Muslim’s LGBT Exist, How DoThey Feel about Orlando Killings?
Sunday morning’s mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando left the LGBT community in shambles. The attack, carried out by Port St. Lucie resident Omar Mateen, has been declared the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Mateen reportedly pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State in a 911 call just before the first shots were fired. Although the gunman’s family and ex-wife said he wasn’t a practicing or religious Muslim, the Islamic community is facing backlash as a result of the extremist’s actions. The LGBT community is also reeling as information about the victims pours in.
But there’s another confused, broken community that lies at the intersection of the tragedy: LGBT Muslims.
“Gay Muslims exist. Lesbian Muslims exist. Transgender Muslims exist,” said Abdon Jose Orrostieta, a gay Muslim from Fort Lauderdale. “I have friends who are in the closet and they’re afraid of coming out.”
National organizations like the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity -- a group consisting of Muslims who identify as LGBT -- have released statements condemning the Pulse nightclub shooting, saying there is "no religious justification or precedent in Islam for mass shootings targeting any population, regardless of identity."
In South Florida, however, the LGBT Muslim community is not as visible or well-known.
The reason for this, Orrostieta says, is culture.
“It’s not accepted,” Orrostieta, who converted to Islam when he was 19, said. “And with certain friends, they can’t bring gay friends home.”
Hytham Rashid, a gay Muslim who recently moved to South Florida to attend medical school at Nova Southeastern University, said he was kicked out of his house after his parents found out he was gay. He was homeless for six months.
“While my friends were getting accepted to medical school at Harvard, at Yale, at MIT, I was homeless,” he said. “I was arguing with my parents every night.”
Rashid, who is of Palestinian descent, has reached a level of understanding with his parents now. "Time heals all," he said. But being a gay Muslim with an Arab background still presents challenges for the 27-year-old.
“For me, it’s 'How do I translate my identity in a way my culture will not only understand, but accept?'"
There are not a lot of terms to describe gender identity or sexual orientation in Arabic, Rashid said. The word "transgender," for example, translates to “You are like a woman” or “You are like a man,” which can be considered offensive, he says.
As a gay Muslim, Rashid says he faces both Islamophobia and homophobia everyday. He said in the wake of the Orlando tragedy, he doesn’t feel safe going to memorials and events.
“We can put up our stickers and wave around our rainbow flags in Wilton Manors, but the core issue is, there isn’t a safe space for us,” he said.
As a whole, it isn't easy to define the LGBT Muslim community. Within the doubly marginalized group lie other racial minorities that also face discrimination and judgment.
Orrostieta, for example, comes from a Mexican background. He converted to Islam because he felt the religion was accepting and loving toward his beliefs
"When I spoke to an imam, he said everything was between me and Allah," he said.
After media reports emerged suggesting Mateen himself may have been gay, Orrostieta said, “It’s always the gay-basher who comes out because they can’t accept themself.”
Rashid said that regardless of whether the attacker was gay, larger issues -- such as gun control, safe spaces and access to mental healthcare -- need to be seriously discussed.
Abeer Jadallah, a Miami Shores resident who advocates for LGBT rights, also thinks mental health is important to talk about in light of the tragedy.
“You don’t do this if you’re Muslim,” she said. “[This] wasn’t a Muslim problem. People are homophobic. People are mentally ill. This is an American problem. This is as American as apple pie.”
Around the country, gay Muslim leaders and organizations are speaking out against the attack and supporting the rights of the LGBT community, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.
“Homophobia, transphobia and Islamophobia” are “interconnected systems of oppression,” Council of American-Islamic Relations national Executive Director Nihad Awad said Sunday. The organization also said “discussion should focus on anti-LGBT hate.”
The Orlando shooting came at a time of utmost significance for the LGBT community and the Muslim community: Pride month and the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Rashid said he was in Miami when he first heard word of the attack. His first thought was: "Please don't be Muslim."
"It hurts so deeply...to come to school the next day and have to defend your identity," he said.
“It just doesn't make sense for a Muslim to kill someone during Ramadan."
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