LGBT Muslims in the Era of Globalization

Image from web.

“Did you all know the Coast Guard Academy is right across the street? The Coast guard is, like, very gay, just F.Y.I.,” began Faisal Alam in the Charles Chu room last week.

Alam is a “queer-identified Muslim activist of Pakistani descent” according to his website. Alam came to Connecticut College to give a presentation titled “Hidden Voices: The Lives of LGBT Muslims” as part of Conn’s “Gay-pril.” More than ten different groups, departments and individuals on campus sponsored Alam’s visit, including CISLA, the sociology department, the dean of student life and the LGBTQ center.

Alam began by asking the audience what thoughts came to mind in regards to Islam. At first, students were hesitant to respond, giving only the most politically correct answers, such as “peace,” and “the veil.” Alam then expanded the question, asking, “What do you think that other young people think about Islam?”

This time, students responded with “conservatism,” “Islamic law” and “terrorism and violence.”

Alam then asked, “and what about queer people?” The audience had no response, and Alam seemed to voice the audience’s silent thoughts, saying that “‘queer’ and ‘Islam’ seem like contradictory terms.”

Alam spoke of the association between Islam and homophobia, explaining that in 2003, former president of Egypt Hosni Mubarak gathered those who identified with the LGBT community and subsequently tortured and displayed them on show-trials. He spoke of two Iranian boys who were executed with the consent of Iranian President Ahmadinejad in 2006 because they were thought to be gay.

“What I want to do today,” continued Alam, “is juxtapose this side of Islam and show you another side, a side that most Muslims don’t even see.”

The next few slides in the presentation, one of which was titled, “Fierce Women from Iran,” showed how modern society and Islamic faith are not necessarily at odds with one another. Alam showed images of women in headscarves modeling not-so-traditional Muslim attire on a runway. He explained that European designers, such as Versace, have found a market in the wealth of high class Muslims, and are able to sell $3,000 designer headscarves.

“It’s very interesting seeing the two worlds coming together,” said Alam “It’s fashion globalization.”

Alam also spoke excitedly about the Burqini. “Is it a burka or a bikini?” he asked. “It’s a little bit of both.”

He used this article of swimwear as an example of how Muslim women can participate in athletic activities without necessarily violating their faith.

“I believe that all Abrahamic religions are patriarchal and sexist by nature,” said Alam, but he continued on to describe gender equality and equity as the next frontier in women’s roles in both religion and society.

Alam proceeded to present a series of video clips. The first was from a British documentary, which briefly told the stories of two gay Muslims living in London. The first, a middle aged man, explained that he no longer felt welcome to pray at his own mosque, despite being a devout Muslim. He was also denied visiting rights to his children by his ex-wife after coming out.

The second person interviewed was a teenage girl who, after coming out to her parents, was kicked out of her own home. “My sexuality and religion are both integral parts of me,” she said, “I cannot abandon one for the other.”

The next clips were footage from news stories in India, after sodomy was decriminalized in 2009. The law, which had been in place since 1860, a remnant of British colonization, threatened imprisonment for life if it was to be broken. While much of the film showed the activist and protestors celebrating in the streets, there was also footage of several religious leaders of different faiths coming together to publicly denounce the law’s decriminalization.
Alam himself struggled with the apparent conflict between his sexuality and religion in his high school and college years. When he was ten, he immigrated with his parents to a small town in Connecticut. As he described it, his high school was comprised of 500 students, 495 of which were white, and four of which were black.

“I was the only brown person, the only Asian, the only immigrant, the only Muslim,” he said.

Every week Alam attended Sunday school at a mosque in Hartford, where he learned that “homosexuality was forbidden within Islam, without any ifs, ands or buts.” Because of this, when Alam first started to think that he might in fact be gay, he felt extremely confused. “It didn’t make any sense to me. How can I be gay if God doesn’t create any gay people?”

Alam oppressed his sexuality and instead focused more than ever on religion – that is, until he went off to college at Northeastern University, where he “exploded out of the closet.”

“I could no longer live my lives separately,” said Alam.

He eventually came to the realization that he couldn’t be the only gay Muslim out there, and through massive group emails he started an email list for gay Muslims, which eventually resulted in a retreat, bringing together people from across the globe.

Faisal Alum’s goal was to prove that modernity, faith and sexuality could coincide, and through his own story, others’ experiences and Burqinis, he did exactly that. •