In the wake of the devastating Orlando shooting, much talk has been about the LGBTQ and Muslim communities. Some are turning against Muslims once again after Islam for its reality through Muhammad Ali, just because of a random, erred shooter who saw two gay men kissing and pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
Others are seeing this problem only for it being related to radical Islamic terrorism. According to CNN, although unclear on the shooter’s motives, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, said that “if in fact this terrorist attack is one inspired by radical Islamic ideology…common sense tells you he specifically targeted the gay community because of the views that exist in the radical Islamic community with regard to the gay community.”
While the Muslim community continues to garner hate, the LGBTQ community does as well. The Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-LGBT hate group, claims that “God sent the shooter” through sets of tweets to massacre gays in a Florida nightclub. Instead of mourning over the great tragedy and the loss of 50 victims, they take it to their twitter accounts to distribute hate.
Just as we know that this group does not represent Christianity, the deranged shooter in Orlando doesn’t represent Islam either. In fact, this incident has served as a gateway for the Muslim LGBTQ to show how much they are affected as well. In a statement released Sunday by the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity, which works to support and empower LGBTQ Muslims, shows that we must work to overcome homophobia, transphobia, and Islamophobia.
“We reject attempts to perpetuate hatred against our LGBTQ communities as well as our Muslim communities. We ask all people to resist forces of division and hatred and to stand against homophobia and transphobia, as well as against Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry.
Tragedies often lead people to seek someone or something to blame, but we ask our friends to resist this temptation. Let us instead recommit ourselves to working toward the world without hatred and prejudice.
We ask our straight Muslim allies, many of whom have stood in solidarity with us, to build support for LGBTQ people and in opposing homophobia and transphobia in whatever guise it presents itself. We ask our non-Muslim allies, especially within the LGBTQ community, to stand with us against Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry, while we work to end homophobia and transphobia. And to all peace-loving people everywhere, we ask for your compassion and your support at this very difficult time for our communities.”
The LGBT community has also stood up and said that an attack on their community is no excuse for Islamophobia. The LGBTQ community has expressed the concern of this incident leading to hatred towards Muslims and because they know what it feels like to be marginalized, to be discriminated and they don’t want Muslims to feel the same way.
Also in light of the shootings, just as the Muslims Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity pleaded, straight Muslims all over the country are coming together to pray for the victims and are showing their support for the LGBTQ community. Nihad Awad, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, pledged to stand with the gay community according to the New Yorker.
“For many years, members of the LGBTQI community have stood shoulder to shoulder with the Muslim community against any acts of hate crimes, Islamophobia, marginalization, and discrimination. Today we stand with them shoulder to shoulder,” Awad said.
Muslims understand that that the two communities overlap as there are in fact LGBTQ Muslims in America. Both groups understand that at this time there is no time and room for the shunning of a community and because they are both the minority they must stick together to overcome the irrationality and the hatred that continues to divide this country. Because shutting someone out doesn’t solve the problem. As Suzanne Barakat, a relative of the Chapel Hill Shooting victims said according to AJ+ at a vigil for those killed in Orlando that “These tragedies are coming to us far too frequently. The cure for it is the medicine of love, kindness, and compassion.”
