Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach a US men’s profsnal sports league to e out as gay.
Contents:
- ‘DON’T E BACK, THEY’LL KILL YOU FOR BEG GAY’
- KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
‘DON’T E BACK, THEY’LL KILL YOU FOR BEG GAY’
Hassan remembers watchg his iend was 2013, and Hassan’s 25-year-old iend had jt told his fay that he was gay.
On the one hand, homophobia and transphobia plague the Somali-Amerin muny. Theirs are all stori of rilience, and of fdg strength each other amidst wav of terviewee stood outsi a popular gay bar Mneapolis and saw gay whe men ll Somali taxi drivers “goatfuckers”. It’s expected, ” Hassan said of homophobia and transphobia his Somali-Amerin muny.
Even though Mneapolis’ LGBTQ muny is large and visible, many of the dividuals terviewed for this piece say has largely met them wh hostily – an extensn of the overt racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia boilg the US at asked about LGBTQ Somali-Amerins beg further tegrated wh Mnota’s larger LGBTQ muny, Michelle, a 29-year-old Somali gay woman who me to Mnota seven years ago, said: “I don’t really foree that happeng this untry. ”“We have now a suatn that tells that we are not Amerin, overtly, ” said Hse, a 24-year-old gay Somali-Amerin man. “In Somalia, [gay people] only exist social media, not real life, ” said Ali, a 28-year-old gay Somali-Amerin man.
KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
He me to Mneapolis several years ago wh his parents, who do not know he is gay and routely prsure him to get married. I don’t thk I n have that nversatn wh them bee of how they view homosexual people. ”“[Homophobia] is eply woven to our culture, and ’s eply woven to ntemporary terpretatns of Islam, ” Hassan said.
“At the same time that Islam is a eply homophobic relign, there is an credible amount of muny and nnectedns that helps facilate. I know might be kd of hard to terpret, but if I believed God a ltle b more, I thk that homophobia, for me, would be a small enough price to pay to still be a part of that muny. The urts enforce Islamic law, Sharia, which ems homosexualy illegal, so LGBT+ Somalis mt nceal their sexualy.
But that changed when he met Ahmed on a secret onle chat group for gay Somalis. I uldn't stop lookg out the wdow, " he statn was Malaysia, bee tourist visas are ee on life as a Somali asylum seeker Malaysia is tough - and there too homosexualy is most asylum seekers live limbo for years before beg regnised as a refugee, Mohamed's se was fast-tracked and he has been accepted for rettlement. It's taken most of the time sce then for her to nvce the Home Office that she is gay and will be persecuted if she returns.