Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity

Last updated

The Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD), founded in 2013, is an American support and advocacy organization for LGBTQ Muslims.

Contents

History

The Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity was launched in January 2013 in Atlanta. [1] The organization was formed by members of the Queer Muslim Working Group, with the support of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Several initial MASGD members previously had been involved with the Al-Fatiha Foundation, including Faisal Alam, Urooj Arshad, [2] Tynan Power, and Imam Daayiee Abdullah. [3] Co-founders include Raquel Saraswati, [4] Yas Ahmed, [5] Imi Rashid and Sahar Shafqat. [6]

In 2016, The Advocate magazine named four MASGD steering committee members in its list of "21 LGBT Muslims Who Are Changing the World." [7] MASGD is currently led by Mx. Yaffa AS. [8] As of late 2022, MASGD is one of the few entirely Global Majority and Trans Muslim orgs.

Mission

The mission of MASGD is to support, empower, and connect LGBTQ+ Muslims. The mission statement goes on to say: "In our work, we challenge root causes of oppression, including misogyny, racism, capitalism, and xenophobia. We celebrate gender and sexual diversity within Muslim communities and promote an understanding of Islam that is centered on inclusion, justice, and equity." [9]

Retreat

The first project of MASGD was an LGBTQ+ Muslim Retreat. The first Retreat was held in 2011, under the auspices of the Queer Muslim Working Group. Since then, the Retreat has been held each May. In 2013, the Retreat welcomed a total of 85 adults, including both LGBTQ+ Muslims and their partners. [10] In 2023, MASGD hosted its first Black QTM retreat.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT community</span> Community and culture of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people

The LGBT community is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality. LGBT activists and sociologists see LGBT community-building as a counterweight to heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, sexualism, and conformist pressures that exist in the larger society. The term pride or sometimes gay pride expresses the LGBT community's identity and collective strength; pride parades provide both a prime example of the use and a demonstration of the general meaning of the term. The LGBT community is diverse in political affiliation. Not all people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender consider themselves part of the LGBT community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gay–straight alliance</span> Student groups supporting LGBT youth

A gay–straight alliance, gender-sexuality alliance (GSA) or queer–straight alliance (QSA) is a student-led or community-based organization, found in middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities. These are primarily in the United States and Canada. Gay–straight alliance is intended to provide a safe and supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and all LGBTQ+ individuals, children, teenagers, and youth as well as their cisgender heterosexual allies. The first GSAs were established in the 1980s. Scientific studies show that GSAs have positive academic, health, and social impacts on schoolchildren of a minority sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Numerous judicial decisions in United States federal and state court jurisdictions have upheld the establishment of GSAs in schools, and the right to use that name for them.

The Al-Fatiha Foundation was an organization which advanced the civil, political, and legal rights of LGBTQ+ Muslims. It was founded in 1997 by Faisal Alam, a Pakistani American LGBTQ+ rights activist, and was registered as a nonprofit organization in the United States until 2011.

Faisal Alam is a gay Pakistani American man who founded the Al-Fatiha Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing the cause of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Muslims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT-affirming religious groups</span> Religious groups that affirm LGBTQ+ rights and relationships

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+)-affirming religious groups are religious groups that welcome LGBT people as their members, do not consider homosexuality as a sin or negative, and affirm LGBT rights and relationships. They include entire religious denominations, as well as individual congregations and places of worship. Some groups are mainly composed of non-LGBTQ+ members and they also have specific programs to welcome LGBTQ+ people into them, while other groups are mainly composed of LGBTQ+ members.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) affirming denominations in Judaism are Jewish religious groups that welcome LGBT members and do not consider homosexuality to be a sin. They include both entire Jewish denominations, as well as individual synagogues. Some are composed mainly of non-LGBT members and also have specific programs to welcome LGBT people, while others are composed mainly of LGBT members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education and the LGBT community</span>

Historically speaking, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people have not been given equal treatment and rights by both governmental actions and society's general opinion. Much of the intolerance for LGBT individuals come from lack of education around the LGBT community, and contributes to the stigma that results in same-sex marriage being legal in few countries (31) and persistence of discrimination, such as in the workplace.

