#gender identity and islam

[hummussexual]

عربي/EN/فارسى المراجع الذين افتوا بجواز العبور الجنسي كثيرين، ومنهم : الخوئي الخميني خامنئي المنتظري الاصف محسني فضل الله الحكيم وسنخصص منشور في الفترة القادمة لكل شخصية ورايها بالعبور الجنسي، على رغم ان هذه القائمة تحتوي على بعض الشخصيات التي نعتبرها شخصيات ليست جيدة، الا اننا هنا لا نحاول تلميع صورة هذه الشخصيات، وانما ايضاح الموضوع لاتباعهم من الناس، بالاضافة الى ��رح حلية موضوع العبور من زاوية المراجع الذين افتوا بحليته. There are many religious authorities who have issued fatwas permitting gender reassignment, including: Al-Khoei Khomeini Khamenei Montazeri Al-Asef Mohseni Fadlallah Al-Hakim We will dedicate a post in the coming period to each person and their opinion on gender reassignment. Although this list contains some bad people, we are not trying to polish the image of these people, but rather to clarify the subject for their followers, in addition to explaining the permissibility of the subject of transition from the perspective of the authorities who issued fatwas permitting it. بسیاری از مراجع دینی وجود دارند که فتواهای مجاز برای تلاقی جنسیت صادر کرده اند، از جمله: الخویی خمینی خامنه ای المنتظری اصف محسنی فضل الله الحكيم در دوره آینده، ما یک پست به هر شخصیت و نظر آنها در مورد انتقال جنسیت اختصاص خواهیم داد، اگرچه این لیست حاوی شخصیت های بد است، اما در اینجا سعی نمی کنیم تصویر این شخصیت ها را صیقل دهیم، بلکه بیشتر سعی می کنیم موضوع را روشن کنیم افرادی که آنها را دنبال می کنند، علاوه بر توضیح راه حل مسئله گذار جنسیتی از دیدگاه مراجعی که زیبایی او را کشف می کنند.

[coochiequeens]

He killed a literal baby. And now he wants to sue the state for damages?!

By Anna Slatz February 14, 2024

A trans-identified male currently serving a 55-year sentence for the murder of his infant stepdaughter has launched a lawsuit against the Chaplain at his prison after he was allegedly denied a hijab despite identifying as a Muslim woman. Autumn Cordellioné, previously known as Jonathan C. Richardson, is seeking $150,000 in damages.

As previously reported by Reduxx, Cordellioné was first arrested in 2001 after his 11-month-old stepdaughter died in his care while her mother was at work. The night of the infant’s death, Cordellioné had been visited by friends who later told police that he had been “acting strangely.”

Despite claiming the little girl was inside sleeping, Cordellioné had loud music playing in the home, and his guests noted that he appeared to have a fresh, bleeding tattoo of the child’s name carved into his arm.

Autumn Cordellioné as of August 2023. Photo Courtesy: Indiana Department of Corrections.

Later that night, after his friends left, Cordellioné went to his neighbor and asked him to call 911, claiming the child was unresponsive. When emergency personnel arrived, they were briefly able to resuscitate the girl, but she died shortly after being rushed to the hospital. 

Cordellioné was interviewed by police, who noted he was “calm and unemotional” during questioning, and his story about what happened to the baby changed dramatically over the course of the two interviews conducted.

At first, Cordellioné claimed he found the baby unresponsive after doing some household chores. But in the next interview, Cordellioné said the child was being “fussier than usual” and he attempted to throw her up in the air repeatedly in an effort to calm her down. He said her “head bopped forward and back up in a rough type of a manner,” and that the child continued to cry so he proceeded to shake her aggressively in an effort to calm her down.

During a failed appeals hearing, detectives from the case recounted how Cordellioné “physically showed” how he had manhandled the girl, getting up out of his chair and demonstrating the action in a rough manner.

An autopsy subsequently found that the baby had died of asphyxiation by manual strangulation. Cordellioné was booked awaiting a court hearing, and would later tell a prison official “all I know is I killed the little fucking bitch.”

Cordellioné was found guilty and sentenced to 55 years in prison for the horrific crime. He is currently incarcerated at the Branchville Correctional Facility, an institution for male offenders.

Last August, Cordellioné joined forces with the American Civil Liberties Union to sue the Indiana Department of Corrections, citing “discrimination” on the basis of his gender identity. That case is currently in progress.

But Reduxx has now learned that that Cordellioné has also launched a separate suit against the prison’s Chaplain, Tony Gray. Gray has been a Chaplain at the facility since 2014, and volunteered at the institution prior to being offered an official role.

Branchville Chaplain Tony Gray. Photo Source: Indiana Department of Corrections

In the lawsuit, filed on November 3, 2023, Cordellioné accuses Gray of violating his First, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment constitutional rights.

According to court records obtained by Reduxx, the incident of complaint took place in May of 2023 after Gray informed Cordellioné that he was not allowed to don a hijab outside of his cell. In response, Cordellioné said: “I wear the hijab in order to cover my head and ears for modesty purposes, as I am an Islamic practicing transwoman.”

At the time, Cordellioné’s registered religion was “Wiccan” and Gray pointed that out, to which Cordellioné replied that he was an “eclectic practitioner who is a member of the Theosophical Society in America.”

The Theosophical Society is headquartered in Chennai, India, and is considered an “esoteric new religious movement.” Founded in 1875, it describes itself as a “unsectarian body of seekers after Truth,” and its practitioners appear to dabble in the philosophy and beliefs of multiple religions simultaneously. One of its founders is Russian mystic Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, who stated in 1889 that “the purpose of establishing the Society was to prepare humanity for the reception of a World Teacher.”

