Religion
Inside a Groundbreaking Anthology That Sheds Light on 18 Queer Arab Voices
In a region where at least 15 nations criminalize homosexuality and in those that don’t, there’s a “don’t ask, don’t tell culture,” queer Arab communities may have been forced into the shadows but they undeniably exist. That’s why Tuesday’s U.S. debut of This Arab is Queer, a new anthology edited by Elias Jahshan, an Australian… Read more »
French Writer Alleges Vatican Is One Of The World’s Largest Gay Communities
Author Frederic Martel is claiming Catholic priests publicly denounce homosexuality while privately leading double lives. Vatican City (AP) — A gay French writer has lifted the lid on what he calls one of the world’s largest gay communities, the Vatican, estimating that most of its prelates are homosexually inclined and attributing much of the current… Read more »
Coming Out Orthodox, Revisited*
I don’t know what to do about homosexuality. What I do know, however, is that what I have written here is my understanding of what God and Christ would have us do, according to the scriptures, sacraments, and saints of the Orthodox Church. Perhaps I am wrong in my understanding of Christianity and Orthodoxy. Perhaps… Read more »
Welcome to Orthodox and gay.com!
This website has two main purposes. The first intention is for this website to be a place of support and refuge for Orthodox Christians who are gay – for us to tell our stories about being Orthodox and gay. The second aim is to offer an opportunity for constructive criticism and comments on the official… Read more »
Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ Issues: Eastern Orthodox Church
Background Considered the second largest Christian body in the world, the history of the Eastern Orthodox Church can be traced to an unbroken continuity to Jesus Christ and the Twelve Apostles. It encompasses several autocephalous (self-governing) churches: the four ancient Patriarchates of the early church, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, the four Patriarchates of more… Read more »
Why Does Gay Sex Scare Modern Muslims? It Didn’t in the Golden Age.
Colonialism taught Muslims to be ashamed of many things, including sexual orientation. Now they are more intolerant (and maybe more hypocritical) than the Victorians. London — Half of British Muslims say being gay “should be outlawed.” Thus ran the headline in London’s Sunday Times this week. Even more opposed gay marriage, while almost half thought… Read more »
Meet America’s first openly gay imam
Washington – He’s been condemned by other Muslim leaders, and some local imams have even refused to greet him. But Imam Daayiee Abdullah – believed to be the only openly gay imam in the Americas – is proud of his story. He was born and raised in Detroit, where his parents were Southern Baptists. At… Read more »
Muslim attitudes about LGBT are complex, far from universally anti-gay
As one of a tiny number of openly gay imams in the world, Daayiee Abdullah has felt the sting of rebuke from fellow Muslims. No good Muslim can be gay, they say. And traditional schools of Islamic law consider homosexuality a grave sin. But Abdullah, a Washington, D.C. lawyer who studied Islam in the Middle… Read more »
What Does The Koran Say About Being Gay?
In the wake of the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that took the lives of 49 people, there has been much speculation around gunman Omar Mateen’s motives for the attack. The rationale for the crime, first considered to be a straight man’s act of homophobic violence, became self-loathing when it came to… Read more »
What it’s like to be gay and Muslim
(CNN) Lia Darjes spent some time taking photos in the blissfully lilac bedroom of El-Farouk and his husband, Troy, in Toronto. The men, both Muslim, are naturally lit in a peaceful aura of domesticity, sunken into a comfortable bed with their black cat. But as with many gay Muslims she interviewed and photographed, unsettling inner… Read more »
Gay Muslim: Islam Is No Religion of Peace
Like the other two monotheisms that precede it, Islam has blood on its hands. “What’s his name?” I asked my husband as he woke me to tell me of the carnage in Orlando. “It’s going to be a Muslim name.” I just knew it. I had never been one to racially profile my own community.… Read more »
Why Does Gay Sex Scare Modern Muslims? It Didn’t in the Golden Age.
Colonialism taught Muslims to be ashamed of many things, including sexual orientation. Now they are more intolerant (and maybe more hypocritical) than the Victorians. London — Half of British Muslims say being gay “should be outlawed.” Thus ran the headline in London’s Sunday Times this week. Even more opposed gay marriage, while almost half thought… Read more »
Where Can Queer Muslims Go to Pray?
