<p>EastEnrs' current romantic storyle featurg a gay Mlim character has ed a stir. But what is really like to be gay wh Bra's Mlim muni? Interviews by <strong>Homa Khaleeli</strong></p>
Contents:
WHAT'S LIKE BEG A GAY MLIM?
Parents have been prottg over relatnship tn, sayg is patible wh their relig valu. Where do the row leave gay Mlims? * muslim gay uk *
Brish Mlims are more likely to feel a stronger nnectn to Bra than the populatn at large, acrdg to pollg, which also found that more than half thk that homosexualy should be illegal. Extensive pollg nducted by ICM suggts that most s attus held by the Brish Mlim populatn do not broadly differ om those held by the populatn at large, but there are signifint differenc when to some issu such as homosexualy and women’s Phillips, the former head of the Equaly and Human Rights Commissn, said the fdgs were “extremely worryg” as they suggted on many issu Mlims were “natn wh a natn” lled for a more “mcular approach” to rearch suggts that 86% of Brish Mlims feel a strong sense of belongg Bra, which is higher than the natnal average of 83%.
However, when asked to what extent they agreed or disagreed that homosexualy should be legal Bra, 18% said they agreed and 52% said they disagreed, pared wh 5% among the public at large who disagreed. Almost half (47%) said they did not agree that was acceptable for a gay person to bee a teacher, pared wh 14% of the general a seri of qutns on the terror threat Bra, 4% said they sympathised wh people who took part suici bombgs (1% said they pletely sympathised and 3% said they sympathised to some extent), and 4% said they sympathised wh people who mted terrorist actns as a form of polil prott a quarter (23%) supported the troductn of sharia law some areas of Bra, and 39% agreed that “wiv should always obey their hbands”, pared wh 5% of the untry as a whole. She said that although any prejudice agast gay people was unacceptable, the fact that nearly 50% of Mlims did not thk homosexualy should be illegal was a sign that attus were shiftg.
“While we unrstand the tratns of the CEMB wh regard to the perceived stance of mastream Mlims on homosexualy, Imaan feels that the banners that the group marched wh serve only to epen divisns between muni. Imaan noted that the east London Mosque which was sgled out by the CEMB s prott had reacted wh posive ments agast homophobia – assertg that Islam do not promote hatred or homophobia and that the mosque had mounted mpaigns to to nmn ‘gay-hate’ stickers Tower Hamlets. “We’d like to formally ve east London mosque to a meetg to discs ways which together we n bat the surge of gay-phobia, lbian-phobia, bi-phobia and transphobia – perhaps at a jot event for Eid al Adha at east London Mosque.