Gay rights advocates make a huge issue of Christian opposition to gay marriage, while remaining indifferent to the Islamic jihad — or, if they care about the jihad, many are still willing to throw overboard allies who may not be in lockstep with their social agenda. The fact that the Islamic jihadists, once in power, will treat gays far more harshly than Christian conservatives ever dreamed of doing doesn’t seem to enter into their calculations.
“Book Translation: ‘Gay’ Equals ‘Pervert,'” by Julie Bolcer for The Advocate, July 13 (thanks to Bruce):
Gay travel journalist Michael Luongo…received a mixed surprise last week when he learned that the Arabic translation of his 2007 book, Gay Travels in the Muslim World was completed ahead of schedule — with the word “gay” translated as “pervert.”
“It literally means ‘different’,” Luongo told Advocate.com about the word that Beirut-based publisher Arab Diffusion chose to use. “But it can also mean ‘pervert.’ It depends on whom you talk to.”
Luongo said the translation, which was reported in The New York Post’s Page Six on Sunday, could interfere with his plans to promote the book in the Middle East in October.
“All of the gay rights organizations in the Middle East that I was planning to do events with, once they saw the word, were horrified,” said Luongo. A more modern Arabic word for gay meaning “homosexual” or “same-sex” exists, but publisher Arab Diffusion deferred to their usual practice.
“The publisher said this is the word they”ve traditionally used,” said Luongo.
Luongo added that he did not vet the translation before its publication, largely because the project was finished earlier than he expected. In addition, the representative from his English-language publisher Routledge who negotiated the translation left her job in the meantime, and Luongo was living overseas in Argentina.
He said that he asked Arab Diffusion to fix the problem, but the fate of so-called Pervert Travels in the Middle East remains unclear….