Queer Coll(i/u)sions
I went to Queer Coll(i/u)sions yesterday. This is a conference explores queer studies from a ground levels. It aims to create space for discussions of queerness in popular cultures and other areas (like religion) that might not be otherwise addressed. Queer Coll(i/u)sions also strives to make space for a variety of people not just academics.
Queering Islam
The presentation I want to talk about is called Queering Islam. The presenters were Momin Rahman, Nikki Egoyan, and Masebie Turay.
The presentations varied from a research project related queer people who are also muslim (Rahman), art and the influence of orientalism (Egoyan), and being black muslim and coming out (Turay).
While the presentations were on vastly different topics their connects, Islam, made it not just informative, but eye opening as well. The variety of connections to Islam and queerness means that the listener could not put muslim experiences within a small box. It forced you to consider Islam as a complex culture and religion that has been influenced by a number of global influences.
Key Learnings
My key things that I was interested to learn were:
- The impact of ‘western’ or orientalism view on how Islamic narratives.
- The intersectionality of Islam with other identities, like queerness or being black, or disabled.
Resources
Things I’m going to look up as a result of this presentation:
- Momin Rahman book: Homosexualities, Muslim Cultures and Modernity
- John Massad’s article ‘Re-Orienting Desire: The Gay International and the Arab World’ found in Public Culture.
- Killer Unicon a queer slasher film.
- And finally getting around to checking out AutoStraddle.
Hilda Smith, PhD 