Cordellioné is claiming that his equal protection rights were violated when he was barred from wearing a hijab outside of his cell, noting that male Muslims in the facility are allowed to wear kufis or taqiyah — a short, rounded brimless prayer cap.

“Islamic faith mandates the wearing of a kufi for males … Islamic faith also mandates females of the faith wear hijabs when outside the home and when not amongst men of their family. Tony Gray allows male Muslims to wear their sufis, but denies me, a transwoman, the same privilege.”

From the legal complaint filed by Cordellioné.

Cordellioné also alleges that Gray’s refusal to allow him to wear a hijab violated his eighth amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment. In his argument, Cordellioné claims the he was subjected to “harassment and ridicule” by the Islamic community in his prison because he had not been allowed to wear a hijab.

“[Gray] should be aware, as Chaplain, the stigma and shame that is attributed to Islamic women when they go uncovered and without a hijab,” Cordellioné writes in his complaint. “Women are viewed as whores, tempters of men, and adulterators; by Islamic society both in and out of prison. I have been shunned, made a social pariah, and amongst my own religious community.”

He continues: “Without the support of the Islamic community, I will struggle and likely fail to achieve salvation for by [sic] Mohammed’s teachings a Muslim who knows of the teachings, yet strays from them, will never reach heaven.”

In his stated request for relief, Cordellioné is seeking the ability to wear his hijab in prison, as well as $150,000 in compensation.

Since filing, there has been some back-and-forth with the court surrounding Cordellioné’s financial situation, with the court requesting a nominal initial filing fee of $36.55, but Cordellioné claiming he does not have the money to pay it. If he cannot demonstrate deficiency in the time the court has specified, his case might be dismissed.

[castilestateofmind]

"And though everyone may secretly suspect that the war [against Europe] has begun, the majority denies it, because for the moment no one has the courage to fight it. For the moment . . ."

-Guillaume Fayé.

[alexes-graduation-2022-23]

Graduation project explanation

(The whole idea now)

Banner image is not mine

About me:

My goverment name is: M.H.

My chosen name is: Ben Alex.

My pronouns are: Zie/He/They/One (Zie/Zir)

I have graduated and this project is already done. Feel free to ask me anything about it! I am Czech, said project and presentation is also in Czech. I use this site because it makes it easy to keep all the information in one place. I have also used YouTube videos which I may link at one point here also (they are linked in the work itself). English is also the easiest language to get information in and I have no trouble reading or writing english myself. I am a demiboy/genderfaun/nonbinary/trans, I have a lot of other lables.

About the project:

A childrens show about diversity and specificaly minorities not seen in media. It specifies on false limbs, neopronouns and gender queerness, Islamic faith, autism, blindness spectrum and colorblind.

It is made to be colorblind friendly for all the kids to enjoy. Characters have different body types and skin colors as well as color pallets and personalitites. It might be made into a book later on when my life gets less busy.

The project is made to show how important representation of diversity can be for children and how it can be used as a learning tool as well as help children see themselves in characters on TV. I myself am nonbinary so this is a very personal project for me to create.

Future of this project is in the air but I do hope to write a childrens book since I love the characters and some of the ideas I have created for them.

So yea... that's that I guess!

[dandelionjack]

interacting with real life homophobes especially if they’re your age is so jarring because. no way you actually exist here daily and hold those beliefs. the echochamber i habitually pop into has progressed to discourse you could never have imagined in your wildest fever dreams. take my hand and venture into a brighter world

[qurbanjaan]

Throw rocks at me, but most if not all of the gender violence in Central Asia and Caucasus is due to religious reasons. Islam wasn’t “domesticated” and “tamed” like Christianity was.

Islam is still stuck on the same single day it was created and multiple issues women face in Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Africa are due to islamization. You can see all the same issues repeating themselves in different places with different cultures and languages simply because people are screaming the name of a foreign God and abandoning their identities to try to mimic 600a.D Quraish culture.

Those habits have no place nowadays and need to be abandoned. For example:

Before the islamification of the region, when the Vainakh religion was predominant, women held big influence within their families and communities. The Vainakh customs, known as ʿadat, granted the roles and rights of women that included right for inheritance, property ownership, and under the ʿadat, women had certain legal protections. They could seek justice and were entitled to fair treatment in disputes.

Now, we have FGM.

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/768731859531235328/im-a-cis-woman-who-sometimes-likes-to-roleplay-as?source=share

