Volume 2, Issue 1—December 2008
Imaan Newsletter
Acting Local,Thinking Global - LGBT
Muslim Achievements
In this Issue:
New Events Officer Elected
2
LGBT Women’s
Research
3
3
International
Youth Conference
Dates for your
Diary
• 24 January - Eid-ulAdha Celebrations
• 31 January - Imaan
Meeting, Birmimgham
• 22 February to 1
March - LGBT Youth
Conference
“It is only natural that they
insist on measuring us with the
yardstick that they use for
themselves, forgetting that the
ravages of time are not the same
Salam sisters and brothers,
the provision of goods,
facilities and services.
During the recent Eid ul
Adha (feast of sacrifice)
our thoughts turned to
what it means for Muslims
to perform Hajj and what
this act of pilgrimage and
devotion means for everyone who wants to learn
from Islam.
The government’s new
Equality Bill will include
duties on the public sector
to promote equality on the
grounds of sexual orientation and religion; a horizontal EU directive will ban
discrimination against
LGBT people in areas outside employment; lesbian
women now have improved
parenting rights in the
Human Fertilisation Act;
and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO)
has launched a toolkit that
impacts on LGBT Muslims
seeking asylum from
around the world.
One inspirational thing
about the Hajj is the great
restlessness it shows in the
Ummah – the stirring for
justice that lives in the
Muslim heart. When people
are drawn from each corner of the world, inspired
by a shared ideal to act as
one in the service of a better world – then it summons in us a hope that we
can build a global society
characterised by fairness,
co-operation and respect.
At this special time for the
Muslim community we can
also reflect upon the tremendous contributions of
British Muslims to our national life.
for all, and that the quest of
our own identity is just as
arduous and bloody for us as it
was for them. The interpretation
of our reality through patterns
not our own serves only to make
us ever more unknown, ever less
free, ever more solitary”
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, from
“The Solitude of Latin America”
As Muslim LGBT members
of Imaan celebrating ten
years of achievements in
2008 we too can reflect on
how far we have come, and
the significant lobbying
wins in the last year alone
that will bring about real
difference in the lives of
people who, without these
changes, were left on the
margins and often excluded as to their needs in
Imaan has been involved in
campaigning with all of
these achievements, working with our trade union
allies and other voluntary
sector groups.
As chair of Imaan I am
particularly proud of our
input into the work of the
FCO where we were the
only Muslim organisation
contributing to the LGBT
stakeholders’ group. Our
work started with a meeting in London between the
attaché to the UK Mission
in Geneva and a delegation
from ILGA. Civil servants
listened intently to our
evidence of the treatment
some LGBT Muslim people
experience when seeking
support and we shared our
proposals on how to better
assist our community.
As a consequence, the new
FCO LGBT toolkit has been
issued to all 261 British
embassies, high commissions and other diplomatic
posts around the world. It
includes FCO policy on
LGBT rights and instructions on how to ensure
LGBT equality and antidiscrimination work is
incorporated into their
activities. It covers a range
of issues including decriminalisation, employment
rights, gender recognition,
freedom of religion, as well
as reproductive rights and
healthcare.
A result of the toolkit has
been that a number of
embassies have marked
Pride events by flying the
rainbow flag. This is an
important symbol of solidarity in cities where LGBT
people, including Muslims,
continue to risk violence
for participating in Pride
marches as was evident in
India recently. It is also a
welcome advance in British
foreign policy.
We can all play our part in
making a difference to the
needs of LGBT Muslims in
Britain and abroad so
please get involved with
Imaan!
Wasalam,
Pav Akhtar, Imaan Chair
Page 2
Volume 2, Issue 1—December 2008
By-election Success - New Events Officer
Members will be aware that a vacancy
arose for the Events Officer following the
election for Imaan’s Board of Trustees
2008-09.
The process for election was announced
by email to members in October and
then ratified at the AGM on 19 October,
and reiterated in Imaan’s newsletter
published on 1 November. Since there
was only valid nomination form received
for the post, and in accordance with
guidelines that went out with the election
announcements, the nominee was therefore elected un-opposed.
The Trustees are proud to welcome
Tawseef Khan to the Imaan team. Insh’Allah, Tawseef’s energy will be aided
by all our support and dua’as to ensure
that we can build a strong social programme to meet the diverse and growing interests of Imaan members.
