I'm very happy with Omar's support of the LGBTQA+ community.

I don't think that support from ill-informed groups can mitigate her very public, very anti-LGBTQ beliefs.

She doesn't have very public anti-LGBT beliefs. She has very public pro-LGBT beliefs.

She's playing politics by saying one thing, and doing another. She seems a fairly fundamentalist Muslim, which is not exactly a pro-gay religion. That's just me spit balling.

Here are a couple quotes from an article about her, written by a gay man (source: https://lauraloomer.us/2019/06/11/islamic-ilhan-omar-is-no-friend-to-lgbt-people/#.XTCucixKiUk)

"...Ilhan Omar supports radical Islamic organizations and Muslim jihadis who are virulently anti-LGBT, people who would throw gays off buildings at the first chance they were given."

"Investigative journalist Laura Loomer warned about Omar’s homophobia, but she was banned on Twitter for her journalistic reports about Omar. According to one of Loomer’s reports, Omar is directly tied to Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, who has also been caught on audio calling for the killing of gay people."

In the article with these quotes, there's a link to another article that is an interesting read about her: https://bigleaguepolitics.com/exclusive-taqiyya-ilhan-omar-panders-to-transgender-community-while-hiding-ties-to-jihadi-imam-who-called-for-killing-homosexuals/

I'm not saying this is proof that she's anti LGBT, but she's a pretty well established hater of Isreal, and imo, someone who can hate like that, and adheres to a religion that would kill gays, is likely not a supporter of gay rights.

You're back peddling.

You went from "she pushes anti-LGBT views publicly" to "she's saying one thing but is secretly another".

I don't believe she IS one thing but secretly another. I live in a neighborhood with a high presence of Muslims and at our school, we really have no problem promoting an inclusive message between Muslim students and LGBT ones. Some students are even both.

So guess what? Turns out something about having to leave a theocratic intolerant regime softens your views some. Something about sharing the receiving end of intolerance at your new country will foster a kinship between Muslims and gay people.

So when Representative Omar publicly, on the record, states her support of the gay community in her district, I believe her. There's nothing on the public record to make me believe she's insincere about that.

The only evidence to the contrary is YOUR interpretation of HER religion. And that. Is. Not. Good enough.

I think it's fair thing to accuse me of backpedaling. I have likely fallen into a trap that I pounce on others for doing, which is stating opinion as fact. That does not mean I agree that I'm *only* expressing my opinion. Did you read the article I linked to at the end of my previous post? It's not just me and the author of the first article I linked to that think this way about her. Here's a couple of quotes from the article from the second link. She hangs with Linda Sarsour for gawds sakes!

"In her letter, Omar claims to care about discrimination against the LGBTQ community, which includes transgenders, but her associations, friendships, and history prove that she has a history of homophobia. One of Omar’s closest political allies is Linda Sarsour. During Omar’s campaign for Congress, Sarsour was often seen campaigning for her, and was even invited as one of her special guests for the Congressional swearing in ceremony."

"Ilhan Omar took to Twitter with some first class Taqiyya to pander to the transgender community after many began asking questions about how her Islamic ideology is going to impact her decision making as a Congresswoman.

Taqiyya is the Islamic practice of lying about and concealing one’s true belief in order to advance the cause of Islam. It is a common practice held by jihadis when they are exposed in the public eye for their pro-terror views. Omar is practicing Taqiyya in the way that she is trying to portray herself as an LGBTQ advocate in light of facing criticism for her anti-Jewish statements, and pro-Islamic terror associations, which have been well documented by Laura Loomer."

I also live in an area with a fairly sizable Muslim population, and my experience is similar to yours. I don't think the average Muslim living in the US is any more extreme than the average Christian. But do you honestly feel in your heart that she's an average Muslim? She's already proven, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that she's capable of extreme bigotry in the form of her hatred of Jews and Israel. To me, that type of person, who also seems pretty clearly to be a fundamentalist Muslim, is not going to go against the fundamental teachings of her religion, which is not known for tolerance of homosexuals, but advocates killing them instead. Read the quote about Taqiyya and ask yourself, can you honestly trust this person? I do not. And you can believe that's just my opinion, but there's plenty of evidence that says otherwise.

I actually do. I really do. But I don't have anything to add to move this beyond an impasse.

And I want to express appreciation for the fact that I think this is the most reasonable comment you've ever written to me.