• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Film/TV/Stream
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Tech/Science
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Madonna’s Daughter Lourdes Leon Drops First Single & Steamy Music Video: WATCH
  • Jonathan Knight secretly marries boyfriend Harley Rodriguez
  • Ex-football star Herschel Walker’s woes hurt Republican chance of taking U.S. Senate

Two Years After Paris’ First LGBT-friendly Mosque Opened, Attitudes are Mixed

GlobalPost May 18, 2014

BY MARIE DOEZEMA / GlobalPost

A gay rights activist says the new mosque and the legalization of gay marriage have sparked a willingness within France’s Muslim community to engage in dialogue.

ZahedPARIS — When Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed announced his intentions to launch the first gay-friendly mosque in Paris, it was difficult for him to imagine what lay ahead.

The mosque’s launch in November 2012 was a monumental step in raising awareness and providing a place of worship for Muslims who are also part of the LGBT community. At the time, the news stirred a media frenzy, as well as considerable controversy within the Muslim community.

Despite legalizing gay marriage just over one year ago, France’s attitudes toward LGBT rights are mixed. A 2013 Pew Center survey found that 77 percent of people in France think society should accept homosexuality, down from 83 percent in 2007. A 2009 Gallup poll found that 35 percent of Muslims in France believe that homosexual acts are morally acceptable.

Though neither Zahed nor supporters encountered physical harm following the mosque’s launch, he says the weeks and months following were “tense.” He recalls the first meeting of the association he founded for gay Muslims in France, HM2F, in the basement of a cafe as charged and tentative. After the media attention surrounding the announcement of the gay mosque, Zahed says he felt uneasy at home, particularly after his address was published online.

At the time of mosque’s launch, a spokesman for the Grand Mosque of Paris, one of the largest mosques in France, responded by saying that Zahed’s actions were not in accordance with the Quran.

But in the midst of France’s gay marriage debate last year, Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Grand Mosque, told a French radio station that while he condemns homosexuality he does not condone homophobia.

Zahed considers discussion around the issue to be encouraging. At the very least, he says, the concept of a gay mosque and the legalization of gay marriage have sparked a willingness within France’s Muslim community to engage in dialogue around LGBT issues.

Zahed considers the domestic and international media coverage of the concept to have been “indispensable” in this evolution, he says. “It helped a lot in countering the idea that Muslims are not homosexual, or the idea that homosexuals reject Islam.”

Today, Zahed still has firm faith in the concept of an inclusive mosque in France’s capital, but love and life circumstances have brought the Algerian-born activist to South Africa. Now in Cape Town with his South African husband, Zahed says life is “less stressful,” and the social and political atmosphere is more conducive to starting a family and having children.

“It’s less partisan, there’s less pressure,” he says of South Africa. “People here are very political in the best sense.”

Screen Shot 2014-05-17 at 12.28.02 PMZahed continues to support the mosque by making regular trips back to Paris to meet with other organizers, participants and activists. He is helping the group secure a more permanent location in the 18th arrondissement of Paris for meetings and worship times. He is also active in CALEM, an informal confederation of LGBT, Euro-African and Muslim organizations working for human rights and LGBT equality.

Zahed was born in Algiers in 1977 and spent the first three years of his life in Algeria before moving to France with his parents and siblings. He was infected with HIV at the age of 19. Growing up, he was a serious student and follower of Islam, memorizing large parts of the Quran while beginning to question his sexual identity. He remembers being mesmerized by the beauty of the Quran, by the “universalism” in the text.

Zahed considers himself a gay feminist, two labels he considers compatible with Islam.

“After more than 15 years of reflection on the matter, I now understand that the Quran does not explicitly refer to ‘homosexuality,’ nor does it refer to women as ‘inferior.’ Indeed, the strict and dogmatic interpretation of some verses of the Quran is no longer unanimous, especially in the eyes of progressive Muslims across the world (even if we remain, for the time being, a minority),” Zahed wrote in a 2012 article in The Guardian.

Coming to terms with his religion, sexuality and family was not easy, he says, but it is a path he knows well and hopes to help other people navigate. He writes about this journey, and the difficulties growing up as a gay Muslim, in his memoir, Le Coran et La Chair (The Quran and the Flesh), published in 2012.

Zahed will also be launching a faith-based advocacy group in Cape Town, "Rumi's Isiphephelo.” The organization will serve as a mosque, shelter for refugees and imam training center.

