French Minister Urges Imams to Address LGBTQ Rights in Sermons

"Why did we make this charter? Because it is binding. The idea is not to sign it but to say how we are committed," commented the delegate minister who believes that mosques will have to fight "for gender equality, against homophobia."

Marlène Schiappa goes so far as to declare that the commitment she is talking about also extends to the level of sermons. "Will we consider in the sermons that two men have the right to love, to marry? That two women have the right to love, to marry?" asks the minister.

Marlène Schiappa’s statement did not fail to create an uproar within the Muslim community. This is the case of the Rector of the Great Mosque of France who indicated that these statements are "incomprehensible and unacceptable." Chems-eddine Hafiz stresses that the charter rejects any discrimination related to homosexuality, but that there is no question of affirming adherence to same-sex marriage.