Several Muslim religious and political outfits in Kerala have been making hateful comments against the LGBTQIA+ community. Members of the community therefore face the double jeopardy of both homophobia and Islamophobia within their own communities. Ironically, in India today, Muslim outfits are not the only groups making transphobic or homophobic comments. In December 2022, BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi told the Rajya Sabha that same-sex marriages are “against our culture and ethos”. “Same-sex marriages will cause complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws in the country,” he said and added that marriage is sacred in India and restricted to a “relationship between a biological man and woman.”

But coming to Kerala, otherwise hailed as India’s progressive state, here are some of the most distasteful comments: “Those who believe that a trans man delivered a baby live in a fool’s paradise;” “Presence of uterus makes a person a woman;” “LGBTQIA+ community is a shame and are the worst kind of people;” “Transgender is a fake mental state!”

The NewsMinute had recently reported that these are among just a few of the several such transphobic and queerphobic comments made by Muslim outfits in Kerala, including the political party Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). The most recent comments were made by IUML leaders about a trans man in Kerala who gave birth to a child.

On February 13, IUML leader MK Muneer said that those who believe that a trans man gave birth to a child were “living in a fool’s paradise” and that the gender identity of the trans man was “hollow”. “The person who gave birth to a baby was actually a woman, although she had removed her breasts to look like a man. The presence of a womb in the person who gave birth to the baby proves that it was actually a woman,” was his exact statement.

Barely a week had passed after Muneer’s transphobic comment, that the IUML state secretary PMA Salam said that being transgender is a “fake mentality”. He was speaking at an IUML district conference in Kozhikode. Here, he commented, “A woman recently claimed that she is a man and gave birth to a child.” Though Salam did not mention the couple’s names, he said that the incident happened in Kerala. He also said that this was just a ‘mentality’ and misgendered the trans man and his trans woman partner throughout.

“The woman removed some of her body parts through surgery, which is unnecessary. She claimed that she was a man and married a man who is pretending to be a woman. The woman also said that she was a man and gave birth to a child. We should remember that even if the body is altered surgically, what is inside will not change,” he claimed and added that Islam does not recognise the existence of any gender other than male and female. He also claimed that Islam does not accept marriages that do not happen between “natural man and natural woman” and added that there is no mention of ‘third gender’ in the Quran.

Significantly, the past months have seen a spiral in such hate speech by members of Islamic groups. This has made Muslim queer persons in the state especially insecure. In January 2023, IUML leader KM Shaji called the LGBTQIA+ community a “shame” and the “worst kind of people”. A Mathrubhumi report quoted him as saying that while the word LGBTQ sounds like “something important, those are bad activities (thallippoli pani). They are the worst humans. They are projecting it as colourful, but the term itself is dangerous, it creates anarchy in society. Deciding one’s gender after growing up is just silly.”

This was preceded by an objectionable statement made in December 2022, by senior Muslim League leader Abdurahiman Randathani. His disparaging comment on gender-neutral classrooms and sex education in schools have drawn flak. He made the outrageous claim that male and female students were made to sit together in school and were being taught about masturbation and homosexuality.

Go further back to July 2022, when a class was held for the students of Thrissur Medical College Hospital by a Muslim group about gender politics and the LGBTQIA+ community. Sounding like a progressive orientation, the session was actually conducted by those organizations and outfits well known for their homophobic, transphobic and queerphobic stances. While the session was on, the organisers actually used the archaic segregation model—a sheet to separate men and women who attended the class.

That this is part of a dangerous trend is evident from the fact that a  month before that, in June 2022, the Jamaat-e-Islami conducted an online seminar at which a neuro physiotherapist compared homosexuality to paedophilia, and also declared that transgender persons are mentally ill!

Kerala’s campaign against LGBTQIA+ rights

The NewsMinute investigation suggests that in Kerala Youtube channels, Facebook pages, and other social media handles seem to be running what looks like an organised campaign against queer communities and individuals. The popular Youtube page ‘Unmasking Atheism’ is one of the Islamic platforms that speak about Muslim morality on LGBTQIA+ identities, and argues against LGBTQIA+ activism.

