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The San Francisco Examiner headline is particularly egregious, as is the video here: both try to give the impression that our first ad “targeted Muslims,” and our new ad “targets gays.” In fact, we are calling attention the the violence that jihadists justify by pointing to the texts and teachings of Islam, and specifically showing how those jihadists target gays. But instead of standing with us and calling upon peaceful Muslims to do so as well, San Francisco authorities are targeting the messenger.
Pamela Geller has more here, here and here.
“San Francisco Muni buses getting more anti-Islamic ads, this time with anti-gay message,” by Will Reisman for the San Francisco Examiner, March 19 (thanks to Pamela Geller):
More controversial anti-Islamic advertisements are scheduled to be coming to Muni buses, with the new messages quoting anti-gay rhetoric from Islamic leaders. The head of the initiative said local gay leaders” criticism of previous ads led to the latest effort.
A number of city officials, religious figures and community activists held a news conference last week to condemn a set of ads paid for by the American Freedom Defense Initiative that expressed views widely seen as anti-Islamic.
The messages, containing phrases attributed to notorious figures such as Osama bin Laden, were the second set of Muni ads paid for by the organization.
“Attributed to”? Documentation available on request. Apparently it was not requested.
In both instances, Muni dedicated revenue from the campaigns to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. The $3,000 in revenue for the next ads also likely will be donated.
With Muni unable to refuse the ads because of First Amendment conflicts, initiative leader Pamela Geller has created another campaign to run on six Muni buses starting in early April. The new ads quote Islamic leaders making inflammatory comments, this time about homosexuality.
One message quotes Yusuf al-Qaradawi of the Muslim Brotherhood saying, “The punishment of homosexuality is the death penalty.” Each ad ends with the same line as the previous campaign: “That’s His Jihad. What’s Yours?”
Geller said she decided to embark on the campaign after hearing gay leaders in San Francisco denounce her previous ads.
“The ads will increase awareness about the subjugation and oppression of gays under Shariah law,” said Geller. “The gay community should be standing with me, not against me.”
Theresa Sparks, head of the Human Rights Commission, said the ad campaigns are another example of Geller categorizing an entire religion as intolerant.
“She is posting these ads to suggest that all Muslims hate gays,” Sparks said. “Some cultures do discriminate, and that’s wrong. It all depends who you”re talking to. But she’s trying to generalize and cast this wide net around a diverse group of people.”
Sparks, who is transgender, said it’s actually easier to get insurance for sexual transition procedures in Iran than in America.
In a post Tuesday on Geller’s blog, Atlas Shrugs, she dedicated the latest campaign to Sparks….
Heh.
Anyway, Sparks is completely wrong: nowhere do the AFDI ads say that all Muslims think one way. And the reason that it is “easier to get insurance for sexual transition procedures in Iran than in America” is because often that is the only way gays are allowed to live at all: if they get gender reassignment surgery, whether they want it or not.