yeah, anon, along with people pointing out that drag is a thing that exists and most drag queens/kings identify as cis outside of that performance (though plenty don't), there's also all kinds of sexual roleplay that doesn't involve wanting to be that thing 24/7. lots of people love to play "doctor" who have no desire to actually go to medical school and become real doctors, because the sexy version is fundamentally different from the non-sexy one. why would playing with gender be any different from that? of course it's true that some people do try those things on as kinks and then it awakens something in them - in the same way that most of us who are into anime knew a "guy" who really liked crossdressing cosplay and would always jump at the chance to do it, and now that person is, well, no longer a guy. sometimes it can be a way to try on an identity that you are considering but not yet sure about. likewise, there are more than a few drag queens who end up realizing that they are trans women down the line. but many more who don't! anyway, my point was that i went through this journey. i used to have a lot of fantasies about having sex as a man specifically, with both men and women - and i played with the idea that i might be trans or genderfluid. but for me, i realized that a lot of the appeal of it was that it was temporary, something i could turn on and off at will (and not just in the sense of gender-expression, but like a complete physical transformation). i wasn't interested in being a man if it meant i stayed a man. i still wanted to be a woman most of the time. (also, i identified as bisexual at the time and these fantasies largely went away around when i realized i was actually a lesbian. i'm not sure what exactly that says, maybe that it was more rooted in anxiety around women's expected "role" in sex than it was about actually wanting to be a man? maybe that the idea of being with a man was more appealing if it was gay, closer to the thing i really wanted? who knows) from when i've talked to trans people about this, a lot of them say it's easy for someone for whom the answer was "i'm trans" to in retrospect see signs everywhere - and therefore assume that the same signs mean the same to other people. and of course, they often feel like they lost years of their lives to an identity that didn't fit them - of course they want to save others from the same fate! but it's just that we all have a bias toward seeing the world through the lenses of our own experiences. that it meant one thing for them doesn't mean it means the same for you, especially in isolation. most cis people aren't totally wedded to everything about our genders, either, and a lot of us play around and experiment with gender in our own ways. (so basically, i see it as similar to those "comphet lesbian checklists" that were floating around tumblr a few years ago - yeah, a lot of those can be signs you might be a budding lesbian, but half the shit on that list is true for women who turn out to be completely heterosexual, too, a lot of it's just about the bullshit of female puberty) again, useful to think of it like anything else. religion is one that comes to mind: oftentimes, a strong hyperfixation on a particular religion or the culture surrounding it can be an early sign that you want to convert to that religion. lots of muslim converts, for instance, talk about being fixated on middle-eastern/north african culture or islamic history for years before they converted. but also, there are just as many if not more people where those hyperfixations turn out to be fleeting ones, or even where it remains a lifelong passion but is purely academic (you meet a lot of them in academia, naturally).

--

[dysphoricangell]

writing up a quick dissertation because some idiot on tiktok called me “transmisogynistic” for not calling a TIM a woman.

i believe that trans ideology was birthed out of anti-feminist brainrot in order to gaslight *specifically* gender critical women into believing that there’s a sect of males who can be saved from socialization.

it’s so clear that trans activists only have one goal, ensuring that society regresses further. i mean, who else is surprised that a movement comprised nearly entirely of mentally ill women, and misogynistic men, is winning at what they’re trying to accomplish? because i’m not! it’s actually not surprising at all that TRA’s are winning with this ideology, considering it works directly against women in favor of males. so many institutions like this already exist and do the same (pornography, the cosmetic industry, etc), so why would trans activism be any different??

trans ideology is incredibly sexist. we know this. but in my opinion, it gets infinitely worse when you have people deluded enough to start ACTUALLY blurring the lines between the two sexes.

a male could never experience misogyny.

for centuries women have been othered, treated as inhuman, the “lesser” of the two sexes. this is even more topical today in countries under islamic regime (as-well as in third-world countries across the board). i mean for christ’s sake, women in afghanistan are fucking imprisoned and brutalized for showing their FACES.

and what is this all based upon? what has kept women from being able to participate in society, and being dehumanized to the point of needing multiple human rights movements in order to be treated somewhat decently by men? the very neutral fact that there are two sexes, and that women are of the female sex.

being a woman isn’t a costume or “identity” for a man to take on. being a woman also isn’t taking sterilizing drugs everyday, or inverting your penis inside out and having your skull cut up. it’s literally just being born female. making this distinction is incredibly important.

so no, “transmisogyny” is not a thing. what a ridiculous statement 😭

[hummussexual]

Bangladesh’s first mosque specifically for hijra Muslims has officially opened its doors, as members of the legally recognized “third gender” community seek refuge from abuse and discrimination.

Named the Dakshin Char Kalibari Masjid for the Third Gender, the mosque opened in March, providing worship services for hijra people who are frequently turned away from other mosques due to prejudice, according to a report from the Agence France-Presse.

The mosque consists of a single-room building with a tin roof, paid for and built by hijras near the city of Mymensingh on government-donated land after hijra worshippers were expelled from the local community. The land already contains a graveyard and one plot, belonging to a hijra woman who was denied burial at a local mosque last year, AFP reported.

“From now on, no one can deny a hijra from praying in our mosque,” community leader Joyita Tonu, 28, reportedly told the congregation upon the mosque’s opening last month. “No one can mock us.”

The terms “hijra” and “transgender” are often used interchangeably in English media, but the two identities are separate in Bangladesh and other South Asian countries, though there is some overlap between them. The Bangladeshi government declared hijras a “third gender” distinct from men and women in 2014, but there is no formal path to be legally recognized as hijra. No standard policy for changing one’s legal gender marker to “hijra” exists, and various types of identification cards carry mismatched gender markers, according to the international LGBTQ+ rights group ILGA. Even vague recognition has come with drawbacks, such as the association of hijra identity with disfigurement and complex disability politics. In the decade since winning formal recognition, hijras have also experienced a dramatic rise in violence, medical abuse, and ostracization as religious fundamentalism surges across the region. (Same-sex intercourse itself is illegal in Bangladesh, but that law is not evenly enforced.)

Sonia, 42, told AFP reporters that despite being a devout Muslim all her life, she was abruptly kicked out of her mosque after coming out as hijra. “I never dreamt I could pray at a mosque again in my lifetime,” she recalled. “People would tell us: ‘Why are you hijra people here at the mosques? You should pray at home. Don't come to the mosques.’