“We are not against people who are going through these difficulties. This is a reality. We have no objections that their troubles should be solved. But we are against generalising this in a society, by breaking heteronormativity and bringing queer normativity. We are against queer activism. This will only trouble those who belong to this group. These issues should be considered subjectively, that is each individual has to be considered separately rather than generalising. Some might need support from society while some others might be getting ‘fake thoughts’. If we normalise these things, this will have big implications. The number of such dysphoric people will increase,” says Abdulla Basil, one of the main persons behind the Unmasking Atheism, who is also a dentist and an educationalist.

 “Everyone has the right to subscribe to their own morality. I subscribe to Islamic morality, so then homosexuality is haram (forbidden by Islamic law). I cannot support homosexual acts. We should have that freedom to take that moral stand, and should not term it as phobia. Our stand is that nobody is wrong due to their orientation or their thoughts, it is only the acts that make them wrong,” Basil says. 

Yet one more popular Islamic channel is run by MM Akbar, an Islamic preacher, in his own name. “We understand that homosexuality gets approved in the world as well as by the legal system. But it’s a baseless argument. That is not natural. The basis of sex is reproduction. It’s not hereditary. This LGBTQIA+ activism is politics. Politics is played by calling them a gender minority. We, who believe in morality, cannot accept it. Some who go through these situations need individual treatment,” MM Akbar says in one of his speeches.

December 2022: BJP’s Homophobia

Pertinently, the rightwing Hindu-tva outfits are similarly disparaging, making transphobic or homophobic comments. In December 2022, elected official of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sushil Kumar Modi told the upper house of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) that same-sex marriages were “against our culture and ethos”. “Same-sex marriages will cause complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws in the country,” he said and added that marriage was considered sacred in India and is only meant as a “relationship between a biological man and woman.”

“Two judges cannot sit and take a decision on such social issues. There should rather be a debate in Parliament and society,” the former Bihar deputy chief minister said, adding that attempts were being made by ‘left-liberal democratic people and activists’ to legalise same-sex marriages in the country. He also said that this was “against our culture and ethos,” encouraging the Union government to strongly present its case in court. “Same-sex marriages will cause complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws in the country,” he said. Sushil also said that issues such as family, children, and their upbringing were related to the institution of marriage, as were those of adoption, domestic violence, divorce, and a wife’s right to stay in the marital home. Sushil added, “Some left-liberal, democratic people and activists want India to follow the West” on this issue, referring to the US Senate’s decision last week to grant legal status to same-sex marriages.

Student battles on

In the midst of this conservative backlash from India’s largest religious minority in Kerala, there are students battling ahead. Adarsh E, a queer student from Kerala’s Kozhikode is one such rebel who has taken on alleged institutional harassment on his college campus.

Aadhi, as he is popularly called, is raising his voice against the homophobic, moralising and casteist remarks made by his teachers. The student, pursuing his Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) studies at Government College of Teacher Education, Kozhikode, is also a budding poet and writer.

Related:

Madras HC commends TN gov’t for new Police rules, glossary for referring to LGBTQIA+ persons

Delhi HC Approached for Separate Public Job Vacancies for Transgender Persons

Madras HC issues guidelines for sensitisation of stakeholders in LGBTQIA+ matters

The post Islamic Groups in Kerala Accused of Homophobia appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Rainbow laces have become a symbol of football’s struggle against anti-gay prejudice. EPA/Tal Cohen

But more concerning, the survey also found that 8% of football fans would stop supporting their club if an openly gay player were signed. Graeme Le Saux, a straight player who was subjected to homophobic abuse on and off the pitch for years, responded with a note of optimism about the situation – and said that “If that 8% are so appalled at the thought of a gay player being on their team then we should ask them to step forward, own their views and we can just ban them. They’re not welcome in football.”

This data is just the latest evidence that homophobic views are still present in football. A 2013 report issued by the Brighton and Hove Supporters Club (BHASC) and the Gay Football Supporters’ Network (GFSN) revealed that Brighton fans and players are consistently subjected to or witness homophobic abuse while observing or playing football. More recently, Stonewall published a report, Leagues Behind, which examines sports fans’ attitudes towards LGBT people. It highlights that seven in ten football fans have heard homophobic abuse while watching sport.

In a particularly telling finding, Stonewall reports that young people are twice as likely to rationalise homophobic abuse as “banter”, normalising discrimination, thus fostering the sort of environment in which players are put off coming out. To illustrate the point, one in five of the 18- to 24-year-olds Stonewall talked to said they would be embarrassed if their favourite player came out.

