As scholar Scott Kugle knows well, to be both Muslim and gay means the possibility of having to "come out twice"—with the likely chance of encountering either homophobia or Islamophobia (or both), depending on the context.
But in recent years, a new discussion of Islam and sexuality has emerged, led in large part by professor Kugle, who teaches South Asian and Islamic Studies at Emory University. Having written many books on Islam, including Homosexuality in Islam: Islamic Reflection on Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Muslims (2010), he is currently working on a collection entitled Voices of Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Muslim Activists (forthcoming in 2012, NYU Press).
Read the interview here.
4 comments:
There are gay Muslim organizations here in New York. They usually keep a very low profile.
In the West, to be Trans in the lowest of the low. In the Muslim world (e.g., Iran), it seems as if it's easier to be Trans than gay [This was confirmed to me by a gay Muslim-American FTM guy I met at an FTM conference. Like many FTMs, he was a "les-been" (formerly ID'd as lesbian). He couldn't come out to his imam when a lesbian, but after he realized he was FTM, he did come out to his imam---who wasn't thrilled, but did allow him to pray in the men's part of the mosque]
JCF, I wonder if it would be a different experience for an MTF. A man choosing to be a lowly woman might be more problematic.
I saw a program about Trans people in Iran (which is why I mentioned it). An MTF woman sought, and got, a fatwa (which in this case, means judgment FOR) her SRS, from the Ayatollah Khomeini himself! [This was before his death, obviously]. She spoke extensively in this documentary (dressed in an all-but-face-covering black chador, of course)]
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