While a majority of the Muslim panellists agreed that homosexuality was permissible under Islam, some said being gay was against their religion. Hisham Mahmoud, a lecturer at Princeton University, said, "No jurist will ever accept homosexuality as a practice," and condoned the punishment of homosexuality.
The lecturer's comment provoked an outburst of emotion from panellist Imam Dayiee Abdullah of the Al-Fatiha Foundation and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Religious Roundtable, both of which advocate for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Muslims.
"If you're heterosexual, you get away with a lot of BS. I've had enough of that," Abdullah said, adding, "If you also state Allah is the judge, then let him judge and be quiet!"
His exclamation was met with a burst of applause.
Amireh also touched on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's denial of the existence of homosexuals in Iran.
"Perhaps what he meant is that since there are laws against homosexuality in Iran, and since all Iranians are law-abiding citizens, there are no homosexuals in Iran," she said.
Abdullah said he believes that the Quran talks to homosexuals when it talks to "mankind and believers." He later quoted a passage in the Quran mentioning men who have no desire for women.
Later in the discussion Mahmoud countered this by saying that the Quran passage refers to asexual men like eunuchs. Furthermore, Mahmoud said the Quran dictates that homosexuals should be punished.
"It's very difficult to reinterpret those verses away from God's taking issue with the people of Lot for their choosing men over women," he said referring to 14 verses about the story of Lot.
http://newageislam.com/islam-and-homosexuality--a-variety-of-opinions--/islamic-ideology/d/1515
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