LGBTQ is influenced by the religious, cultural, and legal history of nations with large Muslim populations. The traditional schools of islamic law based on verses from the Quran, and influenced by Islamic scholars, consider homosexual acts sinful, and punishable crimes.
Extreme prejudice remains, both socially and legally, in much of the Islamic world against people who engage in homosexual acts. In countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen, homosexuality is punishable by the death penalty.
There has been significant social and political progress, despite all of the past obstacles and continued objections. Same-sex sexual intercourse is legal in 20 Muslim-majority nations including: Albania, Bosnia, Lebanon, Kosovo, and Turkey. Bylaws are being passed and discussed in several other nations. Same-sex marriage bylaws are also being considered in Turkey and Albania. Homosexual relations between females are legal in some countries, like Kuwait, but homosexual acts between males are still illegal.
I was particularly struck by a recent CNN article I read about gay Muslims all over the world. El-Farouk and his husband, Troy, are from Toronto, Canada. According to El-Farouk, this population tends to suffer spiritual violence, where they are being told that there is something wrong with them.
"As a result, a lot of queer people end up leaving religion or stepping out of religion or having a very unhealthy relationship with religion," he said during the CNN interview.
El-Farouk has reconciled his spirituality with his sexuality. He said in the same interview:
"I started with the notion that it was sinful (to be gay) and that those who practiced it were problematic at best. But that didn't quite sort of seem right in the larger construct of the Quran and the Prophet that I believed to be true. ... In verse 49.13, Allah says, 'I created you to different nations and tribes and you may know and learn from each other.' I just see queer folk as one of those nations or tribes."
I always love it when people can broaden the interpretations of many conformist religious views, that have been accepted merely for the sake of tradition. As human beings, we have the capacity to think, reason, problem-solve, engage in strategy and logic. When something does not make sense, we should question it. It sounds like that is exactly what is happening all over the world. Some Muslim-majority nations are more tolerant toward the same-sex sexuality issue and have become more accepting of the LGBTQ community.
By the way, El-Farouk and Troy...very handsome couple!
More on this article http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/16/living/cnnphotos-gay-muslims/