“It was shameful for us, so we didn't go,” she added. “Now, this is our mosque. Now, no one can say no.”

Hijra communities have slowly reestablished dedicated spaces of safety in recent years, despite frequent backlash from conservative leaders. In 2020, the first Muslim school (or madrasa) for hijra students opened in Bangladesh, combating the community’s lack of access to educational and religious resources. Designed for safety, community, and healing, spaces like the madrasa and mosque have also begun shifting public opinion of hijras in the country.

“When they started to live with us, many people said many things,” area resident Tofazzal Hossain told AFP last month; after praying alongside them, he says his own “misconceptions” of hijras, in general, have changed. “[W]e've realized what people say isn't right. They live righteously like other Muslims,” Hossain said.

[catinafigtree]

Hi, do you have any tips on how to be comfortable being a Muslim while being queer?

I've been trying to do that for a very long time, focusing on my faith in Allah, but it's a bit hard and I always get demotivated randomly :(

Hey! Salam! Sorry for the kind of late response, moving houses has been hectic. This will be a long response (sorry), so I will put it under the cut.

I want to preface this by saying every queer person is different. I don't know the specifics of your identity so I am going to cover both sexual queerness and gender queerness.

My biggest obstacle in nurturing my relationship with Allah was believing that the way I am was haram, and even that I was cursed by Allah. I no longer believe this, but it was a long road.

Sexuality

I don't believe that homosexuality is haram. The common claim that the story of Lut is about homosexuality is full of holes and inconsistencies and it's largely based on the Christian religious tradition, even if the grammar of the Qur'an doesn't align with the Christian tradition (eg. the Qur'an uses the word "banaat" for Prophet Lut's (as) daughters. Bannat is plural, meaning 3 or more daughters, and in the traditional telling Lut (as) has 2 daughters).

Here is a really good study by Nahida Nisa:

I recommend reading all of Nahida's things because she's an amazing writer.

And a video from Dr. Shehnaz Haqaani's (PhD, Islamic Studies) podcast "What The Patriarchy":

and you can find her blog here

These articles from the blog, Lamp of Islam are also pretty good. He is a hardcore Qur'anist with some strange opinions, so peruse his blog with caution.

Letting go of the belief that the way I am was haram and that Allah had cursed me was the most critical part of fixing my iman and overall nurturing my relationship with Allah.

Also, it doesn't make any sense that The All-Merciful, Allah would make someone with an innate attraction to the same gender and then forbid them from "acting on it".

The Prophet (salla Allahu alayhi wa salam) never punished anyone for homosexuality, after his death, his companions debated whether or not to punish homosexuals and they could not come to a conclusion.

Gender

The Qur'an seems to acknowledge the differences between sex and gender. For example, the word for 'man' in the Qur'an is rijal and the word for 'male' is dhukran. And the word for 'woman' is nisa, but the word for 'female' is untsa. You can read Lamp of Islam's article on the meanings of these words here.

There also may be a vague reference to intersex and/or gender non-conforming people in verse 42:50.

There are also some hadith that seem to imply that gender non-conforming people were accepted around Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu alayhi wa salam). Prophet Muhammad's (Salla Allahu alayhi wa salam) wife Umm Salama (Radi Allahu anha) had a seemingly close friend who was then called a 'mukhanath', named Hit, who was described as a 'male who exhibited effeminate traits' was was welcome into the private women's section of the Prophet's (Salla Allahu alayhi wa salam) home. Today this person might have been a gay man (who displayed effeminate traits by accepting the "woman's role" (🙄) in relationships), or, more likely IMO, this person would be considered a trans woman today.

Hit was punished by the Prophet (salla Allahu alayhi wa salam), but not for their sexuality/gender expression, they were punished for describing a woman's body to a man, which was possible because they were allowed into both men's and women's spaces. The punishment of Hit is often used as 'evidence' to support homophobia and transphobia, but they neglect to mention the specific reason that Hit was punished.

You can read more about queerness in Islamic history here.

The link above takes you to Muslims For Progressive Values, they also offer marriage services for queer Muslims and interfaith couples, specifically for Muslim women seeking to marry non-Muslim men.

Here is a link to MPV's video series, but massive trigger warning for the comment section.

And a second MPV video series.

And another article from MPV.

More Tips

As I said, learning about LGBTQ Islamic History helped me a lot.

Keep your relationship with Allah between you and Him. Only share it with people who you 100% trust, because religion is extremely personal.

Find your people. Whether online or in-person, a community of people like you is important.

Know that Allah knows you, your identity, and the way you feel. Ultimately, Allah is your creator and we will only return to him. And we, as queer people KNOW that this is the way we were created. Nobody can tell you that who you are is false because they have no way to know that.

Block. Block. Block. Block. Block anyone who is being a problem, who might become a problem in the future. Block them all. Block Islamophobic queers, block queerphobic Muslims. Protect your peace and your relationship with Allah at all costs.

Here are people that I block quickly: anyone who has outwardly queerphobic or Islamophobic things posted on their page. Salafis and Wahabis. The black flag freaks: those with black flags in their user names/bios. I block people for the comments they leave all the time. Generally, I don't wait for them to do something, I block them on sight.

You mentioned that you struggle with low imaan sometimes. It's important to know that fluctuations of imaan are normal and completely natural. But I'm assuming since you've sent this ask, you always come back, which is what's important.

