NEWS ARCHIVES
Sexuality
Islam and Sexuality – Gay Muslims in the West can face lack of acceptance within their families and their religion, as well as experiencing wider prejudice against their faith, fostering a complex and contradictory identity. THE SATURDAY PAPER
Meet the gay imam who started South Africa’s first LGBTT+ mosque – I was in crisis. I fasted for 80 days. I vowed I wouldn’t stop fasting until Allah gave me a sign and told me what he wanted me to do with my life.
Study on mental health impacts of anti-gay religious prejudice should be a ‘wake-up call’ for faith leaders Faith leaders who insist same-sex couples should not be able to marry — even those who also promote love and support for LGB people — may be causing serious harm to the mental health of LGB individuals, the author of a new study on the impacts of religious anti-gay prejudice has said. ABC NEWS
Religion/Gender
How can Muslim feminists reclaim their religion from men? Muslim feminists face a triple challenge, similar to other women of colour. They are working to dismantle sexism in their communities, while simultaneously dealing with the accusation of exposing their communities to Islamophobia. ABC NEWS
Zohran Mamdani proudly embodies what I often feel alienated in: my own identity as an unapologetic Muslim and progressive – Watching from Australia, I feel both an elation at his win as well as exhaustion at the suspicion brown Muslims inevitably experience in the public sphere
Islamic scholar seen as both heroine and heretic – Her central thesis is that for centuries Islam has been interpreted by male scholars which has obscured its essentially egalitarian ethos. This ethos, she says, has inspired her reform work particularly around Islamic family law. SMH
Ms Saffaa, protest art and the fledgling Saudi Arabia women’s rights movement Part of her activism is borne out of subverting the western framing of Saudi women as victims, rather than as agents of their own liberation. This co-opting, she says, only furthers the infantilisation they were fighting against, with women used as pawns in a cultural battleground of rising Islamophobia. THE GUARDIAN
The secret world of Muslim women only parties For many in the west, ethnic gender segregation is seen as a symbol of patriarchy and oppression. While I rigorously oppose unequal spaces – especially in the circles of power such as the school, mosque or boardroom –parties are a different story. – SMH
Why Mary resonates with me as a Muslim woman – For me what I link with in the story of Mary is the role of radical compassion and empathy. It sits at the heart of all the parables in the world’s great religions. -SBS
The little-known divorce loophole that could help Muslim women – “Muslim communities in the West are still very hesitant to accept women as scholarly authorities but in the past women were involved in a decision making and analysing rulings and source texts, whereas in Western societies they are notably absent from community processes.” -SBS
The lesson of the Cronulla riots was that the beach was not for people like me. But it’s a myth I am increasingly resisting – Twenty years on, racism remains ever-present, and confidence in public life by non-white figures still feels transgressive THE GUARDIAN
Reviews
A Siphon for Fury Haydar never retreats from telling her mother’s full story. She writes without the self-conscious deliberation of a minority memoirist, who is burdened with the fear of reinforcing stereotypes of marginalised communities. Instead, she tackles this fear head-on and demolishes it. – Sydney Review of Books
Interviews
Alice Pung – Author Alice Pung on the complicated lives of mothers and daughters SBS
George Haddad – Novelist George Haddad on family, identity and western Sydney SBS
Soraya Chemaly – “I think it’s helpful to know we’re not all crazy” SBS
Roxane Gay – Roxane Gay on the importance of taking up space and being heard SBS
Mandy Len Catron – Why this woman had her husband sign a marriage contract SBS
Melissa Lucashenko – ‘Write what your truth is’ – SBS
Sanam Maher – The story behind the murder of Pakistan’s social media star Qandeel Baloch – SBS
