The official punishment for gays in islam is imprisonment, not death so he is going too far.
Oh, well that's OK then. And here I was worried. Very progressive!
...So... does imprisonment un-gay people, or something?
The punishment is different from one Islamic state to the other. But prison is absolutely one of the milder punishments for being gay. More normal is lashings and jail.
And it does not help - there are MANY people in the ME who are gay. Some of it stems from culture where male rape is used to show dominance over a perceived lower ranking individual - while others are more like the western gays. Many of the western style gays are easy to spot
even in dishdasha/kandura/thawb (the robe).
But like all kinds of crime in the ME - you are only punished if you are found out. And by found out - it has to be glaring obvious that something wrong is going on (like caught in the act) - else the police usually turns the blind eye to it. But if you get caught drinking with a few naked guys in your apartment - and the neighbors complain so police are called - then the big hammer falls fast and swift. And then you get punished for every big and small offence they can find.
Lots of expats (and Muslims) drive intoxicated in the ME. But usually if nothing has happened - police will just escort you home with a little polite warning (with you still driving your own car if at all capable) - but if you did a tiny fender bender while intoxicated - the same offence will fx. in the UAE land you in jail right away for 30 days for being drunk + what ever else they figure out while they research you.