A couple of weeks ago, Siddika Jessa, a senior official of a large North American Muslim group was forced to resign because….she’d attended the wedding of her son to another man.
I’m both upset at how immediate and severe the backlash was, that it forced this, but I’m also happy that a Muslim mom who wasn’t even completely accepting herself at first now would rather stand with her gay son than keep the power that came with a homophobic group.
Some excerpts from her resignation letter:
My stance today is not just as a devoted mother but as a human being who has painfully observed
how the community has usurped the rights of God’s creation in the name of Islam and passed
judgement.
[My son] had talked to various Scholars and sought help in the Shia Faith and he tells me that the best piece of
advice that he got was to ensure that he does not get married to a woman and ruin her life.
For us this is about standing up for Ali’s God given right to live a life that would not be filled with the
burden of religious guilt and compounded by communal scorn and societal shame. […] Let me point out that our community
is not immune to this and I personally know of many people within our community that are
suffering, stiffened and ostracised.
We chose not to have that for our son. We wanted him to be the best human being possible.
And most valuable, to bring an Islamic perspective on why to NOT be homophobic.
In moments of darkness, I realized that the only way for Ali to live an authentic life and not have to
hide and fear rejection was to give him space to reach his human potential as God’s creation. After
that God knows best. The only person to judge my son would be God on the Day of Judgment. If a
compassionate God provides sustenance to every human being, who am I to deprive my son of that
sustenance?
And then the rather bluntly honest conclusion:
When I reflect back through mine and my Son’s journey I
am convinced that his orientation is Nature and not Nurture. Like Ali Reza expressed many times,
“that if he could flick a switch and not be Gay, he would do it in a heartbeat”.
A couple of weeks ago, Siddika Jessa, a senior official of a large North American Muslim group was forced to resign because….she’d attended the wedding of her son to another man.
I’m both upset at how immediate and severe the backlash was, that it forced this, but I’m also happy that a Muslim mom who wasn’t even completely accepting herself at first now would rather stand with her gay son than keep the power that came with a homophobic group.
Some excerpts from her resignation letter:
My stance today is not just as a devoted mother but as a human being who has painfully observed
how the community has usurped the rights of God’s creation in the name of Islam and passed
judgement.
[My son] had talked to various Scholars and sought help in the Shia Faith and he tells me that the best piece of
advice that he got was to ensure that he does not get married to a woman and ruin her life.
For us this is about standing up for Ali’s God given right to live a life that would not be filled with the
burden of religious guilt and compounded by communal scorn and societal shame. […] Let me point out that our community
is not immune to this and I personally know of many people within our community that are
suffering, stiffened and ostracised.
We chose not to have that for our son. We wanted him to be the best human being possible.
And most valuable, to bring an Islamic perspective on why to NOT be homophobic.
In moments of darkness, I realized that the only way for Ali to live an authentic life and not have to
hide and fear rejection was to give him space to reach his human potential as God’s creation. After
that God knows best. The only person to judge my son would be God on the Day of Judgment. If a
compassionate God provides sustenance to every human being, who am I to deprive my son of that
sustenance?
And then the rather bluntly honest conclusion:
When I reflect back through mine and my Son’s journey I
am convinced that his orientation is Nature and not Nurture. Like Ali Reza expressed many times,
“that if he could flick a switch and not be Gay, he would do it in a heartbeat”.
Guys, I realise most of you are US based and don’t realise this, but the next General Election in the UK will decide what we as a country want out of our system.
We literally have the most left wing manifesto out of the labour party we’ve seen in years – they’re finally not just a centrist, almost policy for policy but slightly more left version of the tories.
However, right-wing media is attempting to destroy our left wing leader. They’re smearing him left, right and centre. Hopelessly trying to make him out to be an ‘incapable leader’, as though ANY of the leaders we’ve had in the past few decades were the most respectable of people.
Our right wing leader is essentially Cruella De Vil down to wanting to lift the ban on fox hunting.
Can we talk about this more as a site?
You all blogged for Trump vs Clinton. Now can we pay attention to the rise of the right wing else where? Our left wing is promising nationalisation, free education and taxing the rich to fill our gaps but people still want to vote Tory despite them looking to privatise our health care, rip it to shreds first by giving their friends jobs in management and toss our education system up in the air. All because 1) Not enough people are voting and 2) the right wing is playing dirty tricks.
What happens in our General Election decides how the UK interacts with Trump. Currently, Theresa is a loyal lap dog without a back bone to speak of. Be aware that politics in other countries exists.