Topics: Uncategorized More Posts About: Julie Bindel

Related Posts
  • Friday Morning News: NC, Bernie Sanders, Drone Magic, Zayn, Freddy Got Fingered
  • Ontario Becomes First Canadian Province To Ban Conversion Therapy For LGBT Youth: VIDEO
  • Patrick Stewart Announces Support For Northern Ireland Anti-Gay Ashers Bakery: VIDEO
  • Jonathan Knight secretly marries boyfriend Harley Rodriguez

    Jonathan Knight secretly marries boyfriend Harley Rodriguez

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Jonathan Knight has married his boyfriend Harley Rodriguez. The New Kids on the Block star has confirmed he’s a married man after tying the knot with his longtime partner in secret …Read More »
  • Ex-football star Herschel Walker’s woes hurt Republican chance of taking U.S. Senate

    Ex-football star Herschel Walker’s woes hurt Republican chance of taking U.S. Senate

    Published by Reuters By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican hopes of taking control of the U.S. Senate in November could hinge on former football star Herschel Walker, a first-time candidate endorsed by Donald Trump, whose …Read More »
  • The Shocking Truth 25 Years After Princess Diana’s Tragic Death — Brother Charles Speaks Out

    The Shocking Truth 25 Years After Princess Diana’s Tragic Death — Brother Charles Speaks Out

    Published by OK Magazine mega August 31 marks the 25th anniversary of Princess Diana’s tragic death — and her only brother, Charles, proudly spoke out about his sister! “I’m always surprised by how difficult August 31 …Read More »
  • U.S. releases 2019 memo opposing Trump obstruction charges

    U.S. releases 2019 memo opposing Trump obstruction charges

    Published by Reuters By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Justice Department on Wednesday released under court order all of a 2019 memo https://www.justice.gov/file/1528466/download in which two top officials advised then-Attorney General William Barr not to …Read More »
Previous Post: « Trans-Woman Gives A Beatdown To A Drunk Mouthy Transphobe – VIDEO
Next Post: Catholic School Forbids Yearbook Picture Of Female Student In Tuxedo »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • Ivanka Trump & Jared Kushner Contently Stroll Hand-In-Hand As Donald Trump’s Legal Woes Mount

    Ivanka Trump & Jared Kushner Contently Stroll Hand-In-Hand As Donald Trump’s Legal Woes Mount

  • Biden to hold first political rally in run-up to November elections

    Biden to hold first political rally in run-up to November elections

  • Trump has displayed ‘anxiety in private conversations’ following Mar-a-Lago search: report

    Trump has displayed ‘anxiety in private conversations’ following Mar-a-Lago search: report

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y’know

  • Duke and Duchess of Sussex adopt new rescue dog

    Duke and Duchess of Sussex adopt new rescue dog

  • Vanessa Bryant awarded 16m in damages over helicopter crash photos

    Vanessa Bryant awarded 16m in damages over helicopter crash photos

  • Lisa Scott-Lee recalls surreal dinner date with Michael Jackson

    Lisa Scott-Lee recalls surreal dinner date with Michael Jackson

RSS Partner Links

  • An error has occurred, which probably means the feed is down. Try again later.

Most Recent

  • Madonna’s Daughter Lourdes Leon Drops First Single & Steamy Music Video: WATCH

    Madonna’s Daughter Lourdes Leon Drops First Single & Steamy Music Video: WATCH

  • Jonathan Knight secretly marries boyfriend Harley Rodriguez

    Jonathan Knight secretly marries boyfriend Harley Rodriguez

  • Ex-football star Herschel Walker’s woes hurt Republican chance of taking U.S. Senate

    Ex-football star Herschel Walker’s woes hurt Republican chance of taking U.S. Senate

  • The Shocking Truth 25 Years After Princess Diana’s Tragic Death — Brother Charles Speaks Out

    The Shocking Truth 25 Years After Princess Diana’s Tragic Death — Brother Charles Speaks Out

  • U.S. releases 2019 memo opposing Trump obstruction charges

    U.S. releases 2019 memo opposing Trump obstruction charges

  • William Orbit: ‘Queen loves DJs as long as they end sets with National Anthem’

    William Orbit: ‘Queen loves DJs as long as they end sets with National Anthem’

  • Sir Rod Stewart takes another cheeky dig at his long-time pal Sir Elton John with stage mockery

    Sir Rod Stewart takes another cheeky dig at his long-time pal Sir Elton John with stage mockery

  • Scott Maxwell: Marco Rubio says his campaign is ‘a disaster.’ Is he crying wolf or truly scared of Demings?

    Scott Maxwell: Marco Rubio says his campaign is ‘a disaster.’ Is he crying wolf or truly scared of Demings?

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2025 · Log in

×