Special thanks to Michael Hunnet, Phd from Jesuit School of Theology, Santa Clara, for writing this article. Do to unforeseen circumstances, we couldn’t get his account up and running, so it is now published under my name
Ever since its establishment by the British in 1920 as a political weapon against the Ottomans, the existence of Palestine has been considered little more than a point of convenience to the western powers who like to call themselves the rulers of the world. Despite a century of anti-colonial activism from both Arab and Jewish activists, the paternalistic hand of the British government still hangs heavy over the heads of those who live there to this day.
In 1936, Britain imposed its laws upon Palestine, including the outlawing of homosexual relations between men. While Britain itself has marginally improved in regards to this, with gay men and women being legally if not socially accepted, Palestine remains stuck in the past, still struggling with its colonial history and unable to move past it due to the damage inflicted upon it by successive British governments. While certain Pakistani dictators have also implemented harsh rules against the LGBT, such as the Hudud Ordinances of 1979, in practice these are barely ever enforced and serve more as vestigial laws such as those allowing the English to shoot Welshmen from the walls of York with a longbow – that is, they are down on paper but any attempt to enforce them would be met by both outcry from the public and a sensible rebuff from the judicial system.
In 1986, the arch-tory Margaret Thatcher held official talks with officials from Palestine during which she promised to help them achieve self-determination, but her actions told a different story. Cleaving to Israel’s claims over Palestine, she didn’t advance their cause any and kept them locked into the same false hope that the modern Tory party whose leadership candidates continually promote themselves as being about being the “party of Thatcher” perpetuates through its worship of her terrible legacy.
While Britain may claim to be independent of Palestine now, in reality they exert a more insidious form of control in the form of these false promises and false hope for an oppressed people that keep them from self-actualizing and implementing the progressive policies that Islam’s real adherents know to be the true tenets of their religion – supporting, protecting, and elevating women, educating children in progressive thinking, and breaking free of the strictures of Christianity the same way the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) did with his holy koran.
Pakistan has a vibrant underground gay culture ongoing to this day, which more than ever needs its time to shine brightly, shine bravely, and allow people to be their true Gay Muslim selves.
