The majority of Muslims in Germany reject sexual diversity. Research results show that Report Mainz present. Affected people suffer – they even face violence.
Queer people from the Muslim community can often only express their sexual orientation in secret. Otherwise they face exclusion and hostility. Like a student with Turkish roots who doesn’t want his name published and should therefore be called Kemal here. He grew up in a Muslim family. When he came out to his parents, his mother first lost faith. “She asked Allah: Why her son of all people? And did I not know that I was dirtying the entire family name,” says Kemal.
He felt out of place everywhere and played with suicidal thoughts, he reports in an interview Report Mainz. After all, he turned away from his religion – and can now live his homosexuality openly.
Those who come out often experience exclusion and hostility, reports Kemal.
A sin
It is very difficult for those affected to reconcile faith and homosexuality. A Muslim woman with an Alevi background reports on her fears of being outed in her community: “If coming out means that I will be expelled from my Alevi, my religious community, then as a religious person I will not do that either.”
Many Muslims, referring to the Koran, consider homosexuality and transsexuality to be sins. This is also reflected in previously unpublished survey results as part of the “Radical Islam – Radical Anti-Islam” (RIRA) research project. Last year, 2,500 people nationwide were asked about their opinion of homosexuality and transgender status – an additional 600 Muslims.
rejection among Muslims
According to the numbers that Report Mainz available exclusively, 43 percent of the general population agree with the statement: “I find it disgusting when homosexuals kiss in public.” For Muslims, the proportion is 65 percent.
The statement “Transsexuality is something completely normal” is denied by 49 percent of the general population. 71 percent of the Muslims surveyed reject this statement.
In an interview with Report Mainz the Leipzig sociologist of religion Gert Pickel attributes the results to the fact that Muslims often live their religion more dogmatically than Christians. “It’s true that Muslims in Germany also change as a result of their environment, becoming more open. At the same time, you notice that they have very, very difficulty getting along with groups such as transgender people, intersexual people, and homosexuals. It’s an unusual thing Terrain for many,” says Pickel, who evaluated the numbers.
“Unfamiliar territory” for many Muslims: sociologist of religion Gert Pickel
Islamist influencers against sexual diversity
These reservations are fueled by radical influencers who agitate against the LGBTQI+ movement online. For example, the group “Muslim interactive”, which has 90,000 followers on TikTok alone, says: “But one thing has to be said […]that LGBTQ expression is not and never will be allowed in Islam. Because Islam is not subordinate to liberalism, nothing will change the laws of Allah.”
Gülden Hennemann, who heads a unit for combating extremism in the Bavarian correctional system, said opposite Report Mainz: “Anyone who makes such statements, who makes such statements, regardless of the question of whether with violence or without violence, is for me clearly against our free-democratic basic order and actually does not fit into our society.”
“Enemy image LGBTQI+”
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) confirms that Islamist groups are increasingly instrumentalizing queer-political issues such as homosexuality and transidentity: “The LGBTQI+ image of the enemy arouses emotions, mobilizes and is intended to encourage a return to one’s own ‘Islamic’ constructed identity in contrast to the ‘degenerate’ serve defamed liberal western society.”
In the worst case, homosexuality in Muslim families and communities can be life-threatening for those affected. For example, a person with a Lebanese background reports that he was threatened with death by members of his family after he had entered into a relationship with a man and this became known. The hostilities and threats against him were religious and justified with the label “gay”. “According to Islamic law, you supposedly have the right to do anything and you don’t have to justify yourself.”
You can see the documentary “Forbidden Love? Queer Muslims, threatened and insulted” by Report Mainz tonight at 9.45 p.m. on the first. The documentation is also available in the ARD media library.