Very Brave Homosexual Muslims Celebrate their Dual Identities

Queer Muslims

A Tumblr by & for Queer Muslims - celebrating our dual identities.

This is not a space for debate or where we will feel compelled to justify our existence. This is a place for us to express ourselves without fear, to share resources, and to connect with other queer Muslims. 

Asks should keep the above in mind. We reserve the right to ignore asks, no matter how "polite", that deviate from our mission of a positive space for us. Negativity, "nasiha", name-calling, takfiring, questioning of our level of Islamic knowledge, and demands for us to justify our existence will NOT be published here or responded to. If people have personal questions/comments for the moderators that step outside the positive & affirming mission of this blog, they should go to our personal Tumblrs (though we make no promises that we will entertain you there either!)

Description: Photo of me, smiling and sitting on a bench outside in the sunshine. There are trees behind me. I’m wearing a green headscarf, jeans, a long-sleeved green top, and a white t-shirt that says “Queer + Muslim = Fabulous!” I’m holding a black cane.

Commentary: This photo was taken by a friend a couple weekends ago at the LGBT Muslim Retreat outside Philly, where I did a workshop on Islam & Disability. The dark green hijab is originally from Shukr, the lime green long-sleeved top is from Old Navy (XL), the white Queer + Muslim = Fabulous! shirt was specially made for the retreat (XL), and the jeans are no-gap size 22 Lee jeans - my FAVORITE pair and they fell apart as soon as I came home from the retreat. (I have worn them like 2x/week for the last 3-4 years…so…I guess it was time. But I was still heartbroken!) My sexy black cane was purchased at Wal-Mart :) I weigh about 225 in this photo (I’m 5’4”).

[Image: Two people in headscarves embracing intimately, appearing about to kiss.]

“I created this series of photos in response to Iran’s president Ahmadinejad’s naive comments that we do not have homosexuality in Iran. I wanted to say that we do have homosexuals and we have lots of them. My hope was to give solace to Muslims who feel they cannot be Muslims and homosexuals at the same time. I wanted to say that your love for God or belief in good for humanity should not determine who you’re choosing to love. My hope is that more people come to see that we should leave people to make their own choices, regarding who they want to love. I think the message of love from all of the prophets was lost, in all the noise from the later organizers of religions and their followers. I wish to remind people of that original intention of our belief in a higher good.” 

1. Muslim lesbian woman Honour her Parents

Queer Without Fear

Malaysia : Back to the Dark Ages of sexual taboo

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Green Left

By Bunga Melur

Since 2008, Seksualiti Merdeka (Independent Sexuality) festival, the LGBTiQ's main vehicle for awareness raising and education made its contribution to Malaysian society in a beautiful, intellectually artistic manner, devoid of vulgarity.

It made “straight” heterosexual society realise and appreciate that other forms of sexual love existed and that these could be as genuine as a woman-man love. It had been and still is a struggle for gay men and women to survive even in apparently liberal-minded societies.

Those from various sexual orientations and gender identities enjoyed this annual celebration of "love and understanding" for three blissful years without interference from any government quarter.

Yet, this year, when Malaysians are acutely aware that the ruling National Front (Barisan Nasional) administration is itching to call snap general elections before the contrasts between opposition administration, and government by rhetoric becomes too clear to most of the electorate, Seksualiti Merdeka and the LGBTiQ community suddenly become the demons of immorality that must be exorcised with a blanket ban.

After three years of peaceful festivity and celebration of different sexual orientations by people who have come to accept themselves as they are, through a hard dehumanising struggle with conservative, ridgid rejection of same sex relations and other gender identities, backed by goliath religious establishments expecting conformity to perceived morality in every way, they are seen as a threat to public order.

All media (including the mainstream, government controlled media) admit that Seksualiti Merdeka is an annual sexuality rights festival celebrating human rights of people of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity. A coalition of NGOs, artistes, activists and individuals have organised the event since 2008.

The celebration for this year, themed “Queer without Fear”, began on November 1 and was to continue until November 13 with “forums, talks, workshops, book launches, an art exhibition and stage performances", the November 3 The Star Online, 3/11/11 said. How more civilised can any event get?

However, the police moved in to stop these festivities after loud protests by right-wing, ultra conservative organisations and Islamic NGOs (allegedly joined by non- Islamic NGOs). They alleged that these programs would incite disharmony, enmity and public disorder. How that would happen, nobody can say except those who have made these claims.

It seems that the acceptance of the knowledge and recognition that human beings of different gender identity and sexual orientation exist threatens traditional ideas of morality and religious belief. If faith is an unchanging entity, it is a wonder how the world's greatest spiritual traditions continue to be practiced and propagated for centuries to this day.

