Islam, Feminism and Homophobia

"Emerging from our discussion on LGBT rights in the Middle East (particularly in Lebanon and Palestine) is the question why many Muslim feminists have failed to include sexuality rights on their agenda. Not one, but two people answered by saying that Muslim feminists have too many issues on their hands to fight for gay rights, which suggests that LGBT rights are not really an Islamic feminist issue and that more pressing injustices (female genital cutting, polygynyy, personal status laws governed by Shariah courst)–essentially Muslim women’s issues–should always take precedence.

The two huge obstacles to pursuing gay rights activism within the Islamic feminism framework are the apparent prohibition of same-sex relations in Islam and the deeply homophobic attitude that prevails many Muslim communities. With only the story of the prophet Lut (AS) and the morally corrupt citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah that is hyper-reduced to a story of sodomy (but not their other sins or Lut [AS] offering his daughters to the people of Sodom in lieu of his angelic guests [Surah al-Hud]) as legally- and socially-binding final word on homosexuality, self-identified gay Muslims have very little to defend themselves with from the systematic condemnation often reserved for criminals.

What is being attacked in homophobic societies here are not actually the identities “gay”, “lesbian”, or “homosexual” the way we understand them – these are terms that have been developed in and adopted from Western sexology – but really the “feminization” of men and the “masculinization” of women. Notions of masculinity/femininity and sexual identities in the Middle East are not commensurable with those constituted within Eurocentric psychological/ psychiatric/feminist jargon. To be a man and have sex with another man does not necessarily make him gay, as long as he stays “on top”. In fact, in some Muslim communities, to be the penetrator in whatever form of sexual relations often equates with a kind of hyper-masculinity.

It should matter a great deal to Muslim feminists to take on board other “non-traditional” issues like sexuality, not to mention transgendered and disability issues if the movement intends to take on a more holistic approach to tackling social injustices. In addition, these non-traditional issues can benefit greatly from the activism work and academic rigor that Muslim feminism is particularly strong at. Perhaps then Muslim feminism is not only about Muslim women; which is not a bad thing, but an ever-broadening movement that rises to the challenge whenever oppression and Islam intersect."

http://muslimahmediawatch.org/2009/12/do-muslim-feminists-have-too-much-to-worry...