In a disturbing twist, a speech given by a Muslim speaker in 2013 at the Husseini Islamic Center in the Orlando suburb of Sanford, Florida, in 2013 called for death to homosexuals.
Sheikh Farrokh Sekaleshfar said killing of homosexuals is the "compassionate" thing to do: "Death is the sentence. We know there's nothing to be embarrassed about this, death is the sentence."
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Sheikh Sekaleshfar's call for the death of all homosexuals is based on the tenets of Islam. He is viewed as an expert on Shariah Islamiyya or Islamic Law.
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At the time of his talk, WFTV Orlando tried to find out why the mosque invited Dr. Sekaleshfar to speak in the first place.
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Reporter Field Sutton stated, "Off camera, one of the people who is a member here told me that Sheikh Farrokh Sekaleshfar's speech last night on women's issues was well-received, and not particularly controversial. But we already know that many people in the Sanford area and around central Florida are upset about what is coming tonight."
Seminole County resident Alan Kornman said, "It's appalling. It's inciting violence against gays, and I find that reprehensible."
Dr. Farrokh Sekaleshfar admits the Islamic death sentence applies in limited circumstances and is not applicable under U.S. law. But he also says the only way gays and lesbians can be forgiven is to die.
"We have to have that compassion for people, with homosexuals, it's the same," said Dr. Sekaleshfar. "Out of compassion, let's get rid of them now."
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Dating back three months, reaction to Dr. Sekaleshfar's speaking invitation on the Husseini Islamic Center's Facebook page were hostile, while others tried to downplay the likelihood of violence against "gays" in America: "This scholar says his opinions but that doesn't mean that the whole of the HIC community agrees with it."
Sunday morning, 50 people were massacred by a Muslim in a "gay" nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
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