Here is another video from Dr. Shehnaz Haqaani's (PhD Islamic Studies) Podcast for Muslims who struggle to practice.

And a TikTok from @/soundous.boualam:

My biggest tip for building faith is to start slow.

Pray one prayer a day at first, and wait until that prayer is deeply ingrained into your habits, then add another. I recommend starting with Isha before bed. Don't try to do everything at once. You'll burn yourself out.

Build up the fard actions. Your prayers, primarily.

If you can take on more, add in the dhikr after prayer (subhanallah 33x, alhamdullilah 33x, and allahu akbar 34x). Or add dhikr in throughout your day. I use an app called Azkar that I set to send notifications to remind me to do various worship activities.

When I braid my hair I say alhamdullilah every time I cross a piece over another.

If you can, it might also help to put a poster or picture on your wall with your favorite Qur'an verse, hadith, or Islamic quote on your wall, or make your screensaver a reminder to remember Allah.

You can also buy or make a beaded tasbih bracelet, sometimes having something on your wrist can make it easier to remember.

I also like to spend 20-30 minutes every morning after Fajr to just spend time with Allah, talk to Him, and read the Qur'an.

But also remember that you don't only get rewarded for outright acts of worship. You get rewarded for caring for your body, taking a nap when you're tired, eating food, drinking water, caring for pets, and spending time with family. All of that stuff is worship.

Be easy with yourself. Allah does not want hardship for you (2:185).

And I'll leave you with a Qur'an verse.

It was We Who created man, and We know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him that [his] jugular vein. (50:16)

I hope this helps you some. I love you. Allah loves you. May Allah bless you with peace, imaan, and His abundant guidance and mercy, Allahumma Ameen.

You can ask questions in the comments or in asks if you want.

[hussyknee]

I accidentally deleted this ask yesterday but fortunately had a screenshot. Ngl I'm kind of ??? about it because...why would you single out Hinduism to pick the most fundamentalist, cultural and political aspect of it, that's not even practised in most the Hindu minorities outside of India? Nearly every community in India has a caste system regardless of religion. Within Hinduism there's no just one caste system either. Eelam Tamil Hindus have a caste system, but it's not as violent as India's (although of course still violent and oppressive). Sinhalese have a caste system too, and the ones still invested in it would swear blind this was related to Buddhism somehow, a doctrine that preaches against inequality of any kind. Caste systems are literally haram in Islam and yet some Muslim communities managed to rationalize creating one because they wanted to assimilate into the worst of us I guess.

I know fuck all about Hinduism to tell you the truth, but my sister is a convert and devotee of Durga Matha. I asked her about it and she sent me this:

There are as many variants of Hinduism as there are varieties of grass. The only thing they have in common is the Vedas which is a bunch of hymns and stuff. It doesn't really go into detail about caste.

The caste system comes from a book called Manu Smriti. Some accept it as a Hindu text, some don't. Hinduism isn't even a religion actually. It's a bunch of similar belief systems that the Britishers lumped in together for ease of classification. Within Hinduism there are many sects- Saivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism, etc. So to define Hinduism as some sort of oppressive religion doesn't make sense because it isn't a religion as Westerners define it. Anyway, truth is everyone cherry picks the parts of religion that suits them and discards the rest. Some think that's being dishonest. I think that's just common sense.

This makes sense to me. It's very colonial to monolithize belief systems that evolved from the disparate religious texts and syncretic practices of dozens of kingdoms and dynasties over 4000 years, just because it shares the unique character of belonging to the Indian subcontinent. (Which is precisely why its propagated by Hindutva nutcases. They're imperialist colonizers permanently snorting Indian manifest destiny crack.)

Bestie. Friendo. My guy (gender neutral). Ideology doesn't shape society. People wrap ideology around what they already want to believe and do. This is how you get Zionists (both Christian and Jewish), Wahabi/Salafi Muslims, Hindutvas and... whatever we're supposed to call this current iteration of Theravadin Buddhism that is also characterized by ethnosupremacy and genocide. Religion takes the character of the individuals and ideologues that choose to follow it. There are no exceptions.

To reiterate the point that inspired this ask: Some LGBT folks's queerness is inextricable from their religious identity. Stigmatising and ostracizing religion in queer spaces is alienating, racist and violent. Just like no one should force religion on you, no one should force secularism on people either. There is enough air for us all to breathe free.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Kevin Ray

Published: Jun 27, 2024

I’m a gay man who is skeptical of the existence of a so-called “LGBT community.” The idea of this community is a belief rather than an objective truth, and I don’t affirm its existence for the sake of social niceties. Endorsing subjective beliefs to “be kind” is the behavior that landed society in the wreckage of Critical Social Justice activism. People have a right to their beliefs, and I have the right to write about why I don’t share those beliefs. 

Although there are indications that the tide is incrementally shifting, on much of the left, it is still the fashion of the day to view any dissenting arguments to popular subjective beliefs held by or about minority groups as anything from “not nice” to outright “hate.” I’d like this trend to go the way of bell-bottom jeans. That’s not going to happen until people get back into the habit of voicing their opposing views. In the interest of taking one small step toward ending “Cancel Culture,” I don’t ever say, “LGBT community.” 

