Atralia's only openly gay Imam says he is alg wh an "avalanche of misery" among LGBTI Mlims, and wants to create a safe hoe and unsellg centre for them.
Contents:
- MY GAY SON: 'THE FAY SAID WE SHOULD SEND HIM TO SYRIA FOR NVERSN THERAPY'
- EVERYTHG YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEG GAY MLIM UNTRI
- SDI GAY SCENE: 'FORBIDN, BUT I N'T HELP IT'
- THIS MLIM-HATG GAY MLIM MAN LLS DONALD TMP “DADDY”
- A GAY IMAM'S STORY: 'THE DIALOGUE IS OPEN ISLAM – 10 YEARS AGO WASN'T'
- IN A SURVEY OF AMERIN MLIMS, 0% INTIFIED AS LBIAN OR GAY. HERE’S THE STORY BEHD THAT STATISTIC
- CAN A MLIM BE GAY?
- GAY IMAM HOP TO OPEN ATRALIA'S FIRST LGBTI-IENDLY MOSQUE
- SDI ARABIA ARRTS MEN AFTER 'GAY WEDDG' VIO GO VIRAL
MY GAY SON: 'THE FAY SAID WE SHOULD SEND HIM TO SYRIA FOR NVERSN THERAPY'
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Riyadh had stopped hangg out wh his dad bee he realised he was gay – a revelatn he did not thk his Mlim father, a garage owner wh a passn for football and rs, would take was right: took him another year, and when Riyadh me out to his dad, Sam says “me like a fast tra, h me very hard. They fell love, married and moved to the seasi town of Bray, where they had their first son, Riyadh, two years 16, he me out to his mother after she found gay porn on the fay puter.
He worried that his father – whom he scrib as “outrageoly heterosexual” – would stigate an honour killg or arranged marriage, or force his son to gay nversn therapy.
Meet like-md members wh terts Gay Arabs, Gay Mlim Datg, Gay Mlims, Gay Arabic, Gay Iranians, Gay Egyptians, Gay Persians, Gay Armenians, Gay Afghans, Gay Iraqis. 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.
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 * muslim gay daddy *
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.
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.
SDI GAY SCENE: 'FORBIDN, BUT I N'T HELP IT'
Samir, like many gay men the Arab world, guards his sexual orientatn wh a paranoid secrecy. To feel ee he tak long vatns to Thailand, where he has a boyiend, and spends weekends Lebanon, which he regards as havg a more gay-tolerant society. But at home Sdi Arabia, he is vigilant. Samir's parents don't know of his liftyle. He says his mom would kill herself if she found out. They nstantly set him up wh women they nsir potential wiv. At work, Samir watch his words, reful not to aroe the spicn of lleagu. * muslim gay daddy *
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.
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.
THIS MLIM-HATG GAY MLIM MAN LLS DONALD TMP “DADDY”
"Daddy won't let down," Ahmet Demirici, a young, gay, Mlim man, says. * muslim gay daddy *
“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. 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. 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.
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.
A GAY IMAM'S STORY: 'THE DIALOGUE IS OPEN ISLAM – 10 YEARS AGO WASN'T'
Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed has risked anger and jury to further the e of gay Mlims. Ten years after he tablished Europe's first clive mosque, he explor what has changed. * muslim gay daddy *
To feel ee he tak long vatns to Thailand, where he has a boyiend, and spends weekends Lebanon, which he regards as havg a more gay-tolerant at home Sdi Arabia, he is vigilant.
He and his iends are nstantly wary of officers om the Commissn for the Promotn of Virtue and Preventn of Vice, the kgdom's relig police, who patrol for and punish men they spect of beg gay. In le wh sex-segregated social norms, gay lovers n often spend timate time together whout arog gays and lbians Sdi Arabia still need to acmodate the prsur of public life, some s pairg off to acmodate a eer liftyle.