If this unpleasant situation is going to change, the institutions of professional football need to get on board. As Ruth Hunt, Stonewall’s Chief Executive, put it:

While the majority of people see homophobic chants and abuse as a problem, and want to see sport become more welcoming of lesbian, gay, bi and trans players and fans, there is a persistent minority who believe this sort of abuse is acceptable … We need high profile sports clubs and personalities to stand up as allies and help make sport everyone’s game by showing that homophobic abuse has no place in sport.

So where are the people to do this – and how can they be encouraged to speak out and be supported when they do?

Gay footballers and straight allies

As the most recent findings emerged, Greg Clark, chairman of the Football Association (FA), warned that it would be impossible for a gay premier league player to come out because of the abuse they’d receive. Looking back over recent history, it’s not hard to see why he’d think this.

Back in 1990, Justin Fashanu became the first English footballer to come out, but he tragically took his own life in 1998 at the age of 37. Since then, no professional male player has come out while competing in the English game. A few amateur footballers have spoken openly about their sexual orientation while competing – Liam Davis, for example – but in the professional male game, players have almost exclusively come out after retiring (such as Thomas Hitzlsperger).

The upshot is that no “out” gay male footballers are currently competing in the English Premier League. Estimates of the proportion of LGB people in the British population vary from the low to mid single digits; considering that there are 92 professional football clubs in England and Wales with between 30 and 50 players contracted to each, the absence of gay footballers diverges drastically from the figure in the general population.

But it need not be this way. And despite Greg Clark’s words, there have been some encouraging signs that things could be changing.

While they may not be at the top of the game, some of those who have chosen to be open about their sexuality seem to have received more support than abuse. One paper looking into the online reaction to Hitzlsperger’s coming out reported “an almost universal inclusivity through the rejection of homophobia”. It found that of 6,106 online comments, just 2% of comments contained “pernicious homophobic content”.

In another example, England women’s captain Casey Stoney described overwhelming support for her choice to come out in 2014.

Perhaps even more encouragingly, inclusive attitudes are also presented by “straight allies” who campaign for the acceptance of openly gay footballers. One particularly vocal ally in professional football is Joey Barton.
 

Joey Barton has spoken out. EPA/Guillaume Horcajuelo

Given his “bad boy” reputation, Barton is perhaps an unlikely straight advocate for gay rights, but he’s nonetheless spoken openly about gay footballers, offering an insider perspective on the importance of accepting diversity. As he himself has written

It’s all well and good speaking about an idyllic culture, but how can we get it? The way I see it is simple, you’re not only responsible for what you say but what you don’t say. People with social impact need to speak up.

Similarly, in direct response to FA chairman Greg Clark’s comments concerning homophobia in football, ex-footballer Chris Sutton has said there’s never been a better time for a footballer to come out.

It seems there isn’t really a consensus on the situation either inside or outside the football establishment. But that doesn’t mean we can’t find ways to improve it – and identifying points for useful intervention should be at the centre of our efforts.

Forward and back

Previous research into the climate of English (male) professional football has been awash with dominating and subordinating masculinities. The picture is more complex, and we could be on the edge of a progressive and inclusive turn.
 

Longtime bullying target Graeme Le Saux. PA/Mike Egerton

We ourselves are conducting research with adolescent male academy footballers in which we explore player attitudes toward homosexuality in football. The boys we spoke to expressed progressive attitudes, but it was clear that their feelings and experiences were far from stable. While they expressed inclusive attitudes, they also told stories of witnessing and becoming complicit in a range of homophobic incidents – whether implicitly accepting homophobic language or staying passive when witnessing homophobic behaviour.

In short, their attitudes are still malleable when subjected to peer pressure. There is a crucial lesson here. We may be on the verge of what some researchers have called “the doorstep of equality”, but we could also be just a few backward steps away from a return to a harsh orthodoxy where outright homophobia remains the norm.

The latest research and the conflicting responses discussed point to a critical tipping point in the promotion of positive attitudes toward homosexuality in football. As Graeme Le Saux noted, it all comes down to changing the culture of the game. People should be able to play or watch football without witnessing or experiencing abuse.

That means working with the next generation of players to close the gap between their private attitudes and their behaviour among their peers. And everyone invested in the game, from fans to players to clubs to the media, has a crucial role to play.

