The first gay Mlim uple to wed the Uned Kgdom has faced threats of acid attacks over their relatnship.
Contents:
- EVERYTHG YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEG GAY MLIM UNTRI
- GROOMS MARRY SAME-SEX MLIM WEDDG TO SHOW THE WORLD YOU N BE GAY AND MLIM
- FOR SOME GAY MLIMS, SCOTUS MARRIAGE DECISN DON'T MAKE MUCH DIFFERENCE
- MEET AMERI’S FIRST OPENLY GAY IMAM
- CAN A MLIM BE GAY?
- WHAT ’S LIKE TO BE GAY AND MLIM
- UK’S FIRST MARRIED GAY MLIM COUPLE FAC ACID ATTACK THREATS
- IMAM DAAYIEE ABDULLAH WEL GAY MLIMS TO WORSHIP, MARRY
EVERYTHG YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEG GAY MLIM UNTRI
The official fictn, Brian Whaker explas, is that gay people don’t exist the Middle East. They do – and for many of them, attus of fay and society are a bigger problem than fear of beg persecuted * gay muslim couple *
Acrdg to the kgdom’s relig police, the school was fed 100, 000 riyals ($26, 650) for displayg “the emblem of the homosexuals” on s buildg, one of s admistrators was jailed and the offendg parapet was swiftly repated to match a blue rabow-ee se of the gaily pated school shows how progrs one part of the world n have adverse effects elsewhere and serv as a remr that there are plac where the nnectn between rabows and LGBT rights is eher new or yet to be Afghanistan, only a few years ago, there was a craze for ratg rs wh rabow stickers – which Che factori were only too happy to supply. It wasn’t until the Afghan Pajhwok news agency explaed how they might be misterpreted that the craze me to a sudn on the ter and you will also fd pi of the “Rabow Qur’an” for sale – an unnscly gay edn of the holy book wh tted pag of every hue and remend on one webse as “an ial gift for Mlims” there are two sis to this cross-cultural misunrstandg.
Genr segregatn, which go to extreme lengths the more nservative Mlim untri, enurag homosocial behavur, creatg a suatn where men are often more fortable the prence of other men and where placg a hand on another man’s knee is a sign of iendship, not an vatn to sex. Historilly, Mlim societi have often acknowledged this – toleratg to some extent even if they the 19th and early 20th centuri, men who had been persecuted for their sexualy Europe often sought refuge Moroc and, long before same-sex marriage was dreamed of the wt, male-on-male partnerships were regnised – and marked wh a ceremony – the remote Egyptian oasis of some Mlim untri, whole towns have bee the butt of jok about the supposed homosexualy of their habants. In Egypt, for example, an old law agast “bchery” is often laws have a tastrophic effect on the liv of people who are unlucky enough to get ught but, spe ocsnal crackdowns, the thori don’t, on the whole, actively seek out gay people to arrt them.
Statistics are srce but the number of arrts is undoubtedly lower than was durg the Brish wave of homophobia the 1950s.
GROOMS MARRY SAME-SEX MLIM WEDDG TO SHOW THE WORLD YOU N BE GAY AND MLIM
Lia Darj photographed people var untri who are both gay and Mlim. Among her subjects were openly gay imams Europe and the Uned Stat. * gay muslim couple *
In England 1952, there were 670 prosecutns for sodomy, 3, 087 for attempted sodomy or cent asslt, and 1, 686 for gross problem wh such laws, even if not vigoroly enforced, is that they signal official disapproval of homosexualy and, upled wh the fulmatns of relig scholars, legimise discrimatn by dividuals at an everyday level and may also provi an exce for actn by vigilant.
Years before Isis began throwg allegedly gay men off the top of buildgs, other groups Iraq were attackg “un-manly” men – sometim killg them slowly by jectg glue to the reason for the paratively small number of prosecutns is the official fictn that gay people don’t exist to any great extent Mlim untri; homosexualy is regard primarily as a wtern phenomenon and large numbers of arrts would ll that to qutn.
Some of the most btal Arab regim (Iraq unr Saddam Hse and Syria unr the Assads, for example) also showed ltle tert attackg gay people – probably bee they had other thgs to worry Syrian refugee Subhi Nahas wh the US ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, durg an rmal meetg on the persecutn of LGBT people by Isis. Arrts the Arab untri often volve groups of men at parti (sometim scribed as gay “weddgs”) and ocsnally at hammams (bathho). Individuals or upl acced of havg unlawful sex may be arrted for a variety of reasons, cludg some which ially are unrelated to homosexualy.
