A harassed gay minority in a conservative suburb in otherwise tolerant Amsterdam has found a guardian angel in the local Muslim mayor.
Ahmed Marcouch, 41, is on a self-appointed mission to end is on a self-appointed mission toend homophobia in Slotervaart, just a stones' throw from the capital but light-years away from its anything-goes mentality.
To make his point, Mayor Marcouch recently invited Amsterdam's annual Gay Pride parade to pass through his constituency when it takes place in August.
"It is necessary to confront this issue, to say that homosexuals are normal people like all of us and that we require them to be respected," Marcouch told AFP.
Slotervaart's population is mainly of immigrant origin, many of the Muslim faith, like Moroccan-born Marcouch himself who came to the Netherlands in 1979 at age 10. The suburb has recently been in the news for homophobic incidents, with gays being called names, spat on and generally bothered…
"For cultural or religious reasons, some people reject homosexuals and compare them to animals," said Marcouch, who has been Slotervaart's mayor since 2006 and was a former spokesman for Amsterdam's mosques.
"They don't see homosexuals as humans. These people can be orthodox Christians, Muslims or immigrants," he said.
On Marcouch's initiative, the city council recently adopted an action plan for 2009 to 2011 that allows for the opening of a gay cultural centre. It will also permit gay associations to give briefings at schools and will take measures to teach mothers in immigrant households about gay rights in the Netherlands…
"I always say: your freedom to be an orthodox Muslim is the same as that of a homosexual to be homosexual," said Marcouch, himself heterosexual. "Freedom is guaranteed in the constitution" of the Netherlands.
The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalise homosexual marriage, in 2002.
The mayor hopes Slotervaart will become part of the route at Amsterdam's annual Gay Pride parade this August. The parade hitherto has been limited to the canals of the historic city centre…
"Some inhabitants are furious and are challenging Mr Marcouch vehemently," said Dennis Boutkan, a spokesman for homosexual lobby group COC.
Among them is imam Mohamed Adardour of the el-Oumma mosque, who told AFP that gay people are "impure" and accused the mayor of "constructing his political career" at the expense of Muslims.
The local Roman Catholic parish has also refused to work with the mayor, according to Marcouch who said the parish told him "homosexuality is contrary to the laws of nature"...
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