QUEER RELIGION Homosexuality in Modern Religious History Volume | Donald L. Boisvert and Jay Emerson Johnson, Editors © PRAEGER [AN IMPRINT OF ABC-CUO, LLC. Santa Barbara, California * Denver, Colorado * Oxford, England6s Gh Rae 2012. vee Copyright 2012 by Donald L. Boisvert and Jay Emerson Johnson All sights reserved, No part of his publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brie quotations in 2 review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher, Library of Congress Cataloging in-Publication Data Queer religion : homosexuality in modern religious history / Donald L. Boisvert and Jay Emerson Johnson, editors. pem. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-313-35358-1 (hard back: alk, paper) — ISBN 978-0-313-35359-8 (ebook) 1, Homosexuality—Religious aspects—History. 2. Gays—Religious lfe— History. I. Boisvert, Donald L.,1951~ II. Johnson, Jay Emerson, BL65.H64Q38 2012 200,86164—de23 2011043406 ISBN: 978-0-313-35358-1 EISBN: 978.-0-313-35359-8 1615 1413.12:123.45 also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. rw.abe-clio.com for details. Pracger ‘An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC ABC-CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 ‘Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 Chapter & Islam and Discourses of Same-Sex Desire Aisha Geissinger ‘This chapter provides an overview ‘of some historical and contemporary Mus- ex desires, same-sex sexual acts, and gender minor- ide, both creative, lively LGBTQ! Muslim activism on LGBTQ issues have become increas- -ademie scholarship on these topics has also burgeoned. volume of material that is accessible to those researching these ing number of historical studies, ethnographic 3, sermons and admonitory Jonging to gender and sex i ry, novels, magazines, websites, blogs, films, coming-out stories, and other personal accounts authored by LGBTQ Muslims from ava th political meanings. efly discusses what is known about pre- various discourses that are produced by LGBTQ Muslims.70 ‘Homosexuality in Modern Religious History ‘This chapter is neither intended to lay down theological norms of belief or practice, nor to delineate “what Islam really says” about these issues. As will become evident, contemporary Muslim discourses on Islam and same-sex sexual desires and acts, as well as on gender mino Because these discourses ing, and are integrally related to the larger and perennially shifting social, economic, and political contexts within which they take place, tis chapter is unavoidably a snapshor in time. Asthe majority of the ‘Muslim population today is Sunni, and given the constraints of 2 chapter such as this, much of what follows is unavoidably “Sunnicentric.”? However, it should be borne in mind that both Sunnism and Shi'ism are incernally diverse, with different theological and legal schools, as well as sectarian movements.‘ In the last few decades, LGBTQ Muslim ac- tivist groups have generally attempted to bring people together regardless of divisions based on sectarian affiliation of legal school. A Note on Terminology needs to be addressed here is what terms should sue is not only accuracy), but also has impli- ses and AIDS prevention pro- ‘grams, as well as for the “culture wars" presently raging in various parts ofthe world.’ Can words such as “gay,” “lesbian,” “bisexual,” or “transgendered” —or ‘acronyms such as LGBT, or umbrella terms such as “queer"—be accurately applied to contemporary cultures outside of Western Europe and North areas that do not A complex question be used when discuss cations for contemporary human rights al activities, in North America and ify as “gay” or “lesbian,” or as belonging to any other in a range of comm nority recognized by local culeure also do not pe compatible with aspiring to and/or entering into heterosexual marriage is particularly true where the dominant culeure and socioeconomic conditions Islam and Discourses of Same-Sex Desire n both uphold hecerosexual marriage as the universal norm and make avoidance of i extremely difficult” in what follows, only terminology that is used by the particular groups or individuals in order eo i il ; projected backward into earlier historical periods. iporcant to note that expressions such as “same-sex desires” 1ve serious limitations. “Same-sex” presupposes that there "—in other words, chat there is a universal gender binary that exists and is conceptualized in the same ways across time, space, and culture. Terminology of this type says more about the domi- ‘nant ways of thinking about sex and gender chat are i ‘Western Europe and North America than about othet periods.! While one response co this problem might be to attempt to coin other, less obviously problematic terms, what this terminological difficulty i- lustratesis the impossibility of thinking about or discussing sex or gender from a “culture-free” standpoint beyond time and place, Rather than attempting the impossible here, to critically examine how ‘our own assumptions about what is mal," and “reasonable” oper- ate, and what they allow us to see—as well as what they obscure. Pre-modern Discourses ‘Over the last 1400 years of Muslim history, Muslim communities have ex- isted in a wide range of geographical and cultural contexts. Today, the coun- try with the largest percentage of che world’s Muslims is Indonesia (at 12.9 percent. At present, only 20 percent Africa.!" Accordingly, there is no one, unitary premodern Mu: of activudes to same-sex desires and acts, or to gender minorici multiple histories, Until comparatively recently, these histories have been very under researched, and what research there was most often focused on sources that the Middle Bast. While resea histories in other Muslim-majo