The Council of ex-Muslims of Britain will challenge Islam and any other religion for persecuting minorities, including the LGBT community, Jimmy Bangash, the spokesman for the controversial group, said during a debate on RT. The group made headlines in the UK after its members joined an LGBT parade in London on Tuesday.

Their least controversial banners at the event read: “We’re here. We’re kaffir [unbelievers]. Get used to it,” “Celebrating apostasy,” “Make LGBT rights universal” and others, accompanied by a list of Muslim states that punish homosexuality by the death penalty.

The group’s protest outraged many worshipers and UK Muslim organizations, but the group rejected the criticism, saying: “We don’t need your permission to march for LGBT rights or the rights of apostates.”

The Council of ex-Muslims is a “rampant Islamophobic organization” that has made its mission “to demonize Islam and the religious beliefs of Muslims,” Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, a Muslim group promoting peaceful co-existence between all British communities, said during a live debate on RT.

“Let’s just say, is there a council of ex-Christians? Is there a Council of ex-Jews? A Council of ex-Hindus? A Council of ex-Sikhs?” he wondered.

Shafiq said that it was puzzling for him that the people, who themselves opted to cut ties with Islam, keep meddling in Muslim affairs.

“Let’s accept that they’ve got a right to leave Islam – then why are they constantly obsessed about Islam? They need to get a life. Move on. Enjoy their life and their ‘new freedom’ as they tell us,” Shafiq said. Read more via RT