Humsafar Trust is an NGO in Mumbai that promotes LGBT rights. Founded by Ashok Row Kavi, Suhail Abbasi, and Sridhar Rangayan in 1994, it is one of the largest and most active of such organisations in India. It provides counselling, advocacy and healthcare to LGBT communities and has helped reduce violence, discrimination and stigma against them. Humsafar Trust is the convenor member of Integrated Network for Sexual Minorities (INFOSEM).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in the Middle East</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people generally have limited or highly restrictive rights in most parts of the Middle East, and are open to hostility in others. Sex between men is illegal in 9 of the 18 countries that make up the region. It is punishable by death in four of these 18 countries. The rights and freedoms of LGBT citizens are strongly influenced by the prevailing cultural traditions and religious mores of people living in the region – particularly Islam.

Tynan Power is a progressive Muslim activist who advocates for gender equality and transgender rights in Muslim communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southerners On New Ground</span>

Southerners on New Ground is a social justice, advocacy and capacity building organization serving and supporting queer and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, uniquely focusing its work in the southern United States through community organizing for economic and racial justice. The organization is unique, as most of the places it does work in do not have an LGBTQ organization like it.

The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) is an American federation of Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian. and Pacific Islander LGBTQ organizations. NQAPIA was formed in 2007, as an outgrowth of the LGBT APA Roundtable working groups at the 2005 National Gay Lesbian Task Force Creating Change Conference in Oakland, California. NQAPIA seeks to build the capacity of local LGBT AAPI organizations, invigorate grassroots organizing, develop leadership, and challenge homophobia, racism, and anti-immigrant bias. The organization "focuses on grass-roots organizing and leadership development."

Homonationalism is the favorable association between a nationalist ideology and LGBT people or their rights.

LGBT psychology is a field of psychology of surrounding the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals, in the particular the diverse range of psychological perspectives and experiences of these individuals. It covers different aspects such as identity development including the coming out process, parenting and family practices and support for LGBTQ+ individuals, as well as issues of prejudice and discrimination involving the LGBT community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drago Renteria</span> Transgender man

Dragonsani "Drago" Renteria is a deaf Chicano transgender man, CEO of DeafVision, founder and executive director of Deaf Queer Resource Center (DQRC) and long-time resident of San Francisco.

Urooj Arshad is an American activist who was a co-founder the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity, where she is also a member of the steering committee.

References

  1. ↑ "Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity". Muslimalliance.org. Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  2. ↑ Parsons, Monique (January 17, 2018). "The Influential Network for a New Generation of American Muslim Leaders". WWRN - World-wide Religious News.
  3. ↑ "The Progressive Muslim Movement". OutSmart Magazine. October 1, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Raquel Saraswati". Family Equality Council. Archived from the original on January 26, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  5. ↑ Kini, Aditi Natasha; Trykowski, Tyler (February 7, 2018). "A New Exhibit Explores the Art and Identity of Queer Muslims". Vice.
  6. ↑ Alpert, Megan (June 14, 2016). "LGBT and Muslim Communities Warn Against Demonizing of Both After Orlando Shooting". Foreign Policy.
  7. ↑ Jacob Ogles (December 20, 2016). "21 LGBT Muslims Who Are Changing the World". The Advocate.
  8. ↑ Yaffa A.S., Mx. (2022-10-02). "Beyond Utopia: The Building Utopia Guide for Queer and Trans Muslims". Peace Review. 34 (4): 541–552. doi:10.1080/10402659.2022.2132818. ISSN   1040-2659.
  9. ↑ "Our Mission". themasgd.org. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  10. ↑ "The Washington Post". The Washington Post . 2013-05-30. Retrieved 2013-11-18.


Gay flag.svg

This article about a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender-related organization is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.