From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA:
“There has been some grief, the occasional angst-riddled moment, but to be completely honest for me my queerness has brought mostly joy into my life. Whatever grief I have suffered comes as a result of other people's internalized trauma and their need to lash out, which is separate from my queerness and my faith. I feel most open and spiritually connected with Allah (SWT) when I hold myself to my truth. And I believe that in resisting colonial cisheterosexual patriarchal norms of interpersonal relationship building, I have the ability to strive for dismantling abusive power structures and thus more caring interpersonal relationships. I am blessed to always be surrounded by love and I am eternally grateful for it. My family who, regardless of their level of knowledge regarding my queerness or lack thereof, has helped build me up to the strength I have now that allows me to be honest with myself. The friends, and community of support I have around me always has my back and I feel honored to serve them in whatever way I can. And with the woman I love, a queer Muslim herself, I learned what it means to love without expectations, to truly be unselfish.”