In the 60s to 80s in Cape Town there was this idea of the moffie – now considered a derogatory term for gay men, even though there are plenty of men who are comfortable with being called that. I will never feel accepted in a small-minded Muslim community.
“I live in Mitchells Plain but I am never there. Islam is very much a way of life for me.” Moenier Hendricks, Cape Town I batcha (pray) my Shahaadat (a testimony to Allah and the Prophet Muhammad) every day. I still abide by the five pillars of Islam. My family created an environment where I could be whatever I wanted to be so long as I was kind – and most importantly, a Muslim.
Context of story of lut quran tv#
I would occasionally leave the TV on a show where there was some LGBT education going on, waiting for someone to say something so I could start up that conversation again. It took many years but I persevered in my family with education through conversation.
It’s these conversations with my father that helped me reconcile my faith with my sexuality. Obviously he couldn’t find this, and whatever he did find was easily dismissed as a far reach. I initially challenged my dad to find where exactly in the Qur’an it says that being bisexual or a lesbian was haram.
Context of story of lut quran crack#
But I felt bad thinking I hurt my parents and that it might have put a crack in our relationship. I didn’t really get to choose my coming out, but it did feel good to get it off my chest. It was difficult and complicated because I felt unprepared for it. I finally leapt out the closet and established that I was not having an affair – but that I was seeing a girl. They became really curious about the relationship I was having with a girl and eventually, after much interrogation, I confirmed their fears. My family, on the other hand, coerced me out of the closet. She was always supportive and understanding. And then, in the eighth grade, I came out to one of closest friends, Belinda, and my conversation with her made her consider some of her own feelings for the same sex. Being a gay woman became more obvious to me when I developed the language to describe my feelings for women. I didn’t question my feelings too much at the time because I was too young to understand.
I remember being told that sodomy was haram (forbidden) and that somehow this was related to homosexuality.īut I remember having a crush on my teacher, Mrs Glass, in Grade 1. My dad took it upon himself to answer my questions, to debate endlessly and research when we couldn’t come to our own conclusions.Īs far as my Islamic education on homosexuality goes, all I was told about it was the story of Lut. In my family, we were taught to question, question everything, that believing in something or following blindly without question is how religion becomes the opium of the masses. The usthads (teachers) could not answer my questions and I had a lot of them. “My brothers and I never really went to a formal madrassa (Muslim school), and when my parents tried to send me, it never lasted very long. Annenberg Justice for Women Journalists Award.Fellowship Program for Afghan Women Journalists in Exile.Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice in the Americas.Kari Howard Fund for Narrative Journalism.Fund for Indigenous Journalists: Reporting on MMIWG2T.¡Exprésate! LGBTQI+ Reporting Initiative.
0 kommentar(er)