The claim that an “LGBT community” exists must be supported by evidence that withstands scrutiny. The only evidence supporting this claim is a population of self-identified gay men, lesbian women, bisexual and transgender people living openly across the globe. But a population doesn’t make a community. Communities of affinity exist when members participate in events together and have a shared set of values. Many people within the LGBT population participate in communal events, but many don’t. The identity groups that comprise the “LGBT community” have extremely divergent interests, behaviors, and concerns—and share little in common aside from minority status that some relish in and others resent. Also, people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender vary in a myriad of other identity characteristics and affinities, including age, race, political affiliation, citizenship status, income, and education level. The life experiences within this population are also varied. An out gay man in Seattle who enjoys the liberty of marching hand-in-hand with his boyfriend in a public parade has a wildly different life than his closeted counterpart in Tehran, who can be legally punished with up to 99 lashes or execution if convicted of sodomy under Islamic law. Everyone in this population does not meet together in communal celebrations, and they don’t share a monolithic set of values, behaviors, or life experiences.

Also, who is of this supposed community? Is a twenty-something man in a romantic relationship with a woman who, every now and then, decides to “take a walk on the wild side” with another man of the community? Is a thirty-something woman whose struggle with gender dysphoria desisted after years of exploratory psychodynamic therapy of the community? Was she of the community when she identified as male? Is she excommunicated now that her dysphoria has subsided? 

What about me? I happen to be a gay man; does that alone make me of this community? I used to go to gay bars, but I don’t anymore. I don’t attend events at the LGBT Center, and I don’t support it (or any LGBT organization) through monetary donations. I’ve never watched an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I don’t identify as “queer,” and I reject its political aspirations. Despite living in New York City for over thirty years, I’ve never set foot on the gay mecca known as Fire Island, and I haven’t been to a Pride parade since 2007. Am I to understand that, merely because I am romantically, intimately, and sexually attracted to other men, this makes me of a community? Do I decide what communities I belong to, or does someone else decide that for me? 

I believe this decision is being made for me to satiate other people’s political agendas. When the incantation of an “LGBT community” is cast, it is often followed by political jujitsu, asserting this “community” has a unified belief, cause, or demand, which I’ve already argued is false. In truth, this mythical community is frequently conjured as a cudgel wielded by the left to blame, shame, and expunge those not willing to capitulate to the latest LGBTQIAA2S+ youth activist temper tantrum. Conversely, it’s used by the right as a political “wedge issue” to frighten voters away from electing any Democratic candidate, be they moderate centrists, radical progressives, or anywhere in between. 

Worse, viewing the population as a community can superimpose the idea that this group needs protection. This impulse to protect had disastrous outcomes during the monkeypox (Mpox) outbreak that began in May 2022. On July 15 of that year, The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) decided to change its messaging about how the virus is contracted. Some within the department feared promoting abstinence might “stigmatize” gay men. Instead of honestly telling people about the risks of contracting the virus during sex, DOHMH said, “[f]or those who choose to have sex while sick, … sores should be covered with clothing or sealed bandages.” Whistleblower Dr. Don Weiss, a senior epidemiologist at DOHMH, knew this approach was dangerous, and took his concerns to The New York Times. In their response statement, DOHMH said, “For decades, the L.G.B.T.Q.+ community has had their sex lives dissected, prescribed, and proscribed in myriad ways, mostly by heterosexual and cis people.” However, when I am at risk of contracting a virus that causes extreme pain and possible lifelong scarring, I can’t afford other people’s identity politics and their virtue-signaling protection of imaginary “communities.” Rather, I want the best medical advice available and I don’t care about the identity of the person who gives it to me or what “community” the person giving me the advice comes from! Ironically, it was not the “heterosexual and cis people” at DOHMH who gave me the best advice about avoiding Mpox. It was Andrew Sullivan, a gay male journalist who took to his podcasst The Weekly Dish along with gay activist Peter Staley. Their advice was, “cool it for a month.” Sullivan and Staley did not make me feel “stigmatized” by promoting abstinence. They told me the truth, which made me feel that somebody cared about me and my well-being. 

Identity divisiveness needs to stop. I don’t use the term “LGBT community” because I don’t believe it exists, it reduces a diverse population into a blunt, monolithic group, it reinforces an “us vs. them” mentality, and, as I just illustrated, it could be dangerous to my health. It fuels division at a time when Americans desperately need to come together. 

This Pride Month, it’s worth remembering that rights for LGBT people were secured because of the common humanity appeal made by those who said, “We live, laugh, and love just like you, all we want is the same rights everyone else has.” It’s time to stop segregating LGBT people into a “community” that is separate and apart from our wider society. It’s also time to realize that much of this divisive impulse is coming from within the LGBT population, and something needs to be done about it.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender adults need to stop being afraid of what young LGBTQIAA2S+ activists might say and start speaking up. Each day that we don’t stand up to activist fits is one more day that someone else might get bullied, canceled, or worse. The inappropriate behavior of young activists must be confronted by adults who believe their behavior is harmful. LGBT grown-ups need to proudly re-assert that here and now is the best place and time to be out and proud, and it will only get better if activists stop behaving like the bullies who once persecuted us. Pride does not call for revenge for past injustices. The attacks on heteronormativity, the patriarchy, toxic masculinity, and the pronoun wars need to end; if civil rights for LGBT people are rolled back, it won’t be by “conservative” political maneuvering, it will be a self-inflicted wound caused by LGBTQIAA2S+ activists and their overblown tirades that eroded the goodwill and trust built over time by people who made advances through a common humanity appeal. Activists may not like “heteronormativity,” but they all have to learn to live in a world where the majority are heterosexual. Let's be frank—none of them would be alive without some heteronormative behavior, and they should show a little gratitude toward those who brought them into this world. 