This is all very true and very important, but can I point something out? Theresa May and the Tory party as a whole are the most right-wing government we’ve seen for a long time. This isn’t just about caricatures and fox-hunting. Yes, she’s a twat, and yes she wants to bring back fox hunting.
But more importantly:
This government has taken away disability benefits and replaced them with a new scheme that is absolute pittance, they increased the national debt, and have continued to de-fund and sell off parts of the NHS. They want to scrap free school lunches for impoverished children, privatise the NHS, reduce the winter fuel allowance for pensioners, tighten border control and immigration, fund more grammar schools, not to mention what has now been dubbed as the “dementia tax” where millions of elderly people and their families are essentially getting financially penalized for living longer while unwell. They are promising to CUT corporation tax, which is already lower in Britain than most other countries in Europe, meaning that all these multi-billion dollar corporations have to pay even LESS than before, and want foreign workers and international students to pay more for their healthcare while over here, as well as to increase defense spending.
Quotes from the actual, literal, official Tory manifesto:
“Some people say that it is not for government to regulate when it comes to technology and the internet… We disagree.”
“While we cannot create this framework alone, it is for government, not private companies, to protect the security of people and ensure the fairness of the rules by which people and businesses abide… Nor do we agree that the risks of such an approach outweigh the potential benefits.”
And from The Independent article:
The manifesto also proposes that internet companies will have to pay a levy, like the one currently paid by gambling firms. Just like with gambling, that money will be used to pay for advertising schemes to tell people about the dangers of the internet, in particular being used to “support awareness and preventative activity to counter internet harms”, according to the manifesto.
The Conservatives will also seek to regulate the kind of news that is posted online and how companies are paid for it. If elected, Theresa May will “take steps to protect the reliability and objectivity of information that is essential to our democracy” – and crack down on Facebook and Google to ensure that news companies get enough advertising money.
If internet companies refuse to comply with the rulings – a suggestion that some have already made about the powers in the Investigatory Powers Act – then there will be a strict and strong set of ways to punish them.
“We will introduce a sanctions regime to ensure compliance, giving regulators the ability to fine or prosecute those companies that fail in their legal duties, and to order the removal of content where it clearly breaches UK law,” the manifesto reads.
Yes, she wants to bring back fox hunting. But she also wants to do a hell of a lot more much more harmful things than that. This government could be worse than Thatchers. She will make life miserable for the working class, the disabled, migrants, and other minorities.
So talk about it. And get your ass down to polling stations or organise your postal vote. Please, for the sake of everyone vulnerable in this country – VOTE.
Muricans, if you have UK followers (or if your followers have UK followers) help educate them on their vote. We need help.
Guys, I realise most of you are US based and don’t realise this, but the next General Election in the UK will decide what we as a country want out of our system.
We literally have the most left wing manifesto out of the labour party we’ve seen in years – they’re finally not just a centrist, almost policy for policy but slightly more left version of the tories.
However, right-wing media is attempting to destroy our left wing leader. They’re smearing him left, right and centre. Hopelessly trying to make him out to be an ‘incapable leader’, as though ANY of the leaders we’ve had in the past few decades were the most respectable of people.
Our right wing leader is essentially Cruella De Vil down to wanting to lift the ban on fox hunting.
Can we talk about this more as a site?
You all blogged for Trump vs Clinton. Now can we pay attention to the rise of the right wing else where? Our left wing is promising nationalisation, free education and taxing the rich to fill our gaps but people still want to vote Tory despite them looking to privatise our health care, rip it to shreds first by giving their friends jobs in management and toss our education system up in the air. All because 1) Not enough people are voting and 2) the right wing is playing dirty tricks.
What happens in our General Election decides how the UK interacts with Trump. Currently, Theresa is a loyal lap dog without a back bone to speak of. Be aware that politics in other countries exists.
This is all very true and very important, but can I point something out? Theresa May and the Tory party as a whole are the most right-wing government we’ve seen for a long time. This isn’t just about caricatures and fox-hunting. Yes, she’s a twat, and yes she wants to bring back fox hunting.
But more importantly:
This government has taken away disability benefits and replaced them with a new scheme that is absolute pittance, they increased the national debt, and have continued to de-fund and sell off parts of the NHS. They want to scrap free school lunches for impoverished children, privatise the NHS, reduce the winter fuel allowance for pensioners, tighten border control and immigration, fund more grammar schools, not to mention what has now been dubbed as the “dementia tax” where millions of elderly people and their families are essentially getting financially penalized for living longer while unwell. They are promising to CUT corporation tax, which is already lower in Britain than most other countries in Europe, meaning that all these multi-billion dollar corporations have to pay even LESS than before, and want foreign workers and international students to pay more for their healthcare while over here, as well as to increase defense spending.
