A Jihad for Love - Thinking of Intersectionality

I thoroughly enjoyed watching A Jihad for Love and gaining a better understanding of the struggles of trying to exist as a member of the LGBTQ+ community while being Muslim. As a proud believer in intersectionality and expressing every part of our identity as a culmination of ourselves, I was challenged by the consistent question presented in the documentary of whether or not one can be Muslim and gay/lesbian. This reminded me of a previous short video I had watched on YouTube titled "When will it be accepted to be Muslim and gay?" where a live audience and panel tackle the issue of homosexuality and Islam.

Link to Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05YuF73FRG8

Longer Version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6E2Q4INbmM

The biggest takeaway from these clips is that there while many may claim that there is a "mainstream", as described by one of the female audience members, take on homosexuality in Islam, there exists a lot of diversity of opinion and debate. Even when just discussing the issue of interpretation and modernity/liberalism in Islam, there is tension between people who believe that the Qur'an is to be read as-is and those who are willing to take more liberty to contextualize and reframe what is written. This connects to what A Jihad for Love touches on with the idea of ijtihad, translating to effort in English according to Britannica, which encourages the "right to exercise such original thinking:". I believe that ijtihad can be very beneficial for the Muslim community as a whole because I think it will challenge us to deconstruct patriarchal and heteronormative institutions within what is believed to be "mainstream" Islamic thought.

Even so, I think the Muslim community lacks general visibility of LGBTQ+ Muslims so I think in order to start the dialogue, the representation needs to exist. A Jihad for Love is an excellent example of uplifting these stories and struggles, but we also need to hear the stories of other LGBTQ+ Muslims in other careers/platforms. I think about people like Blair Imani who is a social media mogul of not just being a Black Muslim hijabi but also being Bisexual. Her presence alone can help to start the conversation of homosexuality and Islam by forcing the community to acknowledge the presence of LGBTQ+ Muslims.

However, I am not a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and visibility itself is a privilege that I take for granted because I can speak about my Muslim identity in a way that those who are LGBTQ+ may not be able to out of fear. As portrayed in A Jihad for Love, the mere act of coming out or actively being LGBTQ+ in Muslim countries can put the lives and families of people at risk. Just as there needs to be a conversation had on homosexuality and Islam, there also needs to be a Muslim community willing to listen.