It's the perfect solutn, " says Samir, addg that he wouldn't md a lbian wife of his Samir, the dozens of emergg Web foms for gay Arab men are a eer alternative to the offle Sdi society. Usg proxy servers men n get around the bans to the blocked s, nnectg wh potential dat and buildg a knowledge base for gay life the Arab blog om Syria, largely nsired a reprsed society, tails a tourist's gui to gay hangouts Damasc and Aleppo.
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. * muslim gay daddy *
If they have their eye on you, they n follow your every move, " he Samir's approach seems paranoid, 's ndned by horror stori of harsh crackdowns by Arab ernments on gay life. " Human Rights Watch documented dozens of Web-based entrapments -- men arrted by Egyptian police then tormented wh beatgs, electrocutn and anal vice squad's practice of vertly huntg gay men chat rooms oled once the teemg gay Inter scene Egypt slowed down. At one pot onle entrapment was yieldg one arrt per week, acrdg to Human Rights Web was part of a greater crackdown Egypt, a untry that was once a liberal environment for homosexuals.
") Social and thorarian attus toward homosexualy began to change after the Egyptian Revolutn 1952, and grew steadily harsher through the 1990s as the secular state gave way to a growg Islamic puranism. Government Has Been Quiet About Gay Crackdown IraqWhat ensued om the Queen Boat arrts was a show trial -- forced nfsns, some extracted unr torture and a media circ signed to amplify public fear and maximize the ernment's polil ga om the arrt.
Though Egypt claims to have no law agast homosexualy, routely crimaliz and prosecut gay men unr a law prohibg "juhur, " or bchery, a charge origally levied for the heat of the se, one article the state-owned Al-Gomhoureya newspaper gave full nam and intifyg tails of the acced, pictg the arrted homosexuals as part of an unrground relig cult. In 2005, thori Abu Dhabi, part of the Uned Arab Emirat, arrted more than two dozen men the sert town of Ghantout at an event state officials characterized as a mass gay weddg. In attacks that accelerated last Febary, Shie iamen have rried out a seri of beatgs and assassatns of gay men, ocsnally wh the help of the Interr Mistry, acrdg to Stt Long of Human Rights Watch.
CAN A MLIM BE GAY?
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… They n't stop women om gog to work, they n't stop upl om beg together public, but they n attack gay men, " said Michael Luongo, a gay rights expert and thor of the book "Gay Travels the Mlim World. As the se of Egyptian arrts, spected homosexuals were taed, tortured, and forced to give nam of other gay men for thori to Space for Gay PriLong recently traveled to Iraq to document the attacks and advote for gay Iraqis unr attack. "Outsi the spac of hostile discrimatn, homosexuals the Middle East do manage to form a muny and enjoy a eer, perhaps the most tolerant state the Middle East, has a thrivg gay muny.
GAY IMAM HOP TO OPEN ATRALIA'S FIRST LGBTI-IENDLY MOSQUE
A siar para Jesalem, a more socially nservative environment, took place wh police protectn along the para the ast Lebanon, a relatively liberal Arab society plays host to the first gay rights group the Arab world. In a untry that mov back and forth between secularism and relig polics, the group and s gay muny center are creatg a space for their other parts of the Arab world gay life has to f to whatever space is provid, and the borrs are nstantly movg.
When gay pri do emerge, is associated wh the Wt, and an vadg cultural phback on any buddg gay rights movements will likely ntue, part of ongog discrimatn agast homosexuals the Middle East. What ially ma me feel good now mak me feel sick: It's not acceptable that an agonistic, 30-somethg, New Yorker who works advertisg is one of a handful of people this young gay Mlim n look to for hope. I am mtg to speakg out more and enuragg those around me (and my peripheral, like my many young Mlim s I'm not regular touch wh) to do the mt keep talkg--if not more loudly, more El Khatib is currently wrg his first book, a memoir on his youth Iowa, his twenti New York, and how beg gay and half Middle Eastern impacted the two.
SDI ARABIA ARRTS MEN AFTER 'GAY WEDDG' VIO GO VIRAL
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. 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. 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.