TAG: Islamic societies

Remembering Fatema Mernissi

This tribute is to Fatema Mernissi: mentor, insightful teacher, organic intellectual, incisive feminist, powerful voice, charismatic presence, craftswoman, generous host, and friend.

Dispatches: The Courage to Combat Indonesia’s Homophobia

Draconian new by-laws came into effect in Indonesia’s Aceh province last week, mandating harsh punishments for gambling and adultery, and the option of 100 lashes for gay people “caught” having sex.

The Sexual Politics Landscape in September 2015

At the global stage, one even to be highlighted was the launching of the Sex Work Law Map, produced by the Institute of Development Studies. It provides a perspective on female sex work by displaying a detailed summary of the laws, regulations and policies in over 75 countries. The novel IDS research tool was made […]

Social Change Program Application – Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality

The Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality is happy to announce its call for applications to its Social Change Program. The Program aims to develop the capacity of sexual and bodily rights and gender equality activists across the MENA region. The application deadline is 21 October 2015. Application form in English

The 8th CSBR Sexuality Institute will take place from 9-16 February 2016 in Sri Lanka. Apply now!

Deadline for applications is 5 October 2015. Click here to learn more about the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies and to apply.

The UN Security Council debates gays and ISIS: Why this is a bad idea

By Scott Long I. Questions On August 18, the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL or by its Arabic acronym, Da’ish) assaulted history. They beheaded an 82 year-old archaeologist, the resident expert on the ruins in the occupied city of Palmyra. Two days earlier, on August 16, Syrian government warplanes assaulted daily life; Assad’s pilots bombed a crowded […]

Scott Long: Gay hanging in Iran: Atrocities and impersonations

Everybody on earth knows that last week a deal on Iran’s nuclear program was announced. Everybody also knows that this apparent step toward peace launched a new stage in an old war: of propaganda.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights in Iran – Analysis from Religious, Social, Legal and Cultural Perspectives

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has released a collection of eight articles that offer innovative and provocative approaches to advance acceptance and improve understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community of Iran. With contributions from prominent international activists, lawyers and scholars from IGLHRC’s second conference held in Düsseldorf, […]

The gay sex worker who defied sharia law in Banda Aceh to organize

Faisal Riza is a national organizer for the Organisasi Perubahan Sosial Indonesia (the Organization for Social Change, or OPSI) — an Indonesian human rights initiative focusing on the welfare of sex workers. Anna Marie Sterling JAKARTA, Indonesia — Faisal Riza started as a sex worker in one of the riskiest possible places for any kind of transgressive behavior: Aceh, a […]

Moroccan Magazine Under Fire for Cover Asking ‘Should We Burn Homosexuals’

Rabat – Weekly magazine Maroc-Hebdo has come under fire after it ran a cover deemed by many as homophobic. The cover depicts two men ‘intimately’ looking at each other in a swimming pool under the headline “Shall we burn homosexuals?” “Sure it’s an individual right. But what about moral and religious values,” the sub-head added. […]

New Texts Out Now: Kenneth M. Cuno, Modernizing Marriage: Family, Ideology, and Law in Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Egypt

Kenneth M. Cuno, Modernizing Marriage: Family, Ideology, and Law in Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Egypt. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2015. Jadaliyya (J): What made you write this book? Kenneth M. Cuno (KC): Actually, I was planning to write a different book. But while researching it in Cairo I had a bit of free time and began exploring […]

The veil conflicts unabated

In Sexuality, Health and Human Rights (Corrêa, Parker and Petchesky, 2008) we have examined the early 2000’s French controversies, which led to the banning of the use of veils in 2004, as an illustration of the political problems deriving from the attachment to and application un- problematized conceptions of laicité in the following terms: “…the […]