Pro-Iran cleric in Iraq says same-sex marriage caused coronavirus

The fanatical Shi’ite cleric Sadr was harbored by Iran’s regime from 2007 until 2011, and studied in the religious city of Qom to advance his clerical resume.

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
LGBTQ flag (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
LGBTQ flag
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
BERLIN — The firebrand Iraqi Shi’ite cleric leader Muqtada al-Sadr on Saturday said that legalization of same-sex marriage caused the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
“One of the most appalling things that have caused this epidemic is the legalization of same-sex marriage,” Sadr tweeted, adding, “Hence, I call on all governments to repeal this law immediately and without any hesitation.”
Sadr tweeted his anti-gay marriage remarks to his one million followers.

Peter Tatchell, the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) activist and human rights campaigner, told The Jerusalem Post:“The idea that the Coronavirus is divine punishment for same-sex marriage is as absurd as it is bigoted. The cleric is an ignorant, hateful fool who wants to impose religious tyranny on all Iraqis."
 
He added that “Muqtada al-Sadr is a dangerous pro-Iranian fanatic. He rejects human rights and his militias have been accused of targeting LGBT+ people and others for execution. Shamefully, sections of the UK Left and anti-war movement gave representatives of this poisonous homophobe and opponent of democracy a platform at rallies against the Iraq war."
The Jerusalem Post reported last month that the influential radical Iranian regime-linked cleric issued an anti-gay and anti-American diatribe against the city of Chicago in his effort to stop Iraqi women from protesting gender segregation.
Sadr tweeted that he "will not allow Iraq to become a Kandahar of religious extremists, nor a Chicago of immorality and homosexuality."

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The fanatical Shi’ite cleric was harbored by Iran’s regime from 2007 until 2011 and studied in the religious city of Qom to advance his clerical resume.
In September 2019, he was filmed seated with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and then Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force head Maj.-Gen. Qasem Soleimani. The US eliminated Soleimani during a January military strike. Both the EU and the US classified Solemani as a foreign terrorist.
The Post reported in March that anti-gay Shi'ite cleric Jawad Al-Khalisi called for British and US ambassadors to be expelled from Iraq in response to a United Kingdom embassy tweet recognizing the rights of the Iraqi lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
The British embassy tweeted on March 3 that "We recognize the significant work IraQueer has done to advance the rights of homosexuals. We welcome the recent recognition by the Iraqi government of the right of individuals to live, regardless of their sexual orientation. Live and let others live.”


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