Another day, another tribute to Peter Tatchell from right-wing Islamophobes. Over at Western Resistance, a renewed attack on the Muslim Council of Britain – “Sacranie and Inayat Bunglawala are unapologetic anti-semites” – features a lengthy declaration of admiration for Tatchell as “a brave and committed individual”.

Scroll down to the first entry under 10 January, and you’ll find the racists of Western Resistance taking a very different view of another gay Green party politician, Australian senator Bob Brown – who, unlike Tatchell, has taken a clear stand against Islamophobia, condemning the Attorney-General for insulting Australian Muslims (see here).

“What is so weird about Senator Bob Brown’s position on Islam”, Western Resistance complains, “is that he is the first openly homosexual member of Australia’s parliament. Surely, he is not too naive to know that he would be one of the first to be metaphorically ‘thrown to the wolves’ by true followers of the rules and customs of Islam?”

Some of us might not find it so “weird” that gay non-Muslim politicians can take a principled position against anti-Muslim bigotry. Furthermore, by his actions Senator Brown undoubtedly makes a vastly more effective contribution than Tatchell does to encouraging more positive attitudes within Muslim communities towards the issue of gay rights.