Holy Hate
By Anissa Helie
Why Sexuality?
Why is sexuality and sexual conformity the focus of so much attention by fundamentalist forces? A possible answer is that people making individual choice appears as a challenge: autonomy, especially for women, is seen as a threat. It is interesting to note that in past centuries Arabs attributed homosexual behavior to the bad influence of Persians. Today, it's much the same story, though the characters may change. In June 2000, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar stated that homosexuality was "against nature" and, following a call by Human Rights Watch to ban Malaysia's sodomy law, insisted, "We can't amend the country's laws merely due to calls by outsiders".
Not just a local or national phenomenon, fundamentalism has taken on a global dimension. Extremist religious leaders from various faiths are coming together to oppose sexual rights. By "closing ranks", coalitions of Christians, Muslims and other fundamentalists affect the international agenda .We saw the effect of such alliances on women's reproductive rights at the Cairo Conference on Population and Development in 1994. Such alliances also blocked the recognition of the rights of Lesbians at both the 1995 World Conference on Women held in Beijing and the review of the Beijing Platform for Action in June 2000.
Of course, similar coalitions influence local political agendas. Take Britain, a secular country with a very vocal extremist Muslim minority. A Muslim-Christian alliance was recently formed to oppose the repeal of Section 28, a law introduced in 1988 which forbids the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools as "a pretended family relationship". At a conference in May 2000, religious spokesperson Dr. Majid Katme stated that "Lesbianism is spreading like fire in society. We must vaccinate our children against this curse". He is supported in this view by Sheikh Sharkhawy, a senior cleric at the prestigious Regent"s Park mosque in central London, who publicly advocates the execution of Gay males over the age of 10 and life imprisonment for Lesbians.
At least as worrying is the support for fundamentalist politics by the so-called "free West". The help extended by states pretending to defend democracy is not a new phenomenon. Imam Khomeiny was resident in France for several months in 1978, just before going back to Iran to lead the "Islamic" revolution. In Afghanistan, the CIA not only trained the Taliban but has also "admitted bringing 25,000 Arab volunteers to fight against the Red Army". Incidentally, both those countries, Iran and Afghanistan, currently sentence homosexuals to death.
What does that teach us? First, that the hypocrisy of most political leaders knows no limit: their ever-changing definition of "fundamentalism" allows them to turn against their allies of yesterday, who, if guided by moral values, they should never have got involved with in the first place. Second, it is obvious that economic and geo-strategic concerns always prevail. We can only regret that there are so few allies at the international level who are ready to compromise their interests in order to defend the rights of women and sexual minorities.
Strategies of Resistance
Despite a threatening environment, sexual minorities are organizing and becoming more visible in Muslim countries and communities. For example, much research is being carried out to interpret religious texts. The Qu'ran is being re-examined by Gay, or Gay-friendly, theologians and believers in order to break the monopoly of male homophobic interpretation. To counter the stereotype of homosexuality as foreign, others are engaged in reclaiming homoerotic literature.
Another positive example is found in Lebanon, where homosexuality is illegal, but a popular weekly TV program (Al Shater Yahki) has been focusing on sexuality since 1997 and includes Gay voices. The fact that they speak from behind masks gives a measure of the risks involved.
Nevertheless, new solidarity associations are being set up. These organizations are, for obvious security reasons, often located outside Muslim countries and communities. Most of them, however, connect with either individuals or groups within Muslim countries. Whether mainly political, social or religious in their motivation these organizations all aim at breaking the isolation faced by sexual minorities. In Muslim countries and communities, sexual minorities have only just begun Threats of violence and accusations of betraying one's culture and religion has discouraged many from taking a public stand. However, more and more people are rejecting the idea that violence against sexual diversity is "divinely sanctioned".
NOTES
Anissa Helie is a feminist and human-rights activist who has been involved in the International Solidarity Network of Women Living Under Muslim Laws for nearly 15 years. The article is based on a talk presented at the IGLHRC conference in Rome July 3rd, 2000 ("The Separation of Faith and Hate: Sexual Diversity, Religious Intolerance and Strategies for Change"- World Pride) and also appeared in The New International.
•The twenty-six countries Muslim countries that condemn homosexuality are: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lybia, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Yemen. According to the winter 2000 issue of "Outfront" (the newsletter of Amnesty International's Program on Human Rights and Sexual Identity), the number of "predominantly Muslim countries [in which] homosexuality is officially criminalized" is as high as thirty-four.
The main schools of thought within Islam differ in their treatment of homosexuals: for example, the Hana'ite school (to be found mainly in South and East Asia) does not advocate physical punishment while the Hanabalites (prevalent in the Arab world) call for a severe punishment; the Sha'fi school (also seen in the Arab world) makes it very difficult to actually prove homosexual acts (a minimum of four male direct witnesses is required).
•Examples of poetry celebrating male love include Sufi poets such as Jalaluddin Rumi about his lover Shams-e-Tabriz and the Ottoman "divan literature" by male poets celebrating their male lovers. Also, feminists in Bangladesh recently reprinted "Sultana's dream" and WLUML reprinted a novel by Indian author Ismat Chughtal.
•Women Living Under Muslim Laws is a network of women whose lives are shaped, conditioned or governed by laws, both written and unwritten, drawn from interpretation of the Koran tied up with local traditions. While the imposed rules defining the identity of women living in Muslim countries and communities vary accordingly to sect, culture, ethnicity and class, they share one common ground: all embody and promote patriarchal structures and values.
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