South Asia’s LGBTQ Muslims turn to social media for support

As a sexual minority within a conservative religion, LGBTQ Muslims in South Asia are supporting each other on social media platforms in a climate of fear and discrimination.

Shahamat Uddin moved to the United States recently to look for a better future after living in fear for his life as a marginalised gay man in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.

The numerous instances of violence and persecution of the LGBTQ community in Bangladesh shocked Uddin.

The murder of Xulhaz Mannan in 2016 was perhaps the most disturbing incident. Mannan and another LGBTQ activist, Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy, were hacked to death in Mannan’s apartment by men armed with machetes.  Al-Qaida in Bangladesh eventually claimed responsibility for the murders, DW.com reports.

Mannan’s advocacy for LGBTQ rights had inspired Uddin deeply. He, too, wanted a platform where he could express himself freely. Eventually, Uddin stumbled upon an online community of Muslim LGBTQ individuals from South Asia called «The Queer Muslim Project.».

«To be Queer is to be a political troublemaker. I love you Xulhaz and it is because of you, I know why God would make us Brown, Muslim, Queer – troublemakers», reads one of Uddin’s posts, according to DW.com.