Masterlist of literature about/including LGBTQ+ Muslims
(To be updated continuously. Please let me know if there’s anything I should add/remove!)
Note: While many of these are centered around Arab, desi (South Asian), or other “Islamic” cultures, it’s important to remember that not all people of these ethnicities are Muslim, and not all Muslims are POC.
A Map of Home by Randa Jarrar (a book about growing up Egyptian-Palestinian in 1970s, protagonist is bisexual)
Bilal’s Bread: A Novel by Sulayman X (about a Kurdish-American refugee family and the secrets that one boy keeps) and Adventures of a Bird-Shit Foreigner (about a mixed-race Thai teenager who is kicked out of his family)
Loving You Wasn’t Enough by Fatima Warsame (romance with two college-aged Somali Muslim girls)
Sex and Desperate Hearts by S. Akshash (a collection of two short stories about gay Muslim men)
The Taqwacores by Micheal Muhammad Knight (novel about an “Islamic punk” subculture, featuring queer characters)
The City of Devi by Manil Suri (Indian novel with a gay Muslim man as one of the main characters in a love triangle)
Two Gay Muslim Couples by Ali (about two pairs of gay men living in the Muslim world)
Assorted memoirs by Abdellah Taia (the first openly gay Moroccan intellectual, covers issues of culture, identity, and East/West relations. Most are in the original French)
Bareed Mista3jil (stories of LGBTQ+ Lebanese women)
Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800 by Khaled El-Rouayheb (scholarly work on the concept of homosexuality in pre-colonial times)
Female Homosexuality in the Middle East: Histories and Representations by Samar Habib (traces the history of female homosexuality from the 9th century to today)
Gay Travels in the Muslim World by Michael Luongo (tells the stories of both Muslim and non-Muslim gay men in the Muslim world)
Homosexuality and Islam: Critical Reflection on Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims by Scott Siraj Al-Haqq Kugle (scholarly work that challenges hetero/cissexist interpretations of scripture)
Hussein & the Nomad and Khalil & Majnun by Rahal Eks (memoirs from a gay Sufi man living in Morocco, exploring spirituality and love)
Illegal Citizens: Queer Lives in the Muslim World by Afdhere Jama (stories about queer people in countries where same-sex activity is forbidden)
Living Out Islam: Voices of Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims by Scott Siraj Al-Haqq Kugle (personal stories of LGBTQ+ Muslims)
Love, Inshallah and Salaam, Love by Nura Masnavi and Ayesha Mattu (queer-inclusive anthologies about the love lives of American Muslim women and men, respectively)
Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism, compiled by Omid Safi (anthology of writings by various authors on progressive Islam)
Queer Beirut by Sofian Merabet (ethnographic study of queer lives in the Middle East)
Queer Jihad: LGBT Muslims on Coming Out, Activism, and the Faith by Afdhere Jama (a look at the lives of queer Muslims, mostly activists working towards ending homophobia)
Sex, Longing, and Not Belonging: A Gay Muslim’s Quest for Love and Meaning by Balruddin Khan (memoir from a Pakistani gay man)
Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times by Jaspir Puar (scholarly work examining the role of the white gay movement in reinforcing racist and Islamophobic attitudes)
Wanting in Arabic: Poems by Trish Salah (poetry about trans and racial identity by an Arab author)
Assorted publications by Andrew Yip (scholarly studies about queer people of faith, many of which from 2004 to 2010 focus on Muslims)
“ Azima ila Hayati–An invitation in to my life: Narrative Conversations about Sexual Identity,” by Sekneh Hammoud-Becket (article about the concept of “the closet”, analysis here),
“Brown and Queer in America” by Mona M. (about the intersection of brown culture and sexual identity)
Collection of articles on LGBTQ+ in the Middle East and North Africa (compiled by Muftah, which strives to provide a diverse voice in a Western-dominated media)
“Coming Out in the Muslim Community” by Ramy Eletreby (the author’s personal coming out story and how it affected his relationships with people)
How to De-queer Your Apartment, A Very Queer Ramadan, and Not Your Tragic Queer Muslim Story by Lamya H. (”creative nonfiction”-type essays that delve into the author’s identity as a queer Muslim)
Islamic Texts: A Source for Acceptance of Queer Individuals into Mainstream Muslim Society (PDF) by Imam Muhsin Hendriks (gives an overview
“Seeking home: The lives of gay and transgender asylum seekers of the Middle East” by Nicole Crowder (article about Arabs cast out for their sexual/gender identities)
“Sodomized by Religion”: Fictional Representations of Queer Muslims in the West (PDF) by Ibrahim Abraham (analyzes the “hybrid identity” of queer Muslims as depicted in two films and two novels)
Kaos GL (run by Turkish LGBT organization since 1994)
My.Kali (Jordan, online and in print bi-monthly)
Q-Magazine (Kosovo, bilingual: English and Albanian, sadly seems to be inactive but there are old issues available)
Roopban (Bengali, new magazine, contact on Facebook if you want a copy)
Totally Radical Muslims zine (pieces by queer and other marginalized Muslims)
stormborns
yousharknotpass
gummygunk
titsay
dailybridgerton
origamiaround
pixelskylines
vaporwave