If I were to speak to one of these young activists, I would share my message for Pride 2024, which would be this:

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people are a minority, and that comes with challenges. Facing obstacles and overcoming them gives me a reason to get up in the morning—it gives purpose and meaning to my life. It’s also true that most people have challenges to navigate, so those who are LGBT are not unique in this regard. A life well-lived is not one spent wallowing in identity grievance and pursuing revenge for injustices you did not directly experience. Nobody is advocating for forgetting the wrongs that occurred in the past; it’s possible to recognize the history of injustices inflicted upon LGBT people in the past while also expressing gratitude for the wonderful advances that have been made. It’s your job to make the most of the hard-won rights that have been earned for you so you might use those rights to pursue a life of joy and fulfillment despite the challenges inherent in being a minority. It’s not always going to be easy. There will be good days and bad days. And while I can’t say there is a “community” to support you, there are many people among a population that know what you’re going through and want you to live life to the fullest. 

Happy Pride!

==

"A population doesn't make a community."

[queermuslimarchives]

Waria

The waria community is an indigenous trans group that has held a centuries-old position in Indonesian society. In South Sulawesi, Warias are traditionally recognised as a social group, have been integral to Indonesian society for far longer than homosexuals.

The term "waria" is a combination of the Indonesian words "wanita" (woman) and "pria" (man). Waria are male who identify as women and express their gender identity through their mannerisms, clothing, and appearance. While some identify fully as women, others may not. Not all warias undergo sex reassignment surgery, but many choose to have breast implants and undergo hormone therapy.

The majority of warias are Muslim. Many pray at mosques and do hajj in male clothing due to strict gender norms. In 2008, Pondok Pesantren Waria al-Fatah, an Islamic boarding school, was established to offer safe spaces for prayer, Quranic lessons, and gatherings. Unfortunately, the madrasa was forced to close down after receiving threats from Islamists. Warias frequently face harassment from hardline Islamic groups, who exploit increasing sectarian tensions in the region to promote their interpretations of Sharia law.

[03josten]

Some of my favourite terminology for sex, sexuality, and gender that have mostly fell out of use:

Sapphist: Similar to the term Sapphic which is still in use, derived from the woman loving Greek poet Sappho. The -ist has implications of doing rather than being. A Sapphist is a woman who has romantic and sexual relationships with other women. It was commonly used in the 19th and early 20th century, eventually replaced by lesbian in common usage. Some famous historical figures who used this term include Vita Sackville-West, who also used the terms lesbian and homosexual.

Mukhannathun: Translates roughly to "effeminate ones" or "ones who resemble women", typically refers to a feminine male, an intersex person, or one whose sex is indistinct. Modern scholars place the term Mukhannath in correlation with trans feminine. Mukhannathun traditionally took on the social roles of women in Saudi Arabia and feature in Ḥadīth Islamic literature. They were often musicians and entertainers, Abū ʿAbd al-Munʿim ʿĪsā ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Dhāʾib (or Tuwais) being perhaps the first famous Mukhannath musician. I could not find any depictions of Mukannathun.

Invert: Sexology in the early 20th century believed that same sex desire and cross gender identification were natural in some people. It was coined in German by Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal (1833-1890) and translated across Europe and eventually into English as sexual inversion by John Addington Symonds Jr. (1840-1893) in 1883. Inverts were people whose natural sex instinct (heterosexual, cisgender) were "inverted", causing a natural desire for the same sex or to live as the other sex. It was thought that most inverts desired a relationship with a "normal" member of their own sex, for example a masculine presenting woman would desire a feminine presenting "normal" woman, a feminine presenting man would desire a masculine or "normal" man. While most sexologists thought sexual inversion was natural, they worried about corruption of "normal" people by inverts. The writer 'John' Radclyffe Hall (1880-1943) identified as an invert and explored the life of inverts in her 1928 novel The Well of Loneliness.

Uranism: A Uranian was a man who was romantically or sexually interested in other men. One of the earliest records of the term comes from Friedrich Schiller's 'Sixth Letter' in the Aesthetic Education of Man in 1795. It is derived from the ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite Urania, a manifestation of Aphrodite who was free of physical desire and instead was attracted by mind and soul. Ancient Greek literature was very important in the early formations of queer identity and self-recognition. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was known to use the term Uranian.

Tribadism: Derived from the Greek "tribas" which means "to rub", tribadism denotes both a sexual position (now known as tribbing or scissoring) and a woman who seeks to sexual dominate and/or penetrate another woman. This term could also be used to describe an intersex person who lives as female and is the penetrating partner during sex with women. It became the most common word to describe any kind of sexual intimacy between women in English literature from the 16th to 19th centuries. Marie Antoinette, queen of France from 1773 to 1792 was "defamed" in many anti-monarchist newspapers as being a tribade.

Eonism: Eonism was coined by English sexologist Havelock Ellis (1859-1939) to describe cross gender identification and presentation. "Eon" after the French diplomat Charlotte-Geneviève-Louise-Augusta-Andréa-Timothéa d'Éon de Beaumont, who was assigned male at birth but lived as a woman from 1777 until her death in 1810. Eonism was later replaced by transvestism in popular usage in the early to mid 20th century, coined by Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935) in 1910.

