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
Contents:
- IN A SURVEY OF AMERIN MLIMS, 0% INTIFIED AS LBIAN OR GAY. HERE’S THE STORY BEHD THAT STATISTIC
- CAN A MLIM BE GAY?
- ERDGTON AMY SAYS ‘GAY MLIM’ STRAYED OFF TOPIC DURG LGBTQ SSN
- BIRMGHAM SCHOOL OUTRAGE BY VG ‘GAY MLIM’ TO ADDRS PUPILS
- LONDON'S LANDMARK BUILDG DOTTED WH STRIP CLUBS, GAY VENU TO TURN TO MOSQUE
- EVERYTHG YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEG GAY MLIM UNTRI
IN A SURVEY OF AMERIN MLIMS, 0% INTIFIED AS LBIAN OR GAY. HERE’S THE STORY BEHD THAT STATISTIC
For many LGBT Mlims, g out of the closet to their fai and relig muni n be a ght cisn. One Mlim lear says she receiv lls regularly om young gay and lbian Mlims who are aaid to reveal their sexual inty. * ash gay muslim *
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. 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.
CAN A MLIM BE GAY?
EastEnrs was the first place I me across the ncept of beg gay and Mlim, when I was around 14. * ash gay muslim *
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. 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.
ERDGTON AMY SAYS ‘GAY MLIM’ STRAYED OFF TOPIC DURG LGBTQ SSN
A three-storey mosque and Islamic centre, named 'Picdilly Prayer Space,' is set to be tablished wh the Troro, a historic entertament plex London's entertament quarter. However, the cisn to build the mosque has also sparked a bate, wh crics qutng s lotn, also known for s bars, nightclubs, gay venu and strip jots. * ash gay muslim *
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. 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 percentage of Amerin Mlims who said society should accept homosexualy has doubled the last , to 52%, and is even higher among Millennials.
BIRMGHAM SCHOOL OUTRAGE BY VG ‘GAY MLIM’ TO ADDRS PUPILS
Ani Zonneveld says she receiv lls regularly om young gay and lbian Mlims who have been threatened by their fay or are aaid to reveal their sexual inty. Now, Qadhi often prefac his remarks about homosexualy by notg that “feelgs and clatns” are not themselv sful, and that homosexual acts should not be sgled out for special nmnatn.
Mogahed herself me unr attack several years ago after a Gallup survey showed that no Brish Mlims – as , 0% – said homosexualy was morally acceptable. If 92% of Amerin Mlims intified as straight, she said, then the remag 8% may be lbian or gay, even if they’re reluctant say so. Iqra was surprised at how readily her grandparents accepted her girliend, Ash – the realy for other queer Mlims may not be the same (Picture: BBC /Jack Barn)Due to what I had been raised and socialised to believe, I was certaly unwillg to accept that beg gay and Mlim was possible when the storyle was first troduced.
Ever sce the landmark US Supreme Court cisn on June 26 makg same-sex marriage legal the US, bate has emerged among Mlims worldwi about the mer of the lg, wh the obv implitn if they as Mlims approve or disapprove of a person beg a gay while profsg to be a Mlim. “But many Mlims on social media lashed out, ” another utned, “sayg ‘qiyamah’, the day of judgement, was near while the story of Lot nmng homosexualy holy scriptur, cludg the Quran, is beg ignored. Leadg scholars of this field such as Joseph Massad have radilly ntted the manner which what he terms “gay ternatnal” has imperially domated the variety of homoerotic domas Arab and Mlim history.
LONDON'S LANDMARK BUILDG DOTTED WH STRIP CLUBS, GAY VENU TO TURN TO MOSQUE
Samar Habib’s eded two volum Islam and Homosexualy (2009) and Khaled El-Rouayheb’s Before Homosexualy the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800 (2009) are exampl of such groundbreakg work. Stt Siraj al-Haqq Kugle, Homosexualy Islam: Cril Reflectn on Gay, Lbian, and Transgenr Mlims (2010) is another cril example, pl the work of other scholars such as Kecia Ali, Serena Tolo and Sara Omar.
Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed wrote a ccial tobgraphy, The Koran and the Flh/Le Coran et la chair (2012), Jerry Wright’s Homoeroticism Classil Arabic Lerature, and Helie and Hoodfar’s Sexualy Mlim Contexts have expand our historil unrstandg of the issue, while Joseph Massad’s Dirg Arabs (2007) took the whole disurse of homosexualy radilly to task.
The legalisatn of same-sex marriage the Uned Stat will do very ltle to dimish the ep-rooted homophobia this untry, as ed the Emancipatn Proclamatn of 1863 did not entirely end racism; or Roe v Wa of 1973 end patriarchy, machismo, and misogyny; or Brown v Board of Edutn of 1954 end school segregatn, which has ntued apace along class l to this day. It n then e them all as exampl to enurage Mlims at large to participate open, hont, and rmed discsns articulatg and safeguardg their civil liberti across the board – which clus, but isn’t limed to, gay rights and the possibily of the acceptance of same-sex marriage wh Mlim muni.
EVERYTHG YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEG GAY MLIM UNTRI
An vtigatn by Erdgton Amy to a lson where a “gay Mlim” told pupils that the Quran do not prohib same-sex relatns has nclud that the speaker “strayed off topic. A source told 5Pillars: “I believe the school liberately misrmed parents about the LGBTQ+ ssn that was planned and about the ‘gay Mlim’ ved to speak to Mlim children. The ntroversy epted last week when Erdgton Amy ved a “gay Mlim” lled Ash to do an onle power pot prentatn and speech durg an Enrichment Day ssn wh Year 7 and 8 pupils.