Five Muslim extremists attacked a gay club in Paris beating the bouncers and spraying some attendants, including the vice president of IDAHO, with tear gas Several people were slightly injured when a homophobic attack occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning, at the entrance of club Cud, in the gay Marais area of Paris, France.
One of the victims, Alexandre Marcel, the vice president of IDAHO (International Day Against Homophobia) charity was among the injured. A complaint was filed with the French police by Marcel, no arrests have been made so far.
Marcel described to the French press the attack: ‘At 2.30 in the morning, I left the bar to smoke a cigarette with my partner, when five guys arrived and started to hit the bouncers, saying: ‘by the Quran, we will kill you all, you faggots!
‘I wanted to return to the club to take refuge. One of the bouncers who was bleeding a lot asked me to call the police. ‘When one of the attackers saw that I started calling the police and sprayed my face with a pepper based tear-gas.
Marcel recounted: ‘the attacker told me “that’ll teach you a lesson to call the police you faggot! It was violent. After that, I lost my sight for ten minutes.’
Marcel stated that in total three bouncers were beaten, while he, a friend and some clients of the bar were sprayed with the pepper based tear gas. He said that his skin and eyes still have a burning sensation, and that he was coughing and spitting for many hours.
He stated: ‘The worse thing is, that the bouncers told me that they won’t file a complaint with the police because the attackers won’t be found anyway,’ he recounted.
‘The police arrived 15 minutes later but the attackers already fled. When I left the club the bouncers confirmed they do would not want to file a complaint. ‘Can you imagine? To be attacked in a club in the Marais and not file a complaint?’
Marcel filed a complaint to the police station the 3rd district of Paris, giving a description of the five attackers as of North African origin (Maghreb).
The police department stated on Sunday morning that it did not succeed in arresting the attackers.
‘If the facts are true, I condemn them completely’, affirmed Pierre Aidenbaum, mayor of the 3rd district of Paris.
Louis-Georges Tin, Chairperson of the IDAHO charity organization, stated such assaults ‘are more common than it seems in the Marais. On the contrary, the Marais can attract homophobes. While complaints are being filed only too rarely.’
Marcel also stated that the homophobic tones of the current debate on France’s gay marriage bill incite such violence. He called on all the religious leaders, including the head of the French Muslim Council, to condem the homophobic attack and campaign more responsibly.
Speaking with Gay Star News, Omar Kuddus, a gay Muslim LGBT advocate based in the UK said: ‘The Quran states that as Muslims we are obliged to respect the views and beliefs of others, and in my interpretation, this includes homosexuality.
‘It is not man’s duty to judge his fellow man, but Allah’s – that’s something many Muslims seem to have forgotten. We are all Allah’s children and the Quran does not condone hatred violence. Gays are his creation – a fact that most Islamic scholars seem to ignore or do not comprehend.’
Daayiee Abdullah, an out gay imam based in the USA and member of Muslim for Progressive Values commented to Gay Star News: ‘Muslims worldwide do not necessarily understand what the Quran proffers in terms of LGBT Muslims and the LGBT community worldwide.
‘Muslims must look at those who promote such hatred, whether based upon religion or politics, and question whether or not they are allowing themselves to become “drones” that do no less harm to LGBT innocents than Christian and other religious groups towards the LGBT communities worldwide.
‘These are acts of human beings, not acts of God. I also want to stress that the political atmosphere in France leans towards Islamophobia (which sadly, the gay community is not void of) contributes to misunderstandings and can even lead to violence’, he stressed.
From: Gay Star News
by Dan Littauer
