The Homophobia and Islamophobia Binary: The Case of Majid and Other Australian Students

In my previous blog entry entitled The Bakla and The Muslim: An Unexpected Bond of Friendship , I have recounted my encounter with Majid while studying in Australia as an exchange student some years ago. Majid and I were not only flatmates, but also became very good friends at that time. The beautiful and genuine friendship that developed between Majid and myself was rather surprising, if not unexpected, given that I am a bakla and Majid a Muslim.

This friendship seems to be an oxymoron if understood and apprehended through the lens of the dominant image of the Muslim societies as being blatantly and unapologetically homophobic. Homosexuality is, after all, consider a crime so heinous that if any man or woman found guilty of it, can be executed. And yet, here is Majid, a devout Muslim  who is not only tolerant – but later turns-out to be so accepting of who I am.

The Religious Queer: The Discourse on the Western Gay Politics And How Religion Is Implicated Within

Reflecting upon my being a practicing Catholic while also being queer at the same time, which I recounted in my previous post entitled:  The Catholic, The Queer, and Probably an Unbeliever Too?, made me think of the discourse on the Western Gay Politics into which I was introduced while still in the graduate school. According to this discourse, the Western societies – unlike the differently developed societies – are modern and progressive because the historically marginalised subjects such as women and queers in these societies are liberated from subjugations. The de-secularisation of the Western societies that has taken place in the second half of the 21^st century – according to many scholars both in social sciences and the humanities – proved to be quite favourable towards those who have been hitherto marginalized and excluded from the norms of heteronormative masculinity.