From a Black Gay Ex-Muslim, this needs to be said.
I’m a Black gay ex-Muslim, and I need people to understand something:
Queer people are not a monolith.
I’m tired of activist groups speaking as if they represent all of us while ignoring queer ex-Muslims, especially those of us from African backgrounds who have lived through religious homophobia, cultural pressure, racism, and the realities of leaving Islam.
You don’t get to preach inclusion while silencing the voices that complicate your narrative.
And let me make something very clear: I am NOT pro-Israel, and I do not condone the killing of civilians or the devastation happening in Gaza. I find the suffering, death, and destruction abhorrent and vile. Human life matters to me deeply.
But opposing civilian suffering does not mean I have to blindly support activist movements that erase my lived experiences, speak over queer ex-Muslims, or pressure all queer people into ideological conformity.
Questioning “Queers for Palestine” does not automatically make someone hateful, a Zionist, or immoral.
Some of us are tired of being gaslit whenever we speak honestly about homophobia, extremism, racism, or our own experiences within religious and cultural communities.
I can oppose violence against civilians while ALSO refusing to romanticize societies, ideologies, or movements that have historically not accepted people like me.
That is nuance. That is independent thought.
Too many people want queer identity to come with mandatory political beliefs. I reject that completely.
My identity is not a political script for other people to use.
Listen to queer ex-Muslims. Listen to Black queer voices. Listen to people whose experiences do not fit neatly into social media activism.
We exist too.