Re: I'm gay....what do I do?
All religious texts are open to interpretation and new readings. The Word of God cannot be contained by human consciousness. For example, although many Islamophobes are sympathetic to Bin Laden in arguing that only he knows the Truth, the vast majority of Muslims reject this thinking as they reject Bin Laden and his associates. Our understanding of the text is not bound to a moment, nor is it fixed. It is dynamic and not in English.
Islam adopted its primary admonition against homosexuality from the Bible: the story of Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah. The difference between, say, some of the more liberal attitudes on homosexuality by a number of Christian ministers compared to the predominantly conservative attitude among Muslim clerics isn't in the details of the story itself, but in the contemporary interpretation of it.
Some self-described liberal Muslims accept and consider homosexuality as natural, regarding these verses as either obsolete in the context of modern society, or point out that the Qu'ran speaks out against homosexual lust, and is silent on homosexual love.
The story of loot has not been addressed in context it is only being twisted to conform to what the majority want to say: that gays are evil.
I have read the Quran and the story of loot in its entire context.
Like the Bible, and most other religious texts, the Qur'an doesn't have any verse that says, "God has made you black and white, male and female, straight and gay. Be you as brothers to one another, working, eating, praying, loving as one family." On the other hand, it also does not say "Marriage is only between one man and one woman," or even "between one man and up to four women."
There is a clear assumption in many passages in the Qur'an that marriage is between men and women. Passages that talk about how a couple should decide when to wean a child, what times of day it is permissible to have sexual relations during Ramadan, or what to do when conflict arises and a divorce seems the best solution.
But other passages -- passages that talk about the fundamental nature of human relationships as a duality -- do not have a gender dichotomy. The word "zauj," often translated as mate or spouse, signifies one half of a partnership, both husband and wife. This is a powerful concept which affirms the fundamental equality of both spouses and leaves room for a genderless conception of human partnering.
This fundamental pairing of human beings is described in several passages which talk about the creation of humanity as a people. The initial human entity -- the word in Arabic is grammatically feminine and is often translated as soul, though it can mean self, person, or ego -- is given a mate of like nature, created from her own substance.
4:1 O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from her created her mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women.
30:21 And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your hearts: verily in that are Signs for those who reflect.
In its position, the islamic leaders are essentially saying “You can love who we say you can love in the manner we say you can love them.” Since God is love, by defining the boundaries of love these leaders and imams are by extension trying to corral God into its own small, sad version of love rather than the all-encompassing reality of love of all shapes and sizes that God truly is. But the these leaders and imams do not have a monopoly on love or on God, and neither God nor love will be corralled. Thankfully God is bigger than these people, and God loves these people and its folly—and those who acquiesce to its folly—in spite of their attempts to make Him less than He is, and in spite of their attempts, however well-intentioned, to define Him to fit their own narrow definition.
Again, just as has happened in the past, those who stand in just defiance of wrongdoing; who stand on the side of the oppressed; who would do unto others as they would have it done unto themselves; and who continue to live the true message of OUR PROPHET (pbuh) through their words and actions will stand in history as the true Muslims.
It is not easy to live as a gay person in the world. It means living in a world of prejudice and misunderstanding, of religiously sanctioned bigotry, of fighting for rights and fearing for safety in small-minded places, of getting mistreated and laughed at and marginalized in ways you really can’t imagine. It is a world of families tearing themselves apart and homes being broken, and it’s all over love. There is nothing just about that, and by acting the way you have acted in writing these things , you have continued that injustice.
There is a time that one must choose between what is right and what is easy, and it is always easy to plant oneself behind the views of one’s religion in an attempt to justify one’s behavior.
Being gay is the furthest thing from easy. But it is right for gay people to be here in the world, and for us all to live our lives happy and fulfilled. Someday the Islamic world and its followers will realize that. Until then I will continue to work against those who would smother their love, and the love of hundreds of millions more people, with their own beliefs.
Allah will judge them for judging you. And Allah knows what is in our hearts (though these fools think that they can judge us when Allah is the only one to do so!). They elevate themselves to the position of Allah and commit a great sin-- but of course they do not recognize this and instead damn us for believing in the love and mercy of Allah, and trying to emphasis it in our own opinions and practices.