‘Can You Really Be a Queer Muslim?’: Intersectionality and the Complexity of Identity
Pushing Past Homophobia and Islamophobia to Find Queer Muslim Joy
I grew up (and still present) visibly Muslim. I have worn a hijab for longer than I can remember, and over the years I found a style that I felt expressed me best. Regardless, I am still made to feel a little out of place when I’m the only hijabi who turned up to the queer meet-up (it’s quite funny to see some people perplexed). This also means a lot of people assume feminine pronouns for me, even if my bio clearly states something else…
‘Can You Really Be a Queer Muslim?’: Intersectionality and the Complexity of Identity
In a video I recently watched, a Muslim woman asked a Muslim gay man why he doesn’t stop being Muslim. That question made me cry. Not because I found it hurtful that the Muslim community (my community) is often still not accepting of queerness (also my community), or that I found the question ludicrous or ignorant. I cried because it made sense to me, and I didn’t want it to…
Calling All My Lipstick Lovers: Janelle Monae’s Sexy New Song is a Black Queer Bop
I have listened to Lipstick Lover by Janelle Monae over 100 times. If you didn’t know, I am a massive lipstick lover (in all ways), so you can trust me when I say that Janelle Monae’s latest song is the sexy summer anthem for femme queers everywhere – especially Black femme queers. If you haven’t heard it yet and watched the music video, I suggest you change that…
‘According To Some Documents, I Don’t Exist’: Embracing a Queer Identity That Doesn’t Tick Boxes
Most of the time, I feel like our society is making progress: we learn more about ourselves every day and slowly become more comfortable with LGBTQIA+ identities. Then I’ll be handed a form to fill out, my eyes will scan the identifying terms from which I am to choose, and I am reminded that some still seem very uncomfortable with identities that fall outside of LGBT…
‘Change the World Instead of Changing Who We’re With’: Learning to Embrace Life and Love as a Woman Loving a Woman
There were many challenges to loving a woman as a woman. I couldn’t hold her hand everywhere. I couldn't introduce her to my family: I could lose certain people, or I could be rejected from some of the many communities I was in. With a man, my life would be like everyone else’s. Everything I had a chance to observe growing up – everything I am familiar with and not scared of – would be there…
‘Man, I Feel Like a Human!’: How Coming Out As Non-Binary Made Me a Better Feminist
I can now see more plainly the gatekeeping that can happen when trans folks want to dive into the personhood they know is theirs, and yet are sometimes told or made to feel as though they’re somehow lacking. Womanhood can be a wonderful, equalising thing – so why are we wasting time denying it to human beings who know who they are? Isn’t womanhood diverse and wonderful enough to allow its ranks to swell beyond the ideas of yesteryear?
Community, Cooperation and Connectivity: The Symbolic Importance of Queer Safe Spaces and Why We Must Protect Them
When I started taking notice of how viscerally different I feel depending on the room I am in, I realised how complex the relationship between queerness and space truly is. As queer people, we cannot yet guarantee our safety within spaces. This is particularly insidious for marginalised…
Bi The Way, I’m Autistic: Learning to Navigate Sexuality as a Neurodivergent Individual
According to studies, autistic people are significantly more likely to identify as LGBTQ+. For people classified as rigid thinkers, it’s true that many of us are over sexual and gender norms. We question stuff; we don’t respect arbitrary norms for their own sake. Of course, I didn’t know I was autistic back then…
Black and White: How Race Impacts Our Queer Experience
There’s a phrase commonly used, particularly among gay men: ‘No Fats, No Femmes, and No Blacks or Asians’. Originating from the ‘dating’ app Grindr, it was (and is) frequently used by white members to deter people who didn’t fit their ‘preference’ from messaging them…
‘Welcome in God’s Kingdom’: Rejecting Stereotypes and Embracing Self-Acceptance as a Queer Christian
LGBTQ+ and Christianity. They’re not super popular words you hear together often, but why aren’t they more commonly said together? Like, I am an LGBTQ+ Christian, which can be a bit of a surprise to some people. The reason for the surprise is obvious: according to a lot of the world, homosexuality is a ‘sin’ and therefore you can’t be gay or an ally or whatever and follow Jesus…
‘Everyone is Straight Unless They State Otherwise’: Why We Need to Be Careful with the Term Queerbaiting
As fabricated as we might think they are, the truth is that real people – no matter how famous – can’t plan out the way the discovery of their sexuality will go. They can’t exactly predict what kind of gender performance will make them feel alive and at their best. We are so used to consuming celebrities’ content like we would binge-watch a Netflix show that sometimes dehumanising these very real people with very real-life experiences is too easy…