And among His signs is this that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts); verily in that are signs for those who reflect.
Surat Ar-Rum [30:21] The Holy Qu'ran
I always hope, because it is my intention, that anything I post here is treated by anyone who happens to read it as purely, unequivocally, my opinion. If I post about issues I feel as a woman, I am in no way trying to speak for all women. If I post about issues I face as a Muslim, I am in no way trying to speak for all Muslims, or any other one beside myself. I would hope it doesn't have to be said, but in case it does, there you go.
The topic of this post is something I've been thinking a lot about lately, but I struggle with speaking about topics which have no correlation to my existence, if that makes sense. While the Qur'an does call for advocating for the oppressed, and assisting them in any way, there are times when as a white, upper-middle-class, college-educated, cis, straight American woman who has never faced adversity related to the issue, I feel like I shouldn't be the one doing the talking. I should be silently supportive and loving.
That said, I'll finally get to the point. I am an ardent supporter of the LGBT community. Generally speaking, that is not something normally associated with being part of the Muslim community, at least in my experience. A lot of Muslims, for many reasons, have difficulty reconciling this with their faith. The same could be accurately said for my Christian upbringing. Despite churches opening their minds and doors to LGBT worshippers, I do not think we're even able to say it's something generally accepted. Not yet. And in both cases, to me, it's a shame.
My opinion on this has never changed. My religion has, but my opinion hasn't.
And in words I would never be able to so beautifully craft because I've never faced this situation, I want to direct you to an amazing post on Autostraddle that says everything I could ever say on the subject and much, much more. I was in tears by the final response to this post.
Attraction to Women and Feelings Like a "Bad Muslim" | Autostraddle
As for any Muslims who may be searching for more resources, I hope something here can help you (they are mentioned within the article and comments but I think worth pulling out separately):
Websites: IAmNotHaraam.Tumblr.com | http://www.moralcourage.org/mentoring/
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbp94Mntcb2IV9n4BtHXpUg
Hashtags: #qfaith, #queermuslims or #lgbtqmuslims
Fi Amaan Allah, to each and every person reading this. Full stop.
