![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/5bafaaf92100006401c6fccf.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Gay Denmark, who is also Muslim, says \u201cit\u2019s not easy, but it\u2019s certainly easier\u201d for him than it is for fellow immigrants who must live with a sexual orientation that fits with neither their religious principles nor their families\u2019 values. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Michael Sinan is a 34-year-old philologist, specializing in Pashto, Urdu, and Persian. But he believes that the moment has arrived to come forward and assert the compatibility of homosexuality and Islam. According to Sinan, Muslims have to adapt to the 21st century and, like Christians, abandon prejudices that are based on interpretations of ancient sacred texts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
HuffPost Spain: Why did you compete in a gay beauty pageant?<\/strong> You chose to make that clear in a way that\u2019s curious, to say the least.<\/strong> In other countries, people claim that the Koran is the source of criminalization of homosexuality.<\/strong> Does Sharia (or Islamic Law, which condemns homosexuality) manipulate the Koran?<\/strong> You don’t feel like a sinner?<\/strong> Do the Muslims that come to Denmark looking for a better future integrate?<\/strong> Perhaps what\u2019s not compatible is being Danish and maintaining the traditions of countries under Sharia law.<\/strong> For you it\u2019s all pretty easy, being Danish yourself.<\/strong> When you hear leaders like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, saying that there are no gay people in his country, what do you think?<\/strong> Why do you feel it\u2019s necessary to advertize your message? Hearing you, it sounds almost like a mission.<\/strong> In the media, we increasingly see coverage of things like suicides of gay adolescents.<\/strong> What response are you hoping to get in becoming a public figure?<\/strong> I see that your body has many tattooed messages. Do they have to do with your religion?<\/strong> How did you get interested in Islam?<\/strong> Despite that, you are not a model Muslim. You don\u2019t pray in community with others, you don\u2019t go to Mosque.<\/strong> Do you drink alcohol? Eat Pork?<\/strong> My husband is atheist, but he doesn\u2019t bring it home. Only chicken and veal. As long as food hasn\u2019t touched pork, I consider it appropriate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you celebrate Ramadan?<\/strong> Mr. Gay Denmark On Coming Out — As A Muslim Mr. Gay Denmark, who is also Muslim, says \u201cit\u2019s not easy, but it\u2019s certainly easier\u201d for him than it is for fellow immigrants who must live with a sexual orientation that fits with neither their religious principles nor their families\u2019 values. Michael Sinan is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sluggerpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sluggerpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sluggerpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sluggerpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sluggerpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=376"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sluggerpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":377,"href":"https:\/\/sluggerpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions\/377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sluggerpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sluggerpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sluggerpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sluggerpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Michael Sinan: Obviously it wasn\u2019t so I could parade down a runway. My objective was to show the gay community, and also Muslims, that there are modern Muslims in Denmark. The media fixates on extremist, aggressive Muslims who live according to customs more appropriate in the Middle Ages. That\u2019s not fair. There\u2019s a lot of us, and we\u2019re mostly modern. I wanted to demonstrate that to be gay and Muslim is both possible and okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes. In fact, I did have to prepare for [the pageant], because I was told that I wouldn\u2019t win on my message alone. I went on a diet, I hit the gym several times a week, and I lost some weight. My objective was to win, but I didn\u2019t feel great parading around in just those tight little shorts. I said to Allah, \u201cForgive me!\u201d From a religious point of view, I definitely felt uncomfortable at some points.
Is it easy for you to be openly gay and Muslim?<\/strong>
It\u2019s not a problem in Denmark. And, broadly speaking, it\u2019s not in Turkey either, a place I visit frequently. Turkey isn\u2019t an Islamic country–it\u2019s secular–so homosexuality isn\u2019t persecuted. As a matter of fact, it\u2019s easier there. Eastern European countries are another story. Your life is more threatened…and the predominant religion there is Christianity. For example, in Serbia, they are Christian, and the don\u2019t like Muslims or gays. In Ukraine, your life is in danger. In Russia, they don\u2019t accept Gay Pride displays. There are Christian countries in Europe that are closer to Saudi Arabia, which just confirms that fanatics exist everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t care if other countries live according to Sharia, but obviously I can\u2019t agree with criminalization or the death penalty [for homosexuality]. I can\u2019t do much about that, though. I can\u2019t make it go away, but with whatever visibility I achieve, I would like to show gays in other countries that it\u2019s possible to be gay and Muslim.
