwise, it's possible.

Homosexuals have continuously promoted the view that would say they are genetically forced to be who they are and hence do what they do; this is so that they could claim to be as innocent victims of genetic chance, as opposed to willing partakers in the homosexual lifestyle.

Why should homosexuality be discouraged? Why is it illogical?

Homosexuality leads to a host of medical and psychological problems for homosexuals and society at large. Consider that studies show that the rate of homosexual attraction is six-20 times higher among paedophiles. And consider that the homosexual community are proven to be at increased risk with regard to substance abuse, psychological and medical problems , promiscuity and even decreased average lifespan. Did you ever think that homosexuality is even illogical when it comes to the design of our bodies? It just makes no sense at all.

Who is more logical and 'enlightened' on this issue? Homosexuals or Muslims? Let the evidence speak, not PC propaganda. Homosexuals want rights, Muslim's want what's right.

Did you know that the '1 in 10 figure' for homosexuality (which was promoted in UCC in the last few years) is blatantly false? The figure is about 4 times smaller, and that's when you include 'bisexuals'. Why promote this and other falsehoods?

The reason is simple, we have witnessed in the past a concerted effort to normalise homosexuality through the power of positive (and often false) imagery in media (and on campus, recall the blood campaign and '1 in 10' posters). They ahve also stifled opn debate and discussion by labelling all dissent as homophobia, a word that has become a propaganda tool. They have also made a concerted effort to label dissenters as backward, religious bigots - enough labels, more truth!

Are Muslims against everything the homosexual lifestyle stands for? Yes. Are we going to change because homosexuals don't like it? No. Are homosexuals going to chagne because we disagree with them? No. We can agree to disagree, but at least let's be clear and open about where we stand and why.

As a Muslim living in Ireland I agree that indeed we must live together, but let us make truth the basis of our interaction, not stifling political correctness. Otherwise, we all lose.