(Emma Kavanagh, lecturer in Sports Psychology and Coaching Sciences, Bournemouth University; Adi Adams, lecturer in Sport, Bournemouth University; Daniel Lock, senior lecturer in Sport, Bournemouth University.)

This article was first published on The Conversation.
 

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These are five Muslim countries where being gay is not a crime. What do they have in common? None of them were colonized by the British Empire. Many countries in the Global South, whether Muslim or otherwise, are generally using colonial laws that pre-date their local penal codes to criminalize romantic love between consenting same-sex couples. Whether in West Africa, or Southeast Asia, in the heart of Europe or the Middle East, these countries remind us that the conversation on gay rights is not as clean cut as some might have imagined it to be.

1. MALI
Gays in this African nation might face local homophobia, but the law is on their side. In 2010, a Malian volunteer for the Peace Corps wrote that she looked up the laws dealing with sexuality, and saw that Article 179 of the Malian penal code did not specify heterosexual or homosexual sexual activities, but instead decried public indecency. She said that she was relieved because most “countries in Africa, 38 to be exact, have laws against homosexuality and some with the death penalty.”

[Rider: Neither male or female same-sex sexual activity is specifically prohibited in Mali, but public indecency laws may be used against LGBT persons. There exists in society, also a strong homophobia.]

2. JORDAN
Jordan was under the Ottoman Empire, where homosexuality was decriminalized 75 years earlier, but between 1922 and 1945 the country was a subject mandated by the League of Nations. However, in 1951 the new nation made homosexuality legal. “Jordan is considered an open minded country, and when coming to cities, the tolerance is even higher,” said the editor of My.Kali, a gay magazine that is based in the capital, talking to the Italian-based e-Zine Il Grande Colibri. “And considering the fact that it’s an Islamic country, the morality of the culture could be a huge pressure to many people to remain discreet, but it never stopped many of my friends and other LGBTQ people to come out and show who they are,” he added.

[Rider: Technically legal but no specific  protections.]

3. INDONESIA
In Indonesia being gay has been legal since, well, forever. No, really, the country never had any legal prohibitions against homosexuality, at least since its founding as a nation. Further, the country has the longest running LGBT organizations in Asia. Despite having the largest Muslim population, Indonesia has remained a great example of the importance of the separation of religion and state. On the other hand, Singapore (non-Muslim) and Malaysia (Muslim), who are neighbors to Indonesia, have laws that make it illegal to be gay. The later two have both been colonized by the British Empire.

[Rider: No law against it officially and centrally but provincially there exist some Islamic laws]

4. TURKEY
In 1858, the Ottoman Caliph decriminalized homosexuality. This affected many countries in three continents. When Turkey became a solo nation in 1920, it didn’t see a need to change this law. Omer Akpinar, who is with KAOS LG, which is one of the largest LGBT organizations in Turkey, told Mashable that their organization was never censored. Jack Scott, a British writer who moved to Turkey with his partner and who is the author of Perking the Pansies: Jack and Liam Move to Turkey, said his “obvious union with Liam has never attracted bad publicity from any Turk,” talking to the real estate company Quest Turkey.

[Rider: Not a crime but public displays and morality laws are applied in some cases.Gay men still get discriminated about donating blood and in the army}

5. ALBANIA
Being gay has been legal in Albania since 1995. This pre-dominantly Muslim nation has been in the forefront of gay rights in the Balkans. In 2013, ILGA Europe said that the country was the friendliest nation to the gays in the area, as it has a welcoming government and an anti-discrimination law. Kristi Pinderi, who is with the LGBT organization Pink Embassy, says that the anti-discrimination law is “important because in theory a teacher, for example, who is transgender, and decides to go and teach wearing a dress, I can’t imagine what the reaction would be, but the law protects that need, if there is a need like that,” talking to the organization International Day Against Homophobia.

Other countries with a large Muslim population and where homosexuality is legal include Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Niger, Northern Cyprus, Palestine, and Tajikistan.

All of the above mentioned countries, like the entire world, have varies challenges for LGBT people. However, because the law is on their side, living in these countries create an atmosphere where one can imagine a fight, a possibility of freedom, and the dream that one day being gay is not any different from being straight.

(Afdhere Jama is the author of  Queer Jihad: LGBT Muslims on Coming Out, Activism, and the Faith. He lives in the United States)

Source: LGBT Muslims. The riders have been inserted by Sabrangindia
 
 

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