News and Analysis on Islam in Europe and North America
An intense debate is taking place in the UK between religious groups in the context of what has been described as the introduction of ‘LGBT equality’ lessons and the announcement by the UK government that from September 2020, relationships and sex education (RSE) will become statutory in all secondary schools in England. Relationships education will
March 11, 2016 Growing up in Algeria, Shaira had almost everything a young man could wish for. But he also had a big secret. In a land where homosexuality is still a crime and a sin, he was forced to live a secret life, hiding that he was gay from everyone — even his closest
January 28, 2016 An influential French news magazine Friday removed a cartoon of a revered Senegalese Muslim leader that sparked outrage in the west African nation in a row involving Islam, handbags and homosexuality. The debate erupted after Jeune Afrique published a story and an illustration on its website Thursday including a caricature of Sheikh
The endearing title characters of Jay Dockendorf’s film “Naz & Maalik” are 18-year-old best friends who recently became lovers, living in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a Brooklyn neighborhood in the throes of gentrification. Naz (Kerwin Johnson Jr.) and Maalik (Curtiss Cook Jr.) are closeted and Muslim, and especially for Naz, the Islamic taboo against homosexuality weighs heavily. Both
In the film, Mr. Sharma, 41, struggles visibly with his fear, even as he prays. He also explores the enduring grief he felt after being rebuked by his late mother, a poet, for not finding a “nice girl” to marry. The documentary, largely recorded on an iPhone strapped to Mr. Sharma’s neck with rubber bands,