An Open Letter from Arab Allies to the Orlando Shooting
“None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself”- Prophet Mohammed
Lack of gun control not Islam. Lack of gun control not Middle Easterners is to blame for the tragedy that claimed the lives of 50 people in Orlando. Bigotry and homophobia are not exclusively stemmed from Islam, hatred doesn’t have a religion, it is simply a fear fueled by ignorance.
For the Arab and Muslim allies, we are in deep mourning, we are gravely depressed by an act of hatred that was motivated by pure idiocy. We know that harbored hatred does exist, but we as allies, we fight that everyday the ones we love create an environment of tolerance.
For the Arab and Muslim LGBT community, words cannot describe what happened. Word cannot describe the pain of watching one’s brothers and sisters fall at the hands of belligerence. To watch people that share the same thoughts, the same feelings, that love you love, get murdered because of these similarities is a deep cut that has been bleeding since the creation of hate.
Islam is not hate, not all Muslims are homophobic, and no gunman who takes the lives of anyone for no reason represents the religion of peace. A person claiming to be Muslim, who happens to also be pledging their allegiance to religious extremism is nothing more than an easily pursued brainwashed weakling. Those who can’t find it in their heart to condemn the killer, because they themselves are homophobic, are heartless monsters. They themselves have blindly condoned a senseless murder. No one deserves to be murdered for any reason and especially not because of what their sexuality is.
The night of the Pulse Night Club shooting took place on Latino night during Latino Heritage Month, which also so happens to be Pride Month. The shooter did not just hit the LGBT community where it hurts the most, it hit the community of color that struggles everyday to live. Queer Latinos, like queer Arabs, like queer people all over the world, resist and fight for their human rights everyday just by living.
From Arab and Muslim allies around the world, we salute our LGBT brothers and sisters for living everyday. Because when you defy those who say that you are “haram” or “are going to hell” and you live, worship and love, you silence the hatred by living life to the fullest as your true BEAUTIFUL self. And the act of living is the most powerful form of resistance you can ever do, and it will continue to forever fight against bigotry. From the Arab and Muslim allies and the LGBT communities around the Middle East and in the diaspora, we take a moment of silence to grieve our brothers who passed in Orlando and we continue to live and resist for them.
WE SAID THIS: Don’t miss out on LGBT Arabs Stand in Solidarity for Victims of #PulseNightClubShooting.