Tawseef has got off to a flying start and
will announcing more details in future
newsletters. Tawseef can be reached by
email: [email protected]
Post-Imaan Conference Meeting
There will be a meeting for those colon Weds 14 January at Positive East, 159
leagues interested in learning the lessons Mile End Road, Stepney Green, London.
from October’s annual conference. The
All are welcome.
meeting will take place between 6-8pm
Date for Eid-ul-Adha Celebrations
Our first social event of 2009 will be an
Eid Celebration at Chowki, the fantastic
restaurant in central London which
serves South Asian food. The venue
which is at 2-3 Denman St, London, W1D
7HA (nearest tube: Piccadilly Circus) is
booked for 7.30pm on Sat 24 January
but – as last year proved – the dinner is
really popular and numbers are restricted.
So if you would like to attend the Eid
dinner we strongly encourage you to
book your place as soon as possible to
give us an idea about numbers. We will
also be asking members who attend the
dinner to make a small donation to
Imaan as part of our fundraising efforts
during the evening. Please email
Tawseef, Imaan Events Officer on:
[email protected] or Pav, Imaan
Chair on: [email protected]
LGBT Consortium AGM & Imaan Meeting, Birmingham
In response to feedback from members
Imaan is holding a meeting for LGBT
Muslim members in the Midlands area on
Sat 31 January 2009 to coincide with the
LGBT Consortium’s Tenth Anniversary
AGM. We hope this initiative will make
Imaan more accessible to our members.
Both meetings will be held at a central
location in Birmingham. The day will run
from 10am–5pm with an informal reception from 5pm–7pm to provide the opportunity to network with other delegates
and Imaan members locally.
There are only a limited number of
places available so anyone interested in
attending should complete a booking
form ASAP. If you want more information then email LGBT Consortium on:
[email protected] or email:
[email protected]
International Youth LGBT Conference
Are you an Imaan member aged less
than 30? Would you like to attend a conference called "I Am Here: Intercultural
and Ethnic Diversity in LGBT Youth Communities" taking place between 22 Feb
and 1 March, 2009, at the European
Youth Centre in Strasbourg.
This is a fantastic opportunity to get into
in-depth debate on issues of ethnicity
and inequality in the spectrum of LGBT
youth, to learn more about international
and intercultural dialogue, and to have a
lot of fun. We certainly believe Imaan
members would have a lot of contribute.
The conference will be made up of 30
participants mainly from Europe but
from a few from other continents too.
You will live, sleep and work at the European Youth Centre, and there will be
some time off to visit the European institutions in Strasbourg.
All costs are paid by IGLYO, although
you will need to buy your flight ticket
and then be reimbursed. There's also a
participation fee of €45 per person which
is deducted from the reimbursement.
If you want to get involved please email
Lina, Imaan’s Treasurer:
[email protected] or Pav, Imaan’s
Chair, [email protected] for more information
Page 3
Volume 2, Issue 1—December 2008
Want to tackle homophobic bullying? Join Stonewall Youth
Stonewall the national organisation
working for equality for LGB people has
launched a new youth volunteering programme to get people aged 16-25 involved in tackling homophobic bullying. The Youth Volunteering Programme
is part of its Education for All campaign
which challenges homophobia in education.
Last year, Stonewall carried out research
that found that almost two thirds of gay
pupils have experienced direct homophobic bullying in Britain’s schools. The bullying ranged from verbal abuse to physical assaults and death threats. Stonewall
knows the problem needs to be urgently
addressed so wants young people to be
at the heart of the campaign. The Youth
Volunteering Programme will give young
people the skills and confidence to challenge homophobia in their schools and
communities. All young people who join
the programme will receive training and
be supported to plan and run their own
campaign against homophobic bullying. As well as supporting young people
to run campaigns, the programme gives
opportunities to work with Stonewall to
tackle homophobic bullying.
Stonewall is also launching a Youth
Award to recognise the work that young
people do to challenge homophobia. All
young people who join the programme
will be eligible for the award.
The next round of training takes place in
February 2009 across Britain, so if you
want to ensure that every young person
enjoys and achieves at school without
fear of bullying and discrimination then
join in.
For more information please contact
Laurie Kay, Youth Volunteer Coordinator:
[email protected]
or call: 020 7593 1882
Transgendered Volunteers Sought
An Imaan member is making a short film
about transgender women (male to female) who suffer from Gender Dysphoria, in other words, the person is not
comfortable with their assigned gender.
The film-maker wants to go back in time
to explain why transgender women are
the way they are and what drives them
to make their choices about their sexuality.
The film aims to encourage a change of
perspective and drive a simple message
home: that one should try to understand
what makes a person who they are before judging them.
The director, Laila, hopes that in the
short span of reel time, her audience will
see things from a different perspective
and provoke a better understanding of a
trans people to engender greater respect
and support.
