Gay magazine in race row after calling Islam a barmy doctrine

Patrick Barkham:

A gay magazine which described immigrants as "criminals of the worst kind" and Islam as a "barmy doctrine" has been condemned as racist by other gay rights groups. According to the magazine of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (Galha), Islam is growing "like a canker" in the UK through "unrestrained and irresponsible breeding".

The magazine also published an article endorsing the rightwing populist Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, and described immigrants as "ill educated and culturally estranged Third Worlders".

Peter Herbert, chairman of the London-wide Race Hate Crime Forum, said he would be writing to the Crown Prosecution Service about the remarks and would "vigorously pursue" a prosecution of the editor or writers who had made the "racist and degrading" comments.

A number of Galha's honorary vice-presidents, who include the Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris, the musician George Melly, the writer Claire Rayner, and Michael Cashman, the former EastEnders actor turned MEP, are understood to have expressed concern about the comments.

Galha's executive committee said the magazine's editor and deputy editor had been forced to resign over the comments, published in the autumn issue, and the magazine had been relaunched under a new editorial team. "We've done everything we can to rectify the situation," said the secretary of Galha, George Broadhead.

The group has renounced the comments about immigrants and immigration, which Mr Broadhead admitted could be "regarded as potentially racist". However, he said he stood by the remarks about Muslims and Islam.

Mr Broadhead wrote in the magazine: "What is wrong with being fearful of Islam? (There is a lot to fear) ... What does a moderate Muslim do, other than excuse the real nutters by adhering to this barmy doctrine?"

He described his article as "slightly over the top in wording maybe but basically we're saying Islam is homophobic".

He told the Guardian: "There may be people who think of themselves as moderate but we've yet to see them coming out and condemning their fundamentalist counterparts. If they want to follow a belief that we think is execrable it's up to them - it's a question of religion per se and the damage it can do in extremist form in theocracies where gays are not just put in jail but whipped and tortured."

According to Imaan, a support group for gay and lesbian Muslims, the anti-Islamic views of Galha are just the tip of the iceberg in the gay community. "These comments are completely outrageous," said Imaan's spokeswoman, Rasina X. "In lots of ways the gay community reflects the straight community but Galha has gone beyond what the average straight person thinks. These comments are disgusting. They are worse than what the BNP would publish. It is racist."

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