The Alabama Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Monday asked Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) to apologize for previously claiming that Muslims want to kill every gay person in the nation. The group also invited the congressman to attend a Ramadan interfaith dinner at a local mosque so he could actually meet some of the constituents he had offended.
In an appearance on Alabama talk radio June 16, Brooks claimed it was “mainstream Muslim thought” to seek the eradication of the LGBT community.
“Democrats are in a perplexing position,” said the congressman, because “on the one hand, they’re trying to appeal to the gay community, but, on the other hand, they’re trying to also appeal to the Muslim community, which, if it had its way, would kill every homosexual in the United States of America.”
CAIR, the nation's largest Muslim advocacy group, says that's simply not true.
“American Muslims are committed to upholding equal rights and protections for all as the law of the land as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution,” CAIR-Alabama Executive Director Khaula Hadeed said in a statement.
“Congressman Brooks’ [sic] would seek to create division between the LGBTQIA and Muslim community standing shoulder-to-shoulder as we confront together hate crimes, bigotry, marginalization and discrimination,” added Hadeed. "Alabama Muslims join their fellow Americans in unequivocally and unconditionally denouncing Sunday’s mass shooting at a nightclub in Orlando."
Hadeed went on to describe the Orlando gunman as one of the "enemies of the [Islamic] faith and indeed, of humanity.” While Omar Mateen, a U.S. citizen, pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic State during the shooting, reports about his own homosexuality, abusiveness and mental instability have led to questions about what role, if any, Mateen's faith actually played in this tragedy.
Be that as it may, Brooks made it clear in an interview with WAFF that he's just fine accusing an entire religion of 1.6 billion people of being violent homophobes.
"There is no way on gods green Earth that I'll apologize for CAIR or the Council for American Islamic Republic, as it's commonly known in Washington, for pointing out that Islam inspires people to hate and kill homosexuals, kill people and for that matter, other non-Muslim peoples," he said. He didn't mention whether he would accept the dinner invite.
The Islamic holy month of Ramadan will end in the first week of July, with the celebration of Eid al-Fitr.
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