Coming Out Muslim
Terna Tilley-Gyado and Wazina Zondon
Coming Out Muslim: Radical Acts of Love captures stories and experiences of being at the intersections of Islam and queerness and its relationship to family, lovers, one’s sense of self and relationship with our faith.
Terna and Wazina utilize traditional storytelling and conversation as the medium for exploring the broad range of their experiences as queer Muslims.
The stories Coming Out Muslim tell range from tales about other people’s theories about where queerness comes from, the gifts of being queer and Muslim, the tension between one’s culture and religion, and love—romantic and spiritual. Coming Out Muslim is both funny and poignant.
For me, being both has never been a source of internal conflict. I’ve never felt Islam asks me to be something other than what I am. If Allah is closer than my own jugular vein, is the creator of my heart–ya Khalaq! ya Bari! Ya Mussawir!–the source of its blood and beat, how could I despise myself?
History
Beginning in January of 2011, we co-facilitated a series of inquiry to action groups (ItAGs) through the New York Collective of Radical Educators (NYCoRE) on Islamophobia. Our intention was to provide a foundation of understanding about Islam and the varied experiences and diversity in the interpretation and “doing” of Islam. In our journey, we met Laura Marie Thompson, a theater maker who asked us to collaborate on a project celebrating the lives and experiences of queer Muslims at the 7th Street Gallery at Middle Collegiate Church. All three of us felt strongly about a visual gallery to make public and express the diversity in the faces of queer Muslims. Coming Out Muslim would be about making visible our often invisible identities.
Later in October 2011, under the guidance and support of Laura Marie, we decided to take our stories to the stage at WOW Cafe Theater in the East Village. We never anticipated that the show would have the impact that it did or that it would be received with open arms, providing it with the momentum to keep performing and educating. We have found ourselves blessed to continue to share by invitation, whether it is the full staged performance, a reading or iteration you’d like to co-imagine with us.
Contact us to collaborate > comingoutmuslim@gmail.com
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Perfomances
Born in the East Village at the WOW Cafe and Theater in NYC and nourished through the support of queer and trans Muslims, secular Muslims, atheists, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, interfaith kin and allies who have collaborations with Brooklyn Historical Society, SOMArts Cultural Center, Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity, Third Muslim Exhibition, Fresh Fruit Festival, Levatine Cultural Center, The Garage SF, World Pride 2014, Totally Radical Humans, La Pena, The Forbidden Apple Podcast, Intersections International, UN Women, DesiQ, in collaboration with Muslims with Progressives Values, HRC, GLSEN.
University performances: Barnard College, Columbia University, Kingsborough Community College, California State University at San Bernardino, UC Riverside, UC Santa Cruz, Harvey Mudd College, Pomona College, Scripps College, Marymount Manhattan College, New York University, Williams College, Brandeis University, Rutgers University, University of South California, University of Pennsylvania, Union Theological Seminary, Westfield State University, Hofstra University.
US-Cities we have traveled: Atlanta, DC, the 5-boros of NYC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Bloomington-Normal, Chicago, Berkeley, Boston, North Hampton, Albany, Santa Cruz, Minneapolis.
Ramadan Reflections
Beginning in 2012 we kept a log of our joint and individual experiences observing the month of Ramadan. Return to our ever-present learnings and reflections from 2012 and 2013.