FOR SOME GAY MLIMS, SCOTUS MARRIAGE DECISN DON'T MAKE MUCH DIFFERENCE
Gay Mlim marri the man who saved his life Uned Kgdom's first same-sex Mlim weddg. * gay muslim couple *
There are also reported s where people spected of beg gay have been arrted by police seekg to elic brib or turn the spects to rmers.
For those ught, the effect on their liv is tastrophic but the law is not much of a terrent and for those who are discreet about their sexualy the risk of arrt is the vast majory who intify as gay, lbian or transgenr the attus of fay and society are a much bigger one issue that affects all gay people – everywhere – at some pot their liv is g out. In Egypt and Lebanon – predomantly Mlim untri wh a large Christian populatn – attus towards homosexualy among Christians are not very different om those among Mlims. Also, ’s clear that the prophet Muhammad never specified a punishment for homosexualy; wasn’t until some years after his ath that Mlims began discsg what a suable punishment might nmnatns of homosexualy, like those Christiany, are based maly on the story about God’s punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah which is reunted the Qur’an as well as the Old Ttament.
Although Mlim societi today n be scribed as generally homophobic, ’s a mistake to view homophobia as a self-ntaed problem: ’s part of a syndrome which the rights of dividuals are subsumed the perceived terts of the muny and – often – matag an “Islamic” ethos. “Transgenr” is a broad term which clus tersex people (whose blogil sex is unclear or was wrongly assigned at birth), those wh genr dysphoria (who feel like “a man trapped a woman’s body”, or vice versa) and may also clu others who simply get pleasure or satisfactn om police e a water nnon to disperse LGBT rights activists before a Gay Pri para central Istanbul, Turkey.
MEET AMERI’S FIRST OPENLY GAY IMAM
Muhs Hendricks, the ‘world’s first gay imam’ wants to help LGBTQ+ Mlims South Ai rencile their sexualy wh their fah * gay muslim couple *
There were also many who found the ncept of genr dysphoria difficult to grasp and some characterised her as a gay man who was tryg to game the affair rulted a fatwa om Muhammad Tantawi, Egypt’s grand mufti, which is still ced s across the regn today. There are plenty of trans people who simply wish to be accepted as they are – whout surgery – and the Iranian system don’t really provi for, the difference between beg transgenr and gay is not well unrstood Iran, even wh the medil profsn, and there have been reports of gay men beg prsured to surgery as a way of “regularisg” their legal posn and avoidg the risk of executn.
My Kali, a Jordanian magaze which aims “to addrs homophobia and transphobia and empower the youth to fy mastream genr bari the Arab world” has been published regularly sce far, no one has attempted to hold a Pri para an Arab untry, though there have been paras the Turkish cy of Istanbul sce 2003 (not whout opposn). However, there have been activi Lebanon and elsewhere lked to IDAHOT, the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia and Transphobia, which is viewed as ls likely to aroe hostily. Relativ of 26 men who were arrted a televised raid by police lookg for gay people at a Cairo public bathhoe celebrate after the urt acquted them.
Far om wng praise for exposg “the secret behd the spreadg of Aids Egypt”, the programme’s prenter was roundgly nmned and later ran to legal April, the thori Amman, Jordan, ncelled a ncert by Mashrou’ Leila, a popular Lebane rock band wh an openly gay sger, jt a few days before was due to take place.
CAN A MLIM BE GAY?
