Homosexuality?
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Peace, everyone.
I'm new to the boards, so let me introduce myself. I'm a college student, living in the Third World, and recently came out to myself as a lesbian.
I'm not a Muslim, but I do know a fair bit about Islam. I have also read the Quran. I know about the whole Sunnah-Hadith issue. I most definitely am not anti-Islam, but I do not believe. I am an agnostic.
I would like to know what place homosexuality has in Islam. I understand the story of Sodom in the Quran, but I also realize that it is a bit vague and some people claim it is about homosexual rape. I also understand that there is an online Queer Jihad being carried out. I would like to know what the Free-Minds members think about all of this.
With same-sex marriages recently being made legal in Canada (following Netherlands and Belgium), obviously homosexuality is on its way to acceptance, although we still have a long way to go. Religion, in my opinion, is one of the major obstacles, because all the world's major religions condemn homosexuality (although many Christian churches have 'adapted' or 'reinterpreted' religion to reconcile it with homosexuality). This condemnation is tragic, because most of us have had feelings of same-sex attraction since we were kids (myself, since I was twelve) and it has taken us a long time to accept ourselves because of the shame we associated with those feelings.
If you believe that homosexuality is unnatural or a form of pathology, please back up your statements with research (although I'll be shocked if anyone can disprove or refute decades of peer-reviewed research). Otherwise, I'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from making bigoted remarks about homosexuals.
Mainly, I'm just trying to see what spectrum of opinions I can find among Muslims on this topic. I'm not looking to start a fight. Frankly, I'm not interested in discussing the causes of homosexuality (a pointless debate...once sexuality is shaped, it's shaped, regardless of the causes) or reorientation therapy (which the APA has issued cautionary statements about).
Thank you.