A gay imam who led LGBTQ-friendly services and performed same-sex marriages has been gunned down in what local Muslim leaders are calling a homophobic hate crime in Gqeberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth.
Imam Muhsin Hendricks, whom the BCC called the world’s first openly gay imam, was shot and killed on Saturday after unknown assailants in a pickup truck parked behind a car in which he had been sitting, preventing his flight.
The BBC added:
The 57-year-old cleric ran a mosque in Cape Town intended as a safe haven for gay and other marginalised Muslims. He was killed on Saturday morning after the car in which he was travelling near the southern city of Gqeberha was ambushed.
“Two unknown suspects with covered faces got out of the vehicle and started firing multiple shots at the vehicle,” police said in a statement.
News of Hendricks’ death has sent shockwaves through…