If you can help with the project please
contact: [email protected]
Muslim Women & Political Engagement Research
A team from the Centre for Research in
Ethnic Relations at the University of Warwick are conducting research on the
political participation and civic engagement of Muslim women in Britain and
France. The study is funded by the Economic & Social Research Council UK to
examine the different ways in which the
activism of women of Muslim background is channelled. It aims to challenge media and political stereotypes
which reduce Muslim women to either
‘oppressed’ or ‘inactive’.
nity groups in which you may be active
in order to explore your views on the
political and social engagement of
women from Muslim communities in
Britain.
The researchers want to invite women
members of Imaan to a group discussion
about any political, religious or commu-
If you want more details please contact
Clotilde Giner, email:
[email protected]
Interviewees Needed for Indian Journal
A correspondent from The Sunday Indian
magazine needs help with an upcoming
issue.
The Indian national publication is running a story on the different beliefs on
LGBT people from across all religions
and would like to interview a Muslim
LGBT person who is prepared to give
information about the reactions and
level of acceptance of the wider Muslim
community to LGBT people.
ing that you were an LGBT person?
The questions you will be asked to respond to are likely to include:
- What kind of pressure did you/your
family face in getting acceptance in
wider society?
- How is homosexuality perceived among
Muslims?
- What is your opinion on what has been
mentioned about homosexuality within
the Qu’ran?
- What kind of reaction you got on reveal-
If you are interested in helping please
contact the journalist Spriha Srivastava
by email:
[email protected] You can
also visit The Sunday Indian web site at:
www.thesundayindian.com
Page 4
Volume 2, Issue 1—December 2008
Story of London LGBT Initiative
Avid historians and LGBT
activists my want to check
out the following link and
think about how to take
advantage of the Story of
London initiative to draw
attention to your work and
projects in terms of their
impact on London's history; www.london.gov.uk/
mayor/culture/
storyoflondon.jsp
The page gives links to a
presentation explaining the
project in more detail, a
list of interested organisations and a proposal form
to submit ideas and projects.
any possible proposals and
ideas. The GLA is open to
new and innovative ways
of working, especially
given how LGBT history
has traditionally been
marginalized.
Neil Young, co-ordinator
for LGBT communities at
the Greater London Authority, is happy to discuss
For more information contact Neil Young by email:
[email protected]
Dr Muhammad Siddiq,
formerly president of the
Islamic Medical Association, wrote to a GPs’ magazine accusing LGBT people
of spreading disease and
said they needed to feel
‘the stick of the law’. He
also branded transsexuals
'twisted'. The 65-year-old
also stated that society
needed to be protected
from the ' ravages' of homosexuality and claimed
99 per cent of British Muslims agreed with him.
He later claimed the letter
was a ‘spoof’ created by
his son which he had sent
by mistake, but the General Medical Council said
this was a lie and found
him guilty of misconduct.
Imaan has welcomed the
GMC’s ruling that Dr Sid-
Imaan promotes the Islamic values of
peace, social justice and tolerance
through its work, and aspires to bring
about a world that is free from prejudice
and discrimination against all Muslims
and LGBT people.
Imaan is an independent organisation
run by volunteers and without external
funding. All donations of time or money
will be gratefully received. Please contact the Imaan Chair by email:
[email protected]
Muslim Doctor Suspended for Homophobia
A doctor who claimed
LGBT people 'prey on society' was guilty of misconduct by undermining confidence in the Muslim medical community, a disciplinary panel has recently
ruled.
Imaan supports LGBT Muslim people,
their families and friends, to address
issues of sexual orientation within Islam.
It provides a safe space and support
network to address issues of common
concern through sharing individual experiences and institutional resources.
diq’s comments are offensive and homophobic and
could dissuade gay and
sex-change patients from
seeking vital medical treatment.
Imaan also rejects Dr Siddiq’s views that most Muslims might agree with him,
not least because research
conducted by Stonewall
has found that people
from faith communities
hold significantly more
moderate views of homosexuality than is often
claimed on their behalf.
Monthly Imaan meetings are held at
central London venues. For details of the
next meeting please contact the Imaan
Events Officer by email:
[email protected]
To network with other LGBT Muslims,
friends, families and supporters, join the
Imaan forum:
http://imaanlondon.proboards34.com
Imaan
28 Commercial Street
London E1 6LS
+44 (0)7849 170793
[email protected]
http://www.imaan.org.uk
We welcome contributions to the newsletter from all members, supporters and partner organisations. If you are arranging, attending or have
read, heard or otherwise come across anything of interest then please
send your article by email: [email protected]