Tag: gay rights

Saudi Arabia Rubbishes Calls For Gay Rights

JEDDAH: There would be no rights granted to gay people in the Kingdom, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

In a post on its Twitter account, the ministry stated that it supports human rights principles proposed by international bodies as long as they are in line with Islamic law. It also slammed those questioning the Kingdom’s rights record.

It said that freedom of expression does not mean demeaning the beliefs of Muslims; and condemned those who continue to ridicule the Prophet, peace be upon him.

The ministry said it rejected terrorism and urged united international action to tackle all forms of extremism because these ideas violate the teachings of the world’s religions.

There has recently been intense debate on Twitter about gay rights in Saudi Arabia. One blogger said “all religions reject this perversion which is why God created man and woman.”

On Monday in Geneva at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, Faisal bin Hasan Trad, the Kingdom’s permanent representative to the UN, said Saudi Arabia would not tolerate criticism of its human rights record, and that it rejected a proposal to grant rights to gays.

Trad said the Kingdom was one of the first countries to support the UN human rights charters, in accordance with Islamic law. Trad said that even though the Kingdom had made its position clear, some were attempting to portray the country in a bad light.

He accused those behind the reports of double standard, of professing to respect the sovereignty, culture and beliefs of other people, but doing the exact opposite on public platforms.

Trad said the calls for the country to recognize gay rights, to change certain Islamic laws, and criticism of the nation’s judiciary, was “flagrant interference in its internal affairs, and absolutely unacceptable.”

Trad said the Kingdom also condemns those continually attacking Islam and the character of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, under the pretext of freedom of expression, or as a reaction to the terrorist acts of groups that claim falsely to represent Islam.

He said it was not acceptable for people to insult the beliefs of more than 1.5 billion people. Islam stood for peaceful coexistence with others, rejected chaos, and attempts to divide people, he said.

Source:www.arabnews.com

June 27, 2015
Ikea Singapore Reviews Support For Pastor Lawrence Khong’s Magic Show After Backlash From Gay Rights Group

Furniture retailer Ikea Singapore is reviewing its support for a magic show staged by a pastor known for his views against homosexuality, a spokesman told The Straits Times on Monday.

This comes after a backlash over the weekend from gay rights groups, who are unhappy that the retailer’s membership programme, Ikea Family, is one of the supporters of pastor-magician Lawrence Khong’s magic show in July.

Members of Ikea Family can obtain discounted rates for Mr Khong’s show, Vision, which he is staging along with his daughter Priscilla.

But Ms Jean Chong, the co-founder of women’s gay rights group Sayoni, said that Ikea’s support for the event “raises the question if Ikea is truly committed to diversity worldwide”, according to an article published on international LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) news portal Gay Star News.

In response to an unhappy customer on its Facebook page, Ikea said: “We are really sorry for the unhappiness this has caused. We have taken it to our management and they are reviewing it. We’ll come back when we have more information.”

An Ikea spokesman had reportedly told Gay Star News over the weekend that Ikea Family is promoting the show on its website, but not funding it.

“Vision is offering our Family members a discount on tickets to a theatrical illusion performance that offers high family entertainment value,” she said.

Mr Khong, the 63-year-old senior pastor of Faith Community Baptist Church, has been outspoken about his views against homosexuality. Last year, he pledged support for a Islamic religious teacher’s campaign to “wear white”, in protest against the annual LGBT picnic Pink Dot.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

April 20, 2015
Blogger Alex Au Wai Pang Guilty Of Contempt Of Court

Blogger Alex Au Wai Pang was on Thursday (Jan 22) found guilty of scandalising contempt over a blogpost in which he discussed challenges of the constitutionality of Section 377A.

However, High Court judge Belinda Ang found that a second post by Au was not in contempt of court.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) took action against Au, 61, over two articles on his Yawning Bread blog in October 2013, arguing that the articles were not fair criticism and risked undermining public confidence in judiciary. The AGC also charged that the articles were baseless attacks against the authority of court and crossed the legal line.

Justice Ang found that Au’s first article, 377 Wheels Come Off Supreme Court’s Best Laid Plans, had imputed judicial partiality and impropriety on the part of the Chief Justice, and risked undermining public confidence in the administration of justice in Singapore.

However, she ruled that the AGC failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the charge of scandalising contempt on the second post titled Church Sacks Employee and Sues Government – on one ground right, on another ground wrong.

In this post, Au wrote that he did not have high hopes that former Robinson & Co employee Lawrence Wee’s application for a court declaration that Article 12 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, “mostly because my confidence in the Singapore judiciary is as limp as a flag on a windless day”.

Justice Ang disagreed with the prosecution that Au’s graphic description of his lack of confidence in the judiciary “stems from the judiciary’s inadequacies, incompetence and/or partiality against cases which relate to issues of sexual orientation”.

Sentencing for Au’s conviction in relation to the first article will proceed at a later date.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

January 23, 2015