Yasir Arafat = “family”?

July 23, 2007 at 6:52 am | Posted in culture, gay, homosexuality, news, world | Leave a comment

I’m a bit behind on my news, but this is really interesting.  Thanks to Fausto and Mark on the Feast of Fools I discovered this story on 247Gay.com.

“A medical report from the French hospital where Yasir Arafat passed away in 2004 reveals that the late Palestinian leader actually died of AIDS, ending years of speculation that the cause of death was assassination.”

“While Arafat was ill, according to the Jewish Press, there was some speculation that he was gay and dying of AIDS.”

— 247Gay.com

I don’t wish to perpetuate the negative association of AIDS with homosexuality, but this is interesting.  I wasn’t aware of speculation regarding Arafat’s sexuality before or after he died, but death from AIDS sure does support the notion.

Homosexuality is strictly forbidden by Islam so it will be interesting to see how Islamic culture “deals” with this latest revelation.  I don’t think anything will come of it other than the French and Americans being accused of perverting the death of a major world and Islamic leader — but if he was gay or bisexual, too bad he couldn’t have lived a happy and open lifestyle.

What do you think?