Brave Spaces

(praying in Arabic) - My Queer joy comes from the moments where I just get to sit back and say, "I picked the harder route, and I picked the route that was not paved for me, and I'm happy and I feel good."

And because of that, I get to dance in the kitchen with my partner.

And because of that, I get to look a little bit more like myself every single day.

- [Devin-Norelle] Religion has long been a unifying force, bringing people together through shared beliefs as we work to make sense of the world and its challenges.

- True peace is what we all long for.

Because so many Queer folks have been traumatized by religion, they don't want to hear about it.

And who could blame them?

- Yeah.

- We have to assert that we are able to be people of faith and Queer.

- [Devin-Norelle] The Toronto based, Queer Muslim Network, and the Metropolitan Community Church are working to flip the script.

- Obviously, I can't speak for all Queer Muslims, but a lot of the Queer Muslims who come to Queer Muslim Network are doing that same process of creating their own Islam and creating their own version that works for them.

- How do you go about reclaiming something that has been used by others to oppress you?

And what happens when you bring leaders from different faiths together for a radical conversation about religion?

I'm Devin-Norelle, and this is Brave Spaces.

(praying in foreign language) - I'm Queer, I'm Muslim, I'm gender fluid, I'm trans.

I'm also a Cancer, if that matters to you.

(Devin-Norelle chuckles) - We're in Queer Central, definitely.

(Summeiya chuckles) - I didn't really identify as Muslim for a long time.

Even if you're not Queer and trans, growing up Muslim, oftentimes Islam is kind of like a chore that you have to do.

Like, "Ugh, I have to go pray," "I have to go read Quran."

It's on the list of things that you must do and also a reason that I couldn't do a lot of the things that I wanted to do.

- In traditional Islamic spaces, if you're anything less than perfect, you're kicked out, you're not welcome, you're not enough.

- I don't really think like I've felt held or fully accepted myself until I learned that there were more people like me in the community.

- So for me, Islam and queerness doesn't conflict at all.

God is love and God created diversity.

It's right there in the Quran.

Everyone else can just do your own thing.

- Can we get a Masha Allah?

- [All] Masha Allah.

(members chuckling) - The sacred text of Abrahamic religions like Islam, Christianity, and Judaism have been interpreted by many to denounce homosexual behavior, sometimes even criminalizing it.

But it's just that, interpretation.

Throughout history, Christian theology has been debated leading to divisions in the religion we know today as denominations.

In fact, there are over 200 Christian denominations in the US, and 45,000 globally, and some, like the MCC, are more accepting of Queer folks than others.

On the other hand, in Islam there is no hierarchy, no central authority like the Pope for Catholics.

This prevents any one person or organization from dictating its teachings and empowers individuals to interpret the faith in their own way.

- Welcome, welcome, welcome.

- I'm really glad that we have the ability to gather together.

I'm feeling really grateful for Queer Muslim Network more than usual lately.

Islam means community to me, and it means justice to me, and it means fighting for the oppressed.

I started Queer Muslim Network in 2020.

At that time it was completely Instagram based, so our goal was to share the stories and art of Queer Muslims around greater Toronto area.

We got more and more traction, and we found more and more Muslims.

And we do Ramadan programming every year now for Queer and trans Muslims who don't get to celebrate with their families.

We don't have a physical space, but we have an energetic space.

- Yes.

- We want to have a deconstructed mosque, a de-colonial mosque, a Queer mosque, a radical mosque, and hopefully one day we will have that Insha'allah, and we'll be able to really create the impact that the community needs.

- I'm actually heading over to Metropolitan Community Church.

- I would absolutely love to come with you.

(gentle music) - As we celebrate 50 amazing years of ministry here, we ask that You would inspire us by Your spirit, to deepen our commitment to love and justice, and embracing the fabulous diversity of all creation in all Your many names.

Amen.

- [Congregation] Amen.

- It's really nice to meet you.

I'm Summeiya.

- [Rev.

Deana] Summeiya, I'm very glad to have you guys here.

- Well, I haven't been in a church since I was a kid.

(Devin-Norelle chuckles) - And the roof didn't fall, did it?

- [Devin-Norelle] No.

(chuckles) - Yeah.

Because we welcome everybody.

It says, "Welcome home", "Bienvenido", "Bienvenue".

Everybody is welcome in this place no matter what they believe or don't believe.

- Thank you.

Hello again, everyone.

As-salamu Alaykum.

- And may God bless you with Shalom.

- Justice is what love looks like in public.

- Amin.

- [Religious Leader 1] Amin.

- Ahmen.

(Leader 2 speaks in foreign language) - Amen.

(congregation applauds) - It's been a long and winding road.

It's been an interesting history of Queer rights here in Toronto, and in Canada.

We've put a plaque up to commemorate the world's first legal same-sex marriages, which took place right over there in front of our sanctuary on January 14th, 2001.

Our then pastor Rev.

Dr. Brent Hawks, actually had to wear a bulletproof vest during that ceremony.

- [Devin-Norelle] Oh wow.

- because there were so many threats.

Eventually it became legal by a Supreme Court decision in the US, and I am completely convinced that that would not have happened in my home country in my lifetime, but for the work done right here.

- Even with the potential freedom offered by Islam and the accepting denominations of Christianity, Queer folks are still about two times more likely than the general public to not be religious.

