The Center on Halsted's Chat series continued May 19 with "Out, Proud and Muslim," a conversation with filmmaker and comedian Fawzia Mirza and theologian Zaynab Shahar. About 50 people attended the intimate conversation in the Center's Baran Hall.
Andrew Fortman, the series organizer and host, prefaced the discussion by noting it was the first time the chat had covered religion before introducing Mirza and Shahar.
Mirza, known for her acts as Kam Kardashian ( the lost lesbian Kardashian ) and Ayesha Ali Trump ( Trump's illegitimate Muslim daughter ), said she never set out to be an activist. However, she added that discovering her sexuality late in life and realizing the LGBTQ community was mostly white and gay meant she had to create her own identity around her religion and queerness.
Shahar, the founder of Third Coast Queer Muslims, recounted being an openly queer activist of color since her teens. Beginning her theological education in Jewish studies, she observed how patriarchy and homophobia got imposed on religious texts, and discovered she didn't want to be cloistered in academia. "I did not feel like the scholarship I was doing was enough out in the world," she said, and mentioned that theology is often thought of as a Christian enterprise.
Both spoke to issues of perception. Mirza said she's often told she doesn't look Pakistani; Shahar, who wears hijab, commented that most queer Muslims on social media don't appear visibly Muslim. "I don't want to be the obvious queer Muslim," she said of her social media presence, and added that dating while wearing a headscarf was miserable.
The two speakers both discussed Islamophobia and assumptions other cultures make about Muslims. Shahar pointed out that most queer spaces have a "secular normative" and it often leads to tensions between people assuming what her religion won't allow her to do and what she simply doesn't feel comfortable with. When Fortman asked about the climate in America towards Muslims, Mirza invoked the rise of Donald Trump and how his supporters are both scared of and clueless about Muslims. "People who claim they're afraid—I don't think they're being honest with themselves," she said.
However, she also asserted that people in allegedly liberal communities harbor Islamophobia or negative narratives about Muslims. Mirza said that on her recent trip to Cannes, France, a woman approached her about making a film about child brides. While Shahar said she preferred Trump supporters' upfront honesty, she drew parallels between them and white people who support narratives like child brides and honor killings.
Both concurred that representation of Muslims—particularly trans and nonbinary Muslims—left much to be desired, although Shahar pointed out that the diasporic nature of Muslims meant that "queer Muslim" just becomes shorthand for more complex identities. She also took issue with queer Muslim stories being portrayed as a tension between the old world and new world.
Mirza talked about being driven to create work because not only did she not see herself represented, but she could be "gay on the internet" to reach Muslims who couldn't be out as queer. Shahar mentioned that her group, Third Coast, tries to maintain a balance of being visible but out of the way of larger more conservative Muslim organizations, so that members who need access to both spaces can continue to have it.
The two speakers had an easy, witty rapport, by turns eloquent and self-deprecating. "You go to film festivals and I hang out with Buddhists," Shahar joked to Mirza. Fortman concluded by asking both a series of quick personal questions, and then the speakers mingled with the crowd.