The 'seksualiti' scapegoat

Having cut short the sexuality festival, and instituted investigations against the organisers -- Seksualiti Merdeka's founder, Phang Kee Teik, 10 campaign organisations including women's rights advocacy organizations, human rights organizations and the Bar Council -- deputy inspector general of the police, Khalid Abu Bakar, excused the ban on grounds of preserving public peace and that the organizers lacked a permit to hold the event.

This is a familiar ruse used by the police on so many occassions that any thinking Malaysian recognises it. It is also an unconstitutional denial of our right to freedom of expression and assembly under Article 10(1) (a) and(b) under the Malaysian Federal Constitution, and Article 19 and 20(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The country's law, according to him , “did not recognise any deviationist activity that could destroy the practice of religious freedom”. However, in the same breath, he assured the public that the police respected human rights and the right to freedom of speech.

Since when and by what authority did the police become judges of deviationist activity?

Further, in the previous three years, holding the festival had not prevented anybody from practicing their conventional faith. People always have a choice in spiritual expression.

Minister of Home Affairs Hishamuddin Hussein took an even more extreme view of Seksualiti Merdeka by calling this peaceful intellectual celebration of sexuality a threat to national security -- keeping a narrow focus on homosexual relations and ignoring other issues of gender identity.

Hishamuddin also homed in on the alleged involvement of S. Ambiga, chairperson of the Bersih 2.0 movement and former President of the Bar Council, The Star Online said on November 5.

S. Ambiga was accused of being "an organiser" of the sexuality festival. She vehemently denied this to the press on November 4, saying she was invited to officiate the Seksualiti Merdeka festival on November 9, in her personal capacity and not as chairperson of the Bersih 2 movement.

In clear contrast to the exaggerated condemnation of this year's Seksualiti Merdeka festival, no eyebrows were raised when Marina Mahathir, daughter of former prime minister Mahathir Mohammad, officiated at the same event when it opened four years ago.

Yet, this year, the retired PM was loud in his condemnation of gay relations, expressing unfounded fears of public love-making and people walking naked on Malaysian streets.

It is no surprise that the orchestrated protests against Seksualiti Merdeka came from far right groups in bed with the ruling Barisan Nasional, which also targeted S. Ambiga and Bersih 2. The opposition Islamic party -- PAS and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Peoples Justice Party), did not support the event or LGBT rights, but expressed support for their constitutional right to free expression and assembly.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who has been dogged by two sodomy trials since 1998, also voiced strong support for S. Ambiga and questioned why she had been targeted by right-wing religious extremists.

Across the water in Sarawak, assistant minister in the chief minister's department, Daud Abdul Rahman, gave stern warning that the government would “ go all out to stop any elements in Program Seksualiti Merdeka 2011 from entering the state”. The Sarawak State government would be working with Kuala Lumpur to terminate any gay rally or event held there.

He advised Muslim Sarawakians to withdraw or stay away from it, “ even though the programme is well received”, The Borneo Post Online said on November 8. More Here

Malaysia Gets Tough on Homosexuals

The Midlands Zone

Malaysia set to introduce harsher punishment for Muslim gays

Gay Muslims in two Malaysian states are set to be punished twice for engaging in homosexual acts - once for being gay, and once for being Muslim and gay.

According to Reuters: 'Homosexuality is punishable by law in Malaysia by caning and up to 20 years in jail, but the legal amendments planned by Pahang and Malacca religious authorities would give the state governments additional ammunition.

'If the proposed changes came into force, a Muslim homosexual could be punished under both federal and state religious charges, meaning that jail terms could run consecutively and result in longer time.

'Analysts said the proposed amendments hinted at an increasing intolerance toward homosexuality and could erode support for the government among the majority ethnic Malays, who are Muslims by birth.'

United States Denies Asylum to Gay Saudi Diplomat

Jerusalem Post

Man could face execution under Islamic rule; Saudi Arabia canceled the diplomat's passport after his sexual orientation was revealed.

BERLIN – The United States government denied political asylum to Ali Ahmad Asseri, the former first secretary of the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, last week to avoid disrupting US-Saudi relations, according to a Saudi-American blogger and journalist based in Brazil.

Asseri argued that if he returned to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia he would face execution because the country’s radically fundamental form of Islam mandates the death penalty for same-sex relations.

The Saudi-American journalist and blogger, Rasheed Abou-Alsamh, appears to have been the first writer to report on the asylum rejection. The possible deportation of Asseri to Saudi Arabia has electrified blog observers of the case over the last few days.

The Jerusalem Post’s e-mail and telephone attempts to secure on Saturday aconfirmation and comment from the US State Department’s Middle East press section were not immediately returned.

