Yes, You Can Be Muslim and Queer

Like clockwork, every Pride Month, someone inevitably starts talking about whether Muslims can, in fact, be gay. This year, the latest round arrived courtesy of 5Pillars, a media outlet claiming to be the “voice” of Muslims in the U.K. Its handy “How To Navigate Pride Month” for “Muslims living in the West” offers choice advice: “Muslims who experience same-sex attraction…should seek spiritual support.” Then, 5Pillars set their eyes on some notable targets: London Mayor Sadiq Khan and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. 

“The Muslim mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, celebrates queer and transgender New Yorkers,” said a miffed 5Pillars tweet. The blowback was swift. “My first consideration is the preservation of Islamic purity. If that upsets people, then so be it,” 5Pillars founder Roshan M. Salih, who is of Sri Lankan and Welsh descent, told The Juggernaut. “We don’t condemn people who have same-sex attraction. However…if they act upon that attraction, then they are sinning.” As for Zohran Mamdani? “He was tweeting in favor of LGBTQ Pride, and that is a clear contradiction in the eyes of Muslims.” 

But it seemed like no one was talking to the very group that the whole fiasco was about: queer Muslims. What do they have to say? The Juggernaut spoke to many in the community, including Islamic scholars, to find out.