Quotes from the actual, literal, official Tory manifesto:
“Some people say that it is not for government to regulate when it comes to technology and the internet… We disagree.”
“While we cannot create this framework alone, it is for government, not private companies, to protect the security of people and ensure the fairness of the rules by which people and businesses abide… Nor do we agree that the risks of such an approach outweigh the potential benefits.”
And from The Independent article:
The manifesto also proposes that internet companies will have to pay a levy, like the one currently paid by gambling firms. Just like with gambling, that money will be used to pay for advertising schemes to tell people about the dangers of the internet, in particular being used to “support awareness and preventative activity to counter internet harms”, according to the manifesto.
The Conservatives will also seek to regulate the kind of news that is posted online and how companies are paid for it. If elected, Theresa May will “take steps to protect the reliability and objectivity of information that is essential to our democracy” – and crack down on Facebook and Google to ensure that news companies get enough advertising money.
If internet companies refuse to comply with the rulings – a suggestion that some have already made about the powers in the Investigatory Powers Act – then there will be a strict and strong set of ways to punish them.
“We will introduce a sanctions regime to ensure compliance, giving regulators the ability to fine or prosecute those companies that fail in their legal duties, and to order the removal of content where it clearly breaches UK law,” the manifesto reads.
Yes, she wants to bring back fox hunting. But she also wants to do a hell of a lot more much more harmful things than that. This government could be worse than Thatchers. She will make life miserable for the working class, the disabled, migrants, and other minorities.
So talk about it. And get your ass down to polling stations or organise your postal vote. Please, for the sake of everyone vulnerable in this country – VOTE.
Muricans, if you have UK followers (or if your followers have UK followers) help educate them on their vote. We need help.
Posted on
I try to stay upbeat and positive. Like, it is just TV, I have other stuff in my life. But…it is only media that I can look to for any kind of queer women happiness. The Catch was a bit of a mess and I do appreciate the statement that the person on the show who people were calling out for having signed the pledge put out: http://lgbtfansdeservebetter.com/blog/2016/04/30/statement-sherry-white/
Unlike the responses from the people behind Orphan Black, The Vampire Diaries, Empire, and The lOO, it acknowledges our points and shows they were listening. It’s not an excuse or a dismissal or justification. So okay, I can feel a little hopeful about things.
AND THEN I CAUGHT UP ON SAINTS & SINNERS. This was a drama with a mainly Black cast airing on BounceTV and the first ep had a surprise f/f pairing involving two awesome, powerful characters. And then this Sunday’s ep killed off one of them! Gloria Reuben’s character! I wrote this post less than a week ago, already two more of them are dead. And that list’s almost exhaustive on existing f/f characters in every currently airing show in the world. Like, there are a few soaps I’ve left out? And maybe a few more I forgot about or don’t know about, The Tunnel, Flowers which blew through all six eps in a week, Legends of Tomorrow, which, hey, at least they’re using a dead queer woman brought back to life.
I genuinely thought that there were so few of us left to kill that there’d be a halt. But nope. Add TWO more for the week.
Posted on
I try to stay upbeat and positive. Like, it is just TV, I have other stuff in my life. But…it is only media that I can look to for any kind of queer women happiness. The Catch was a bit of a mess and I do appreciate the statement that the person on the show who people were calling out for having signed the pledge put out: http://lgbtfansdeservebetter.com/blog/2016/04/30/statement-sherry-white/
Unlike the responses from the people behind Orphan Black, The Vampire Diaries, Empire, and The lOO, it acknowledges our points and shows they were listening. It’s not an excuse or a dismissal or justification. So okay, I can feel a little hopeful about things.
AND THEN I CAUGHT UP ON SAINTS & SINNERS. This was a drama with a mainly Black cast airing on BounceTV and the first ep had a surprise f/f pairing involving two awesome, powerful characters. And then this Sunday’s ep killed off one of them! Gloria Reuben’s character! I wrote this post less than a week ago, already two more of them are dead. And that list’s almost exhaustive on existing f/f characters in every currently airing show in the world. Like, there are a few soaps I’ve left out? And maybe a few more I forgot about or don’t know about, The Tunnel, Flowers which blew through all six eps in a week, Legends of Tomorrow, which, hey, at least they’re using a dead queer woman brought back to life.
I genuinely thought that there were so few of us left to kill that there’d be a halt. But nope. Add TWO more for the week.
