http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/blogs/muslim-man-to-open-mosque-for-gays-in-france/557686
November 23, 2012 | by Ian Dulkowski Muslim Man to Open 'Mosque for Gays' in France People look at traces of pig's blood which are seen on the ground in front of the Montauban's mosque, southwestern France, on Aug. 1 after two pigs' heads were discovered hung at the gate of the entrance of the mosque by the faithfuls who arrived for the morning prayer during the Ramadan. (AFP Photo/Remy Gabalda). Hajj season just ended and Mohammed Ludovic Lutfi Zahed returned to France with an odd idea. After going the holy pilgrimage, Zahed felt enlightened and realized he wanted to give something to his gay Muslim community in Paris: Opening a "mosque for gays." "In normal mosques, women have to sit in the back seats and wear a headscarf and gay men are afraid of both verbal and physical aggression. After performing the Hajj, I realized that a mosque for gays was a must for gay Muslims who want to perform their prayers," Zahed said as quoted by Turkish Daily Hurriyet. During Hajj, Muslim women and men are not segregated. Both sexes crowd together in all the rituals of Hajj. When they are doing "tawaaf" (circling around Kaaba), all men and women are together. Zahed, founder of association of Gay Muslims in France (HM2F), said he will use a Buddhist chapel where Friday prayers and gay marriages would be performed. "We will start with Friday prayers, but we will perform marriages afterwards," Zahed explained his plan. Zahed is also convinced that the mosque will help to fight against homophobia in Islam and Islamophobia within the gay community in France. France has not yet legalized same-sex marriage. Although France is home to at least four million Muslims — the largest Islamic community in Europe — it has not been open to accepting Islamic practices. A French magazine in September this year risked Muslim fury by printing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, a move seen linked to an anti-Islamic film "The Innocence of Muslims." Earlier in July — when Muslims observed the holy month of Ramadan — Muslims in Montauban, a town in south western France, were outraged after two pig heads were dumped at a local mosque. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