Groups around the U.S. are pushing back on the deep-rooted stereotype that LGBTQ identity is incompatible with Islam. In the media, being queer and Muslim often seems to amount to being a victim. In articles on violence against LGBTQ people in Muslim-majority countries, or pieces on the challenges of coming out, the queer person’s connection… Read more »
What Does Islam Say About Being Gay?
Istanbul — On June 29, Turkey’s 12th Gay Pride Parade was held on Istanbul’s crowded Istiklal Avenue. Thousands marched joyfully carrying rainbow flags until the police began dispersing them with water cannons. The authorities, as has become their custom since the Gezi Park protests of June 2013, once again decided not to allow a demonstration… Read more »
The ugly truth about Islam and homosexuality
Malaysian teachers are being trained to spot signs of homosexuality I know Nick Clegg is worked up about the domestic “bigots” who oppose gay marriage. Though I am happy to dance at gay weddings, in our complex and turbulent world it doesn’t seem a major priority. Rather than arguing about something that since the introduction… Read more »
Gay youth at risk of forced marriage
UK government warns summer holidays are peak time for young people to be taken overseas and forced into a marriage The UK government has issued a warning over the summer holidays over the increased risk of young gay men and women being forced into marriage. According to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, summer holidays are… Read more »
Contents Under Pressure: A Queer Muslim Unsilenced
Being both Muslim and queer always seemed like mutually exclusive identities to me. The ideological clash meant I simply could not be both. This wasn’t a satisfying way of looking at the world – I didn’t think I should have to repent for being a certain way. I began asking some big questions in high… Read more »
One Muslim’s fight to marry Islam with homosexuality
Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed has made headlines by becoming the first French man to be married to another man in a Muslim religious ceremony. In his new book, he tells the tale of his unique journey of faith and love. Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed is an intellectual, an expert on the Koran and an AIDS activist. The 35-year-old also… Read more »
Straight but narrow
A debate about homosexuality in Islam is beginning. But in Muslim lands persecution—and hypocrisy—are still rife One leaflet showed a wooden doll hanging from a noose and suggested burning or stoning homosexuals. “God Abhors You” read another. A third warned gays: “Turn or Burn”. Three Muslim men who handed out the leaflets in the English… Read more »
Straight but narrow
A debate about homosexuality in Islam is beginning. But in Muslim lands persecution—and hypocrisy—are still rife One leaflet showed a wooden doll hanging from a noose and suggested burning or stoning homosexuals. “God Abhors You” read another. A third warned gays: “Turn or Burn”. Three Muslim men who handed out the leaflets in the English… Read more »
UN publishes first global report and recommendations to tackle gay rights abuses
The UN’s Human Rights Council has published for the first time a report detailing rights abuses against LGBT people around the world, through violence and discriminatory laws, and a set of recommendations all countries should adopt to protect their citizens. The document says global governments “have often overlooked violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation… Read more »
Can you be gay and Muslim?
Insisting that same-sex relations are actually compatible with religious beliefs would almost certainly challenge mainstream perspectives. Within the context of Indonesia, as the country with the largest Islamic population, you cannot be a gay or lesbian, for example, and a good Muslim at the same time because most Islamic teaching bans same-sex practices. I do… Read more »
Orthodox Rabbis Oppose Gay Marriage
More than 100 Orthodox rabbis have signed onto a statement in opposition to same sex weddings, saying that gay marriage is a “desecration of Torah values.” The statement was a response to a November wedding between two men that was officiated by the Orthodox-ordained rabbi and longtime gay rights activist Steven Greenberg. Hailed as an… Read more »
Islam and homosexuality: All viewpoints
Speaking generally, religious beliefs within the world’s major faith groups are based on four main foundations: revelation in the form of a holy text; religious tradition; logic & reason; and personal experience. More liberal movements within these religions often tend to stress logic, reason, and personal experience. This includes scientific findings. It is only since… Read more »
Islam and Homosexuality: The Problem Isn’t Religion But Those Who Lead It
Of the 76 countries that persecute people for their sexual orientation, Iran will let an Islamic judge put them to death; Mauritania and Yemen will kill by public stoning; Saudi Arabia and parts of Nigeria and Somalia will do it based on their interpretation of Sharia law; Sudan will kill their citizens; and Iraq will… Read more »
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