Forum looks at plight of gay Muslims

[Shana A]

Forum looks at plight of gay Muslims

By Tirdad Derakhshani

Inquirer Staff Writer

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/20080501_Forum_looks_at_plight_of_gay_Muslims.html

What does it mean to be a gay Muslim? Is it even possible to be both?

Given the repressive nature of Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, why would any self-respecting gay man or woman want to be a Muslim?

Those are some of the troubling questions raised by filmmaker Parvez Sharma's new documentary, A Jihad for Love, which tells the stories of more than a dozen gay and lesbian Muslims scattered across the globe from South Africa to Iran, Cairo to Paris, all of whom reaffirm their devotion to Islam, a religion that seems anathema to many of their Western friends and lovers.