In an e-mail response to the Post on Saturday, Abou-Alsamh, the Saudi-American blogger whose personal website "Rasheed's World" first broke the story about the denial of the asylum application, wrote, "As far as I know the US government has not yet officially commented on Asseri's denial of asylum, but from comments that I have read after I wrote my post, it seems that political asylum cases are often denied in first instance and then approved later when the applicant appeals." 

He added: "I do think the US government is afraid of unnecessarily annoying the Saudis, especially now with all of the turmoil that the Arab world is going through because of the Arab Spring revolts."

Abou-Alsamh, who has written for The Washington Times and other US-based publications, reported on his website that Ali al-Ahmed, a Saudi dissident in Washington, said in a phoneinterview that “This was a political decision by the Obama administration, who are afraid of upsetting the Saudis.”

“His initial interview with Homeland Security was very positive, but then they came back and grilled him for two days after they found out that he had worked in the public prosecutor’s office in Saudi Arabia,” Alsamh continued.

“He had been an inspector to make sure that judicial punishments, such as lashings, were carried out within the law – not more, not less. They then accused him of participating in a form of torture,” Ahmed said on Abou- Alamh’s website.

Ahmed said that Asseri intends to appeal the denial of his application and the process could meander its way through the judicial process over the next few years.

Last year, the US news organization MSNBC first reported on Asseri’s decision to remain in the United States. According to an article from the MSNBC national investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff: “Ali Ahmad Asseri, the first secretary of the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, has informed US Department of Homeland Security officials that Saudi officials have refused to renew his diplomatic passport and effectively terminated his job after discovering he was gay and was close friends with a Jewish woman.”

In addition to his sexual orientation, Asseri’s friendship with a female Jewish Israeli appears to be a factor for concern if he returns to Saudi Arabia. Riyadh does not recognize Israel’s existence and there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Saudi Kingdom’s media and educational books are steeped in hatred of Israel.

Stuart Appelbaum, a prominent gay rights activist in New York and head of the international trade union Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, wrote the Postby e-mail on Friday. “If the United States government refuses to grant asylum to a gay diplomat because it is afraid of the Saudi reaction, then the US will become complicit in his fate. It is exactly because of how Ahmad might be treated on his return to his homophobic and brutal land that the United States should grant him refuge.”

Appelbaum played a key role in the New York State legislative decision to pass a marriage law for same-sex couples this year.

Dr. Phyllis Chesler, a New York-based expert on gender relations, wrote the Post on Friday, “This is further proof that the Obama administration’s foreign policy is one of self-destructive appeasement and that despite its presumed commitment to civil rights and human rights, that commitment does not extend to Muslim women, Muslim dissidents, or Muslim gays – nor does it extend to the right-of-survival of religious minorities (Christian, Jewish, Bahai, Zoroastrian) or to apostates.

“This decision refuses to countenance the reality of Islamic gender and religious apartheid and has chosen a ‘hands off’ policy vis-a-vis Saudi Arabia’s persecution of ‘out’ gay men,” Chesler wrote.

Saudi Arabia’s government policy of lethal homophobia has sparked outrage over the years from some human rights activists.

The subject of state-sponsored murder of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities across the Muslim world has been a long neglected human-rights issue, according to NGO Monitor, the Jerusalem-based watchdog organization, which monitors the role of NGOs in the region, including Israel.

Homosexuality: Caning then Councelling

Islamic laws to punish Muslims who engage in homosexuality

Kuala Lumpur, November 12:

The Siasat Daily

 Two Malaysian states are set to change their Islamic laws to punish Muslims who engage in homosexuality, raising the prospect of gay Muslims being punished twice and stoking concerns about rising intolerance towards same-gender relationships.

Homosexuality is punishable by law in Malaysia by caning and up to 20 years in jail, but the legal amendments planned by Pahang and Malacca religious authorities would give the state governments additional ammunition.

If the proposed changes came into force, a Muslim homosexual could be punished under both federal and state religious charges, meaning that jail terms could run consecutively and result in longer time.

Analysts said the proposed amendments hinted at an increasing intolerance towards homosexuality and could erode support for the government among the majority ethnic Malays, who are Muslims by birth.

"The irony of the situation is that the overwhelming majority of gay people in this country are Malays," said James Chin, a political analyst at Monash University in Malaysia. "When they have these laws to target non-mainstream sexual minorities, they are actually targeting their own people."

Malacca's chief minister, Mohd Ali Rustam, said the state would review its Islamic law provisions to allow Muslim gays and lesbians to be tried in court and punished by a jail term or a fine to deter homosexuality.

"So many people like to promote human rights, even up to the point they want to allow lesbian activities and homosexuality," Ali told Reuters.

"In Islam, we cannot do all this. It is against Islamic law," he said, adding that Muslim homosexuals would also be required to attend counselling. More Here