The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, is at the centre of a new controversy after revelations that he sent a message of gratitude to an organisation set up to campaign against gay Muslims, in which he says “your support is very much appreciated”.

The Mayor’s “thank you” was in response to The StraightWay Foundation’s support for his embrace of homophobic cleric Dr Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

The StraightWay Foundation, which has links to the Christian fundamentalist “ex-gay” organisation, The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, has published on their website a letter from the Mayor thanking them for their “kind comments” and “support”.

The StraightWay Foundation is a reactionary, homophobic Muslim organisation. It advocates “healing” gay people and converting them to heterosexuality.

It also republishes articles from the Islamic Party of Britain, which advocates the death penalty for public displays of homosexuality,

The StraightWay Foundation wrote to Mr Livingstone expressing agreement with Dr Qaradawi’s condemnation of homosexuality, and thanking the Mayor for inviting the cleric to City Hall.

They also sent the Mayor a document entitled: “Statement on Homosexualist Campaign against Muslim Scholar”. This statement declares StaightWay’s belief that “homosexual relationships go against the natural order and harm both the individuals involved and society at large”. It describes homosexuality as “an affliction”.

“It is astonishing that the Mayor has expressed thanks to an organisation that holds such repugnant homophobic views,” said Brett Lock of the gay human rights group OutRage!.

StraightWay also denounces out and proud gay Muslim groups, such as Al-Fatiha, suggesting they are “twisting Islam to suit their desires”.

On the issue of the death penalty for homosexuality, the StraightWay statement forwarded to the Mayor concedes that scholars differ over the appropriate punishment for homosexuality, but that many state “the death penalty should be applied.” The group have also republished on their website a fatwa by Dr Qaradawi where he explains why the death penalty is justified, together with several similar fatwas from other scholars.

“How can the Mayor offer his appreciation to a group that publicises fatwas urging the execution of queers?” added Mr Lock.

Another article on the StraightWay website states: “not all minorities are oppressed, and some deserve to be dealt with severely.”

“The Mayor apparently has no qualms accepting support from an aggressively homophobic organisation like StraightWay,” said Mr Lock.

“If the BNP had written to the Mayor expressing its support for the congestion charge, I doubt he would have sent back a polite and grateful reply,” he added.

Greater London Assembly members reacted angrily to the StraightWay document. Assembly chair, Brian Coleman, dismissed it as “bigoted rubbish”, while Green Party member Darren Johnson described it as “offensive” and “anti-gay propaganda”.

Mr Johnson added that it was “tragic that organisations are set up with the aim of persuading people to deny their true sexuality”.

Another London Assembly member, Jenny Jones, wrote back to StraightWay stating that she was “extremely alarmed” that Dr Qaradawi “justified the execution of homosexuals and saw fit to denounce homosexuality as evil live on British television”.

In contrast, Ken Livingstone replied to StraightWay effusively: “Dear Mujahid. Thank you for your email and your kind comments. Your support is very much appreciated. Yours sincerely, Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London.”

“Ken has no excuse for giving his sincere thanks and appreciation to these twisted bigots. They are hell-bent on destroying the lives of gay Muslims. Their straight therapy programme causes huge damage to vulnerable individuals who fall into their clutches,” said Mr Lock.

“All the world’s leading psychological experts agree that attempting to ‘cure’ homosexuality doesn’t work and is emotionally, psychologically and sexually damaging,” he added.

Further Information:

The document StraightWay sent to the Mayor can be downloaded from:
 http://straightway.sinfree.net/SWF_Statement_17-11-04.pdf

The StraightWay letter to the Mayor, and his reply, can be found on their website here:
 http://straightway.sinfree.net/gla.htm

Artcile “The Organised Homosexual Movement - Its Methods and its Goals” by the Islamic Party of Britain, republished on the StraightWay website:
 http://straightway.sinfree.net/responses/baron_organised.htm

The Islamic Party of Britain – Death Penalty policy
 http://www.mustaqim.co.uk/ipb-archive/question/ans41.htm

ENDS