On 12 June, when a man opened fire inside a gay club in Orlando, Florida, news of the hate crime spread like wildfire. When the gunman was identified as Omar Mateen, a Muslim, the narrative changed and suddenly, it was no longer a hate crime, but a “terror” attack- a result of the contorted view of an extremist and homophobic ideology.
However, there are countries with a Muslim-majority population, including Indonesia, where homosexuality is, in fact, not illegal.
Of course, this is not an indication of social acceptance of homosexuality in these countries.
As Islam And Homosexuality points out, the one common link between these countries is that none of them were colonised by Britain where the Victorian-era penal code had criminalised homosexuality – a trend that carried on in some of its former colonies long after homosexuality was made legal in United Kingdom.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)