Queer Muslim solidarity: Working against binaries

Abstract

This paper addresses unique intersectional identities within the Muslim community, and some common assumptions regarding “religious identity” and the blind spots that this creates in the therapeutic space. It discusses the author’s advocacy work for queer Muslims seeking an identity or cultural match with a Muslim therapist who also affirms their queer identities, and explores issues related to invisible and visible identities, intersectionality, belonging, and advocacy. This paper uses intersectionality as a framework to emphasize the added labor, adversity and invisible negotiations that Muslims who do not fit the stereotype “Muslim” face from all angles. Applying Jasbir Puar’s conceptualization of “homonationalism,” which captures the multiple negotiations queer Muslims living in the west face as they also navigate their other intersecting identities, this paper argues that the invisibility of some identities creates both barriers to mental health care and the potential for secret solidarity between provider and client. The reader is brought on a journey of secret solidarity—the bond formed between those who understand the risk of allying with queerness as a Muslim person, and the lengths we all go to be perceived a certain way while trying to make revolutionary change.