The Old Testament, however, may not be so nice in this regard...

I'm not attacking the religion here - that would be silly, considering I'm Christian myself. But there is such a thing as Christian extremists out there in the world, especially in some places in Africa. And I certainly wouldn't underestimate their part in this. At the very least, it's nothing surprising that such groups would be at the forefront of anti-gay sentiment. AIDS is rarely a cause for gay-bashing in itself, and in Africa especially the vast majority of AIDS infections happen through heterosexual encounters. The disease is mostly just something that adds fuel to the fire, the source of which is mostly cultural and indeed religious.

Well to be fair it's really no surprise that extreme fundamentalist versions of both Islam and Christianity would have an aggressive aversion to homosexuality. Surface differences aside, when it comes to attitudes about sex and gender they're both rooted in the same basic mindset. That's the deeper issue, fundamentalist religion just helps perpetuate and (in some cases) enforce it.

He'd of been better off looting in London earlier in the year.