LBTQ Muslim Women in Intersectionality: Examining the Resistance Strategies

This qualitative study critically examined life stories of 14 Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer (LBTQ) Muslim women in the Global North (Canada and the U.S.) within an interpretive paradigm. Emphasis was placed on how LBTQ Muslim women lived out the intersections of (race, sexuality, gender identity and expression, religion, and spirituality) as well as addressing community, societal and familial dimensions amongst hegemonic discourses that exist within normative Muslim and LGBTQ communities. Transnational and critical race feminism, intersectionality theory and an Islamic liberationist approach to gender and sexuality frame the project. Findings suggest that the women do not abandon Islam, sexual and/or gender identity while living out lives; and LBTQ Muslim women resist hegemonic discourses within normative Muslim and LGBTQ communities vis--vis principles within the Islamicate tradition.