Muslim And Gay: How The Orlando Attack Shines A Light On A Marginalised LGBT Community
“What we seem to be left with is a disaffected young man in a country that, whilst it preaches freedoms such as gun ownership, is quick to ignore freedoms such as the right of all people to be who they are” – Writes Johnathon Salamon
Since the tragic shooting in Orlando, the authorities, media and public have been quick to uncover every last shred of data about the shooter.
Most notably, it has emerged that the gunman, 29 year-old Omar Mateen, was both a Muslim and despite being married, was a rumoured homosexual or bisexual himself.
A spate of reports from club patrons and former classmates claim that he was a regular at the Orlando gay club Pulse over the past 3 years and was seen on gay dating apps such as Grindr.
Whilst this may come as a surprise to some, there are in fact large communities of LGBTI Muslims in America and throughout the world. This group arguably have it even tougher in finding acceptance and support from the broader community because of religious bigotry.
In the wake of the attacks, many queer Muslims have spoken out about their struggles, taking to sites like Twitter to share their thoughts and experiences.
One Twitter user, @YngxxxHippie describes the struggle of living as both LGBT and a Muslim. Through a series of messages, he said:
“For the former, we are branded as ‘kaffirs’ (non-Muslims), and ‘deviants,’ and the latter tells us we are not queer enough.
The former is rampant with anti-queer/trans rhetoric, and the other is rampant with racism & islamophobia (just look at grindr profiles).
We’re shunned from both sides and many of us are so torn right now. Where do our allegiances lie? Which community do we defend?”
https://twitter.com/YxxngHippie/status/742083993810706432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Many LGBT Muslims are asking that we avoid blaming one side or the other and focus on the fact that a clearly mentally deranged young man was able to purchase an assault weapon and carry out such an attack.
Shawn Amehd who is head of the ‘Uncultured Project‘ – an anti poverty organisation -summed up the feeling of many queer Muslims following the recent shooting by saying, “If all the Muslims in my mentions right now condemning me for being a gay Muslim could condemn the Muslim shooter instead, that’d be great.”
If all the Muslims in my mentions right now condemning me for being a gay Muslim could condemn the Muslim shooter instead, that'd be great ????
— Shawn Ahmed (@uncultured) June 12, 2016
Samri Allab who runs a queer Muslim photo project wrote in the Guardian newspaper that her simple message was that queer Muslims exist.
“being a peace-loving Muslim who is just as angered by homophobic attacks as everyone else isn’t out of the ordinary.”
Whilst pointing out homophobia within the Muslim community or within America in general, we must also remember that bigots often hide behind something. Whether that be quran, the bible or just plain fear. However, these people do not represent others who wish to practice religions of peace whilst preaching acceptance of all people.
We must avoid tarring one group or another with the same brush.
While it in no way excuses the extreme violence that has recently unfolded, we must learn what we can from Orlando.
While America has some serious batshit insane gun ownership laws to sort out – we can also remember that within this tragedy, there’s a lesson to embrace marginalised communities fighting to be understood.