The Socially Progressive Paradox: LGBTI Rights and Anti-Islamophobia

Over at ABC Religion and Ethics I have an article on The Socially Progressive Paradox: LGBTI Rights and Anti-Islamophobia.

Note, I wrote this article about two weeks ago, and only just updated in light of the tragedy in Orlando, Florida.

My point is that there is destined to be a conflict between campaigning against religious prejudices towards LGBTI people and campaigning against Islamophobia because Muslims are generally (there are  exceptions I know) not affirming of LGBTI people.

I use the example from Australia where the Greens are intending to abolish the exemption of faith communities from anti-discrimination legislation. My central claim is that this will have a negative impact not only on Christians, but also on Jews and Muslims. If Mosques and Muslim schools and charities are litigated or forced to close, then where is your anti-Islamophobia badge now if you are a social progressive?

I’m pointing to the paradox, people who are political conservative or politically progressive will have to find their own way to resolve it.

Here is what I conclude:

No one knows how the social progressive paradox of supporting LGBTI rights and opposing Islamophobia is going to play out. I suspect that they will bumble along together for some time yet with social progressives playing innocent to the tension. If, however, the religious exemption laws are repealed, and if Islamic communities face litigation or lose funding for schools and charities, at least the paradox will have been settled. Should that time come, then social progressives will have finally embraced ideology over tolerance, succumbed to secularizing zeal over religious freedom, and chosen leftie dogma over genuine diversity.