Same Sex Marriage and the Global Mlim Communy. How did the monumental Supreme Court marriage cisn affect gay Mlims? For some, not so much. In a story for the Huffgton Post, Pakistani journalist and documentarian Arooj Zahra explor the stggl of one gay Mlim uple and their fight for acceptance wh their relig muny. Zahra was the recipient of a Daniel Pearl Fellowship 2015. Established by the Daniel Pearl Foundatn and the Aled Friendly Prs Fellowships, this program aims to promote prs eedom and East-Wt unrstandg by vg journalists om the Middle East, North Ai and South Asia to work Amerin newsrooms. As part of her fellowship, Zahra worked wh the The Washgton Post and the Pulzer Center. Durg her time the natn's pal, Zahra noticed that although many journalists reported stori about the June 26, 2015 Supreme Court cisn and s effect on the gay muny, they neglected to clu the Mlim muny their piec. "I thought I should do a story on this issue," she explas. "[The] LGBT muny my untry [Pakistan]—we are a majory Islamic untry—is not as open as is the Wt. [The] Mlim voice, my opn, was missg." Zahra learned that, like many others volved U.S. relig stutns, a majory of Mlim relig lears rema firmly agast allowg same-sex marriage the fah spe the cisn to legalize gay marriage all 50 stat. Bee of the muny's negative attu toward homosexualy, Zahra had a difficult time fdg gay Mlim upl willg to talk. "Gay Mlims do not feel fortable openg up for the fear of their fai and social prsure," she said. Origally, Zahra terviewed a gay uple D.C., but they later had send thoughts about publishg their story. Eventually, Zahra met wh DC's first openly gay imam, Daiee Abdullah, who helped her fd the Floridian uple she featured. Not all Mlims oppose gay marriage, Zahra learned. When to same-sex marriage, Mlims are surprisgly tolerant, she reports. Acrdg to a Public Relign Rearch Instute survey, 42 percent of Mlims the U.S. support same-sex marriag pared to the 29 percent of Evangelil Christians who support the act. However, the receptn of gays the global Mlim muny is not as welg. As such, Zahra said her article has not been well received her home untry of Pakistan. "I am beg abed on the social media as 's a sensive topic here, but that's fe. I was expectg ," she said. "But I hope over there the U.S., people will receive well and will have a posive impact." * gay muslim couple *
Such was the outcry on social media that the thori rcd their cisn 24 hours later – though too late to reanise the ncert as origally the relig ont, prevailg Islamic views of homosexualy have been challenged here and there, but not on a sle that is likely to make much difference. There are a handful of gay-iendly mosqu and a few openly gay imams – cludg Muhs Hendricks South Ai, Daayiee Abdullah the US, and Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed, a French-Algerian, very noticeably, are the diaspora rather than the Mlim heartlands, but the diaspora is where Islam is forced to nont realy – not the untri where is protected and illtratn of where this n lead me Bra 2007 over the Sexual Orientatn Regulatns – a measure maly tend to prevent bs om discrimatg agast gay people. The movie tells the story of an Algerian-French heterosexual young man begng a soclogy study of gay islamic homosexuali and disverg gay love wh a young French steward.
The batn of beg back his hometown, this prsure om his mother and his homosexualy him to have equent panic attacks. Out Loud is the first film om Lebanon wh a gay theme that sets a new standard for cema om the Middle East the midst of the Arab Sprg.
WHAT ’S LIKE TO BE GAY AND MLIM
* gay muslim couple *
A documentary by Peter Barbosa and Garrett Lenoir, I Exist giv a voice to gay and lbian Amerins om the Middle East, who often rema silent out of shame and fear. Filmed 12 untri and 9 languag, this documentary, directed by gay Mlim filmmaker Parvez Sharma, tells the lorful and varied stori of gay and lbian Mlims om all over the world. For a gay filmmaker, filmg Sdi Arabia prents two ser challeng: filmg is forbidn the untry and homosexualy is punishable by ath.
UK’S FIRST MARRIED GAY MLIM COUPLE FAC ACID ATTACK THREATS
Enuraged by Sandra, Ama lnch a blog lled “A Gay Girl Damasc, ” reprentg a margalized voice the Middle East on polics, relign, and sexualy. In 2015, he me out as gay on Facebook, makg him the first openly gay man om Sudan, this a massive outrage the Sudane muny.
In this portra that is multi-layered both terms of form and ntent, a gay man nonts the ghosts of his past and explor hidn longgs, unrequed love and tormentg feelgs of guilt. In post-Fran Madrid where he lived an openly gay existence, his life rembled one long Almodóvarian y, full of excs and sexual taboo-breakg. After beg tranged om his fay for his homosexualy, we observe a young Arab man over four seasons and om far away as he navigat his solu – all the while attemptg to rennect wh his mother.
IMAM DAAYIEE ABDULLAH WEL GAY MLIMS TO WORSHIP, MARRY
A short documentary that tells the stori of Mashrou’ Leila, a Lebane rock band wh an outspoken gay sger, and Sarah Hegazy, an Egyptian activist. Between realy and animatn, the story of Nidhal is told, a young homosexual Tunisian who fend dividual eedoms Tunisia through his work rad.
The uple -- who've been together sce 2015 -- hope other gay Mlims will see their weddg and fd the urage to e out to their loved on.