Eunuch: the term Eunuch has many connotations but the one common factor that almost all definitions share is that a eunuch is an intentionally castrated male. Eunuchs can also be uncastrated, but put into the social role as eunuch due to their 1) feminine presentation 2) inability to procreate 3) attraction to men. Eunuchs were not seen as men in most cultures, they were specifically chosen and castrated in order to fill a specific, separate social role from men and women. It was sometimes punitive, for example under Assyrian law men who were caught in sexual acts with other men were castrated. Eunuchs often had positions in royal households in the Ancient Middle East, their sexlessness was seen to enhance their loyalty to the crown as they were less likely to be distracted by sex or marriage, and it also allowed for jobs to be given on merit, and not inherited since Eunuchs could not reproduce. In Ancient Greece certain sects of male priests were eunuchs. China had Eunuchs who were fully castrated (penis and testicles) and high ranking in imperial service. In Vietnam, many eunuchs were self castrated in order to gain employment in the royal households.

Homophile: coined in 1924 by Karl-Günther Heimsoth (1899-1933) in his dissertation Hetero- und Homophilie. The term was in common use in the 50s and 60s in gay activism groups. It was an alternative to homosexual coined in 1868 by Károly Mária Kertbeny (1824-1882) which was thought to have pathological and sexual implications, whereas homophile prioritised love and appreciation over the sex act or pathology. It is still in use in some parts of northern Europe. The Homophile Action League was founded by lesbian couple Ada Bello (1933-2023) and Carole Friedmann (1944-?) in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. in 1968, a year before the Stonewall Riots.

[coochiequeens]

Natural disasters around the globe and now a war between Isreal and Palestine and instead of posting about how these issues impact women UN Women focuses on men in dresses and then doubles down when called out.

By Shay Woulahan. October 8, 2023

The official account for United Nations Women is under fire after posting in celebration of “trans lesbians” despite having released no formal statement condemning the violence against women in war-torn Israel. The posts, of which two were made on October 8, were intended to celebrate “International Lesbian Day.”

In the first post made to X (formerly Twitter), UN Women stated that there was “no one way to be a lesbian or express womanhood,” leaving many users confused as to the underlying meaning.

“There is only one way to be a lesbian,” one user wrote. “To be a female exclusively attracted to other females. And there is only one way to express womanhood — to be an adult human female,” user @OneSmallVoice wrote.

“Nah, there’s only one way to be either,” another user responded.

After hundreds of negative replies, UN Women made a second post hours later in an apparent effort to double-down on their narrative.

“Remember, trans lesbians are lesbians too,” the post read. “Let’s uplift and honor EVERY expression of love and identity!” The post was accompanied by an image reiterating “trans lesbians are lesbians.”

Immediately, UN Women was hit with a storm of backlash from users who called the post “homophobic” and “rapey.”

Giggle Founder Sall Grover said the notice was “anti-lesbian,” stating: “Men aren’t lesbians. Deal with it.”

Another top reply on the post, written by UK-based safeguarding group Safe Schools Alliance, accused UN Women of propagating rape culture.

“You are a disgrace. Delete this tweet, then delete your account. How DARE you contribute to the #RapeCulture women & girls suffer, from childhood, worldwide. Stand down & let people who know #SexMatters advocate for women & girls including our lesbian sisters.”

Other advocates that fight for women’s sex-based rights similarly called out UN Women, with many noting that the organization has yet to release an official statement condemning the brutality committed against women in Israel.

On October 7, Hamas militants launched a surprise offensive on Israel, targeting civilian areas with violence. Almost immediately, horrific videos began to circulate on social media showing the Islamic soldiers kidnapping and brutalizing women. In one of the most shocking pieces of footage, Hamas militants were seen parading around the corpse of a woman now identified as a German-Israeli civilian who had been in the region to attend a pro-peace festival.

As of the writing of this article, over 700 people in Israel have been confirmed dead and over 2000 are injured. In Gaza, the Palestinian Health Ministry has reported 370 dead, with over 2200 injured. Over 100 people have been taken as hostages by Hamas, a great number of them are women and children.

Jewish journalist Eve Barlow pointed out that despite making time to advocate for “trans lesbians,” UN Women hasn’t discussed the violence committed in Israel against females.

“@UN_Women has not issued a single tweet from their account about the crimes committed against Israel’s women. One [repost] on the subject, one tweet about Afghanistan and two about #LesbianDay. Jewish women deserve your advocacy,” stated journalist and activist Eve Barlow.

This is not the first time UN Women and the United Nations has promoted gender ideology at the expense of women. UN Women has a well-established history of calling for all nations to allow men to be able to self-declare their legal sex as female.

“Trans women have the right to recognition of their self-identified gender – but in most countries, this is not available or subject to abusive restrictions,” UN Women posted in June.

This was blasted by British Member of Parliament Rosie Duffield who responded to the organization’s statement.

“No, this is not a universally accepted ‘right’ at all. And as a Member of Parliament in England, I will continue to work with other legislators to stop self-id from destroying women’s rights – rights to sport, single sex spaces, same-sex medical care.”

On International Women’s Day in 2020, UN Women endorsed a statement made by a trans-identified male in which he referred to women as “formless.” The man being celebrated by UN Women, model Aaron Philip, bragged about being platformed by the United Nations and referred to women who protested as “TERFs.”

[inconvenientobservations]

Comply Or Get Destroyed

USA. Ivan Provorov, who plays for Philadelphia Flyers, got international attention when he didn’t want to wear a rainbow warm up jersey at a LGBTQ Pride Night game against the Anaheim Ducks this week. He wanted, as a Russian Orthodox, “to stay true to myself and my religion.” The media and the alphabet people were outraged and demands were made that Provorov should get cancelled, have to pay…