And a third feel there is a conflict between their identity and religious beliefs, myself included.

This doesn't mean that Queer folks don't yearn for religion or religious community that accepts them.

Many of us do.

- I am coming into the space with hope and with a bit of joy to see all of you, and also a bit of grief for our Oma and for our brothers and sisters.

- Queer folks, some of us, including myself, feel that love is very (tsks) finite.

So we really hold dear to spaces like these.

Like I feel like love is hard to come by sometimes, so it's like I'm eternally grateful to everybody here.

- [John] Oh, hi honey.

How are you?

- Hi.

How are you?

(chuckles) - [John] This church is a family.

It's full of love.

(piano playing gentle tune) Step inside Feel the arms - Well, I've been coming for 27 years.

This is a safe space.

I feel comfortable here.

I have made many, many wonderful friends.

I've sung in the choir all this time.

The music is beautiful.

Feel the love - So many Queer people have religious trauma.

They understand religion as something that inherently doesn't agree with their existence or presence.

I've just never understood homophobia in the church or queer phobia.

Christianity's always been important to my life, but when it was time to find another church, I was just like, "I want to find a Queer affirming one that's loud about that."

And together we might find A way to understand - You're always welcome here, you know that.

- I know it now.

- This is the house of love.

This is the place that you can come to, and be welcomed, and warmed, and cared for.

A sacred place for you To let your feelings show - When I first came out to myself, I was horrified and terrified, because I thought if you're gay, you can't be Christian.

And when I started looking at what the Bible actually said, I discovered that what people said God said, God didn't say.

- [Devin-Norelle] Mm hm.

- But that was a hard fought discovery.

It was a very lonely time, and a scary time.

I've come to the conclusion that that's not my experience of God.

My experience of God is someone loving and accepting.

- Thank you for sharing that.

That's really beautiful.

It is such a gift to have the mindset of a Queer person.

You are no longer looking at people thinking, "I am better than you because I'm religious," or, "I'm going to go to heaven and you're going to go to hell because I am religious."

But more so, I see religion as this is something that causes me comfort and joy and community.

And it's a beautiful thing.

- Yeah.

In some ways, it's harder to come out as a person of faith in the Queer community, than it is to come out as Queer in a faith community.

- In the city, there's areas that are more densely Muslim populated, and those are the areas that I grew up in.

Unfortunately, those places with the way that I present as a trans non-binary person isn't taken very well.

- I'm so sorry that's happening.

- Sometimes it's more important to pick safety, but I do wish that I didn't have to.

(Arabic chanting) - A lot of Muslim communities feel like their faith is under threat and they feel like queerness is a threat, but queerness is not a threat.

We're using queerness as a way for us to connect to Islam.

- A lot of us came as people who were like forcibly displaced/immigrants/refugees.

And it's always like complicated.

We know that there are things that have been wrong, that our communities have done, and we are actively working towards not necessarily making things right, but making them better.

- We can't be free until we're all free.

We need to fight for justice everywhere and liberation for everyone.

(protestors chanting) - I would love to have advice from you.

I don't know if I have anything to give you, but I would love to hear so from you.

- Well, honey, you are a gift all by yourself, so yes.

But I have an advantage over you in that I am more than twice your age, (Summeiya chuckles) and I envy you the way you are able to be in the world at the age you are.

When I was your age, I couldn't.

And I guess if I had any advice, I would say that in the great grand scheme of things, I understand there are times you have to choose safety over being your authentic self, but the more I am my authentic self, the easier it gets.

And it'll be okay.

(Summeiya chuckles) - I love that.

- And if anybody gets on you about that, you gimme a call.

There's a reason they call me Reverend Duke around here.

(Summeiya and Devin-Norelle laugh) - I'm going to lead us into Dhikr.

- Are we going to be chanting out loud with you?

- Yeah.

If you want to join me, I'd love that.

(Arabic chanting) - Clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, loneliness, meekness, and patience.

Put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

(Arabic chanting continues) - I will say definitely for the most part, most of my lifetime experiences with religion have been negative.

Right?

And here you are kind of just forging your own way through Islam and showing that Islam is actually accepting and loving and embraces that, and is about justice for Queer people too.

- Sometimes you can't heal until you take yourself out of the place that hurt you.

I'm still in that journey of completely accepting myself.

Islam allows me to look at the trees and find my creator, and look at the grass and find my creator, and look at you and find my creator.

Because Islam taught me that loving other people is worshiping God, and is loving God, because we have little pieces of them inside of us.

- The role that religion has played throughout history cannot be understated.

And sure we've seen the ways it can be a force for hate and division, but also for unity and love.

Regardless of some religious institution's attempts to exclude us, Queer folks like Summeiya and Rev.

Deana are challenging centuries old systems and together with their communities, they're reclaiming their faith, and proving that when it is practiced with love and inclusivity at its center, bravery follows suit.

- So this is what we're making into an interfaith chapel because we want people of all faiths, or no faith to be welcome, to come here, to meditate.

We've got this poster that points out that really everybody has the same message.

- [Summeiya] Yeah.

- Love one another.

And that is our primary message.

- [Summeiya] I love this.

I would love to bring you a symbol of Islam.

- [Rev.

Deana] I would love that.