Gay Muslims and Anti-Muslim Bias

: They were devastated for their fellow gays and lesbians, while deeply concerned about anti-Muslim bias the shooting would generate, according to Brandon Sun. At the same time, they were caught at the intersection of two mutually wary groups: LGBT people who consider Islam uniquely anti-gay, and Muslims prejudiced against gays and lesbians. Gay Muslims said the shooting in an Orlando nightclub sparked a complex set of emotions. Abdelhadi said she feared "Islam and queerness being pitted against each other in a sort of battle and that just making it impossible for me to exist as I am." NEW YORK, N.Y. - After the massacre in Orlando, the head of a prominent Muslim advocacy group stood before a bank of microphones and made remarks beyond the expected condemnations. Today, we stand with them, shoulder to shoulder," Awad said at a Washington news conference. "We cannot fight injustice against some group and not against others."Omid Safi, director of the Duke University Islamic Studies Center, called the comments, and similar statements from other major Muslim groups, a "shocking development" from leaders who until last Sunday tragedy "would probably have never been seen uttering the words gay and lesbian publicly."The mass shooting, perpetrated by an American Muslim in a communal space for gays, has brought to the forefront Muslim attitudes toward homosexuality and the plight of LGBT Muslims.A spokesman for Awad played down the director remarks as nothing new. Along with denouncing the attack by gunman Omar Mateen as a violation of Islam, and offering prayers for the victims at the gay nightclub Pulse, Nihad Awad of the Council on American-Islamic Relations expressed unequivocal support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights."For many years, members of the community have stood shoulder to shoulder with the Muslim community against any acts of hate crimes, Islamophobia, marginalization and discrimination. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.