Upsurge in gay Muslims fleeing forced marriage
January 13th, 2010
UK charity The Albert Kennedy Trust has reported an upsurge in young gay Muslims becoming homeless after fleeing forced marriages and so-called honour violence.
The Trust, which works supporting young homeless LGBT people, says that the number of Muslims contacting them has noticeably risen over the past six months. During this period the charity has taken out four Forced Marriage Protection orders, breach of which can lead a two-year jail term.
Trust support worker Annie Southerst told the BBC that gay Muslims “face threats of physical violence, actual violence and restriction of liberties”, often from within the family. She continued, “They come to us because they’re homeless, or in danger of being homeless imminently. We sort out emergency accommodation for them”.
Olaf Henricson-Bell, head of the special government until tackling forced marriage practises, said that gay and lesbian youngsters are in a particularly vulnerable position. ”Forced marriage by its nature is an underground practice and cases often go unreported. Individuals may be reluctant to mention sexuality when they bring their case to the attention of the authorities”.
The findings were publicised by the BBC Asian Network which linked the increase to a current ‘Eastenders’ storyline featuring a Muslim man in a gay relationship. The recent media coverage of extremist group Islam4UK, who last year claimed homosexual acts should be punishable by death, may have also increased discussion of institutional homophobia in Muslim communities.
I am facing the same dilemma, I am from Malaysia and I am forced not to marry the one I want. My father locked me up from the last 2 years, He used witch craft on me: beat me up.. I commited suicide twice but unluckily was saved. If i have to do it i will do it again.
Anonymous ∼ January 16th, 2010 6:03 amI have no option left: My father has contacts with the police so i cant report also… My father has turned my life in a mess.
Uh..where? which part of Malaysia? Witchcraft? You father locked you up for 2 yrs but somehow you can use the Internet and end up on lesbilicious? If you’re a lesbian, there are Malaysian lesbian forums but you’d have to seek those out.
I’m sorry but Malaysians Muslim are unlike the UK Muslims, forced marriage is different than not allowing you to marry someone you wanted to, for whatever reasons. And I have a lot of lesbian friends in Malaysia.
Also it seems to me you’re still living with your parents, what you need to do is show your independence. As for the suicide attempts, get help. Befrienders, Rumah Saleha, Yayasan Awam, call them and tell them your stories. You have to make changes for yourself, get some help, and you’ll be on your way.
Donna ∼ February 21st, 2010 12:48 pm