Nonetheless, in the Koran there are passages that have been interpreted as a proscription against homosexuality, such as the warnings to the inhabitants of Lot, similar to the tale of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible.<\/strong>
It all depends on the interpretation of those words, but I am very clear on the fact that I don\u2019t have to choose between my religion and my sexuality. We Muslims are numerous today, and it\u2019s impossible to keep living in the past. Christians can\u2019t live according to Biblical norms, and neither can we. There are things that even extremists can\u2019t abide by. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe so. The Koran is my sacred book, but it\u2019s written for people in another era. The complicated part is that you are the one that has to interpret it. You can\u2019t set yourself up as God and judge other people. Those who do so should be careful how they use the name of Allah. I am gay, and that\u2019s something between Allah and me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I feel loved by Allah. I fear him, but I love him more. I simply do what my heart tells me. In the name of Allah, people have judged, marginalized, and even killed…being homosexual can\u2019t be worse than that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are many Muslims that are well integrated, and they become Danish Muslims. But afterwards they experience a lot of fear, because Muslims are highly aware of what other Muslims might be saying about them. And then there are some Muslims who want to live as if they were in Saudi Arabia, for example. And I don\u2019t agree with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m proud of being Danish, because we have freedom of expression and freedom of religion. We do have a problem with those who don\u2019t integrate, but when it comes down to it, I believe that they really don\u2019t belong to this society. I respect them, but perhaps they should consider moving to other countries more in line with their principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not easy, but it\u2019s certainly easier [he laughs]. For example, I\u2019m not afraid of my parents, which many immigrants are. They\u2019re not going to marry me off to some woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s it\u2019s a big lie. Iran is full of homosexuals, but they are scared and isolated by their culture, because they could be stoned or hanged. Homosexuality has always existed–since before the Bible, before the Greeks. In Afghanistan there\u2019s an ancient tradition by which a man can have another man as a lover, but not as a partner. There\u2019s another tradition that consists of using young boys to erotically entertain older men. But it\u2019s also true that you can be killed if you openly face or recognize who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently a Muslim boy wrote me. He\u2019s a teenager, 15 years old, who was interested in my history and surprised that I can both accept myself as a homosexual and still be a believer. You realize that many people are lost. Helping a child of that age, when he needs it the most, is very comforting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, for example in the United States. But in Islamic countries it\u2019s worse, because Islam emphatically prohibits suicide. They have to think about it more because it condemns you to hell forever. It\u2019s the worst thing you can do: take away a life, yours or someone else\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t ask that everyone understand me, just that they respect me. I respect other people that I can\u2019t understand. I don\u2019t understand some women who dress in burqa or niqab, but I respect them. I respect the Iman who wants to live literally according to the Koran, although I don\u2019t understand him. I don\u2019t understand what it is to be heterosexual; I\u2019ve never tried being that way. But obviously I respect it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No, it\u2019s not Arabic, but Urdu, Pashto, or Persian–tongues I am fluent in from my academic training. They are words and concepts like \u201ctolerance,\u201d \u201cinfinite love,\u201d \u201cstruggle,\u201d \u201cperseverance,\u201d \u201crebellion,\u201d \u201cfriendship,\u201d \u201cunderstanding,\u201d \u201csympathy,\u201d \u201cfaith,\u201d \u201cfriendliness,\u201d…\u201dgrandmother,\u201d \u201cmother,\u201d \u201cfather.\u201d Yes, I know it sounds a bit cheesy, but these are all words that are important to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ever since I was really little, I\u2019ve been interested in God, and I read lots of books about Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. It just happened–I felt at one with the religion. It was like a call. I never tried to convert–it just happened, and I thought that it was right for me. I was a weird child [he laughs], but I just knew from the time I was 11 or 12 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No, because I don\u2019t feel the spirit here. I go to Mosque every day when I\u2019m in Turkey. We don\u2019t have mosques in Denmark. We have basements, businesses that are used as Mosques. The atmosphere is really aggressive, and I don\u2019t like it, and I don\u2019t feel Allah there. In Denmark, I have to be careful being gay and I refuse to live with fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Very occasionally, like many Muslims, because it\u2019s part of my culture. But I always stop when I make the pilgrimage to Mecca. I don\u2019t eat pork, of course. We don\u2019t have pork in the apartment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, but in other latitudes. In Denmark, it would mean being without water for a full 20 hours, something that I can\u2019t do because of some medications I take. The Koran permits exceptions for health reasons. But I follow the rules, like other Muslims. Who are you to decide who\u2019s a good Muslim? Are you Allah? Only one being can judge us, and that\u2019s Allah.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"