This Saturday, Vice President Joe Biden described the Republican Party’s presidential field as “homophobes” for their stance on LGBT issues in an address to the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner.
“We become more of what America was meant to be,” Biden said. “All men created equal, all have a right to liberty, pursuit of happiness. We say it so often that it loses its meaning. The very fact that we finally recognize that love is not a political matter, it’s a basic human right — the fact that we’ve recognized that is because of you.”
“There’s homophobes still left,” he added. “Most of them are running for president, I think.” Key members of the Obama Administration continue to paint the Republican Party as close minded racists, bigots and out of touch with the rest of society.
Just last week Ben Carson was attacked by the media because of a statement that he made regarding his personal Christian views that a Muslim should not be able to hold the highest office. “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that,” the retired neurosurgeon and Republican presidential candidate said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Carson clarified his views by stating a candidate that did not renounce practicing Sharia Law should not be allowed to become president because it meant pushing a strict theocracy over our citizen’s constitutional rights.
Here are some facts on gay rights around the world: according to Amnesty International, International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association’s May 2015 survey, the Pew Research Center, and other news reports.
Yemen: According to 1994 penal code, married men can be sentenced to death by stoning for homosexual intercourse. Unmarried men face whipping or one year in prison. Women face up to seven years in prison.
Iran: In accordance with sharia law, homosexual intercourse between men can be punished by death, and men can be flogged for lesser acts such as kissing. Women may be flogged.
Iraq: The penal code does not expressly prohibit homosexual acts, but people have been killed by militias and sentenced to death by judges citing sharia law.
Mauritania: Muslim men engaging in homosexual sex can be stoned to death, according to a 1984 law. Women face prison.
Nigeria: Federal law classifies homosexual behavior as a felony punishable by imprisonment, but several states have adopted sharia law and imposed a death penalty for men. A law signed in early January makes it illegal for gay people countrywide to hold a meeting or form clubs.
Qatar: Sharia law in Qatar applies only to Muslims, who can be put to death for extramarital sex, regardless of sexual orientation.
Saudi Arabia: Under the country’s interpretation of sharia law, a married man engaging in sodomy or any non-Muslim who commits sodomy with a Muslim can be stoned to death. All sex outside of marriage is illegal.
Somalia: The penal code stipulates prison, but in some southern regions, Islamic courts have imposed Sharia law and the death penalty.
Sudan: Three-time offenders under the sodomy law can be put to death; first and second convictions result in flogging and imprisonment. Southern parts of the country have adopted more lenient laws.
Where is the Obama Administration on this issue of homosexuality under Sharia law and in countries with a large Muslim population? Obama was vocal when it came to declaring of Russia and Putin, “I have no patience for countries that try to treat gays or lesbians or transgender persons in ways that intimidate them or are harmful to them.” Where is the President or crazy Uncle Joe Biden when it comes to speaking out against ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhood and other Muslim groups who are advocating for or executing and mutilating gays in the most horrific manner? These countries I listed are killing gays under Sharia law in sickening ways that Russia is not. Where is Biden’s and Obama’s self-righteous indignation when it comes to Sharia law.
Where are the LGBT groups that are speaking out against Sharia law? It’s easy to speak out loudly in America where freedom of speech is allowed. Everybody can be brave here in the safety of the United States but try being brave about gay rights in Saudi Arabia where you will be stoned to death, tortured or hung.
Homosexual acts are a sin and a punishable crime according to traditional schools of Islamic law based on Qur’anic verses and the hadiths. Because the “people of Lot” engaged in obscene, abnormal acts between men, according to the Quar’an, God destroyed the city. Yet, the Obama Administration is supporting some of the most nasty, vicious, and anti-gay regimes in the world.
Just recently president Obama nominated Eric Fanning, formerly one of Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s closest advisers, to become the next Army secretary while at the same time decorated Green Beret, Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland is being kicked out of the military by the United States Army. First, no one in the military cares that Fanning is gay. All Fanning needs to do is his job and word on the street is that he is particularly good at it. For Obama to highlight that Fanning is gay is a disservice to Fanning and Fanning’s abilities. Why politicize his nomination?
Martland had a great 11-year Special Forces career but that is coming to an end because he got in trouble for shoving an Afghan police commander accused of raping a young boy and beating up that child’s mother. Martland’s superiors told him to ignore the issue because it was part of their Afghan culture. U.S. soldiers, such as Martland were instructed to ignore the sexual abuse of boys by our military allies in Afghanistan. Many of the abuses occurred on American bases and the boys screams could be heard. In Afghanistan the practice of Bacha Bazi is still practiced. Bacha Bazi is where young boys are groomed for sex. “They are sold to warlords and powerful businessmen to be trained as dancers who perform for male audiences in women’s clothing.” This story is well-covered here in Salon. Martland did the right thing by intervening but the Army will not stop his involuntarily discharge which begins no later than Nov. 1 according to an April 13 notification sent to Martland.
- What message is the Administration sending to the Muslim world when it notes that sodomy is allowable by it’s United States Army leader? We already know what these non-progressive countries think about the gay rights movement.
- What double-think is the Administration sending to the Muslim world when it removes a good man for intervening in the rape of a male child by another male? The Administration and the Army’s silence on the matter seems to be some kind of weird advocacy on this issue.
- What message would Biden have for a Muslim candidate if one decided to go shoulder to shoulder with Trump, Carson, Bush and the lot of them? Would Biden tell the Muslim candidate that his views on LGBT issues were homophobic? Would there be a public outcry that Uncle Joe needs to mind his place or would the media stuff that under the rug as well, the same way they do with Sharia law, and the same way they do with the Bacha Bazi? Only a few news groups have staunchly spoken out about it.
This Administration needs to man up and stop playing around. It is either full on for gay rights or it is not. When the battle of inequality is going on, and you’re an advocate for change, you can’t go cherry-picking when you want to stand up and when you choose to sit it out. Certainly Fanning is qualified for the job but that is only one person that has moved ahead while thousands of young boys and the LGBT is left far behind in Muslim countries under Sharia law. Yes, I understand its a strategic move on Biden and Obama’s part to remain silent, but stop attacking good people in this country for their less liberal views. Those views are not the same on LGBT issues as Saudi Arabia or Nigeria. Uncle Joe needs to figure out if he wants to be a real agent for change or just a mouth piece for this Administration as it continues to slowly creep on the rights of those who actually follow the rules. Whether you are for gay rights or not, let’s be real, this country has a lot of freedoms and it’s because we largely are respecters of our Constitution and God given rights to believe what we want.
Afghanistan