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AP EXPLAINS: The Islamic State group’s persecution of gays

FILE - In this Nov. 1, 2014 file photo, eight Egyptian men convicted for "inciting debauchery" following their appearance in a video of an alleged same-sex wedding party on a Nile boat leave the defendant's cage in a courtroom in Cairo, Egypt. Egypt. In Egypt, there have been police busts of suspected gay gatherings and people have been put on trial using a vague legal text that equates them with prostitutes and tries them for “violating public morality.” The gunman who killed 50 people at a gay club in Orlando is said to have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a 911 call, and on Monday the extremist group described the shooter as “one of the soldiers of the caliphate in America.” (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File) FILE - In this Nov. 1, 2014 file photo, eight Egyptian men convicted for "inciting debauchery" following their appearance in a video of an alleged same-sex wedding party on a Nile boat leave the defendant's cage in a courtroom in Cairo, Egypt. Egypt. In Egypt, there have been police busts of suspected gay gatherings and people have been put on trial using a vague legal text that equates them with prostitutes and tries them for “violating public morality.” The gunman who killed 50 people at a gay club in Orlando is said to have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a 911 call, and on Monday the extremist group described the shooter as “one of the soldiers of the caliphate in America.” (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

By Associated Press June 13, 2016 5 min read

BEIRUT (AP) – The gunman who attacked a gay nightclub in Orlando is said to have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a 911 call, and on Monday the extremist group described the shooter as “one of the soldiers of the caliphate in America.”

Here’s a look at what the Islamic State group, Islamic scholars and others in the region say about homosexuality.

WHAT DOES ISLAM SAY?

Islamic scholars overwhelmingly teach that same-gender sex is a sin.

The Muslim holy book, the Quran, tells the story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom – and sodomy in Arabic is known as “liwat,” based on Lot’s name.