Muslim Drag Queens, a Channel 4 documentary that examines the lives of gay men and trans women who perform in a way that some view as completely opposite to their religion, aired last night to critical acclaim.
Now it’s being reported that one of the film’s subjects received death threats following Tuesday night’s broadcast.
In the documentary, Asifa Lahore (boy name Asif) can be seen performing at drag shows, fasting during Ramadan and reading the Qu’ran.
He began receiving hate-filled emails shortly after the broadcast, such as “You call yourself a Muslim, you should be ashamed of yourself and killed” and “[we are] going to find [you] and kill [you] like ISIS would”.
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One Twitter user posted: “Absolutely repulsed by the ‘Muslim’ drag queens on channel 4. No place for that in Islam at all. The sharia is perfect &needs implementation.”
Lahore posted his own message to all the haters:
#MuslimDragQueens f*** you to all the death threats and I’m gonna look FABULOUS while I’m doing it!
— Asifa Lahore (@AsifaLahore) August 24, 2015
In a statement to Gay Star News, a Channel 4 spokesperson said: “The contributors agreed to take part after extensive discussions about what appearing in the programme would involve and how much this would likely elevate their profiles.”
https://youtu.be/jdtNL_s-0lE
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Kelly Sugden
Brainwashed idiot.
Billy Budd
She/He will probably die soon. Remember the Charlie Hebdo?
andy_d
The fact that Asif(a) is willing to take the risks s/he is willing to take to improve the lot of others, I would say that s/he is neither brainwashed NOR an idiot. S/he chooses to be religious but NOT extreme. What s/he IS is courageous, self-aware and STRONG!
I know some drag queens and drag kings who are true church going Christians in that they make the time to ensure that others are treated well, fed, housed, clothed and supported in the true spirit of what religion SHOULD be and not like the self-proclaimed “christians” who are hypocrites and haters.
I hope and pray that S/he lives a long, productive and happy life.
I hope this special makes it way to the U.S. I would be very interested in seeing it.
adrianjurado310
bye bye miss american pie.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Now THAT is brave and revolutionary use of drag and gender-nonconformity-discombobulationism-whatnot-ary (for once)
Fuck you to the haters ESPECIALLY on this site — WTF??? FFS!
Giancarlo85
There is a small but increasingly vocal gay community in Indonesia and Turkey. In Indonesia, homosexuality is mainly legal in the country (except for in one province). Both countries are in a state of internal division, with both being split between more moderate elements and the more conservative.
Clark35
Islam is actually OK with trans women, even in Orthodox/Fundamentalist Muslim countries where they pay for a TS/TG woman to get a full sex change if she wants, and give her a new female name of her choice and ID showing she’s a woman.
Hussain-TheCanadian
It’s not the Quar’an that needs change; it’s a large sector of Muslims who are bigots and ignorant. This is how we change attitudes, by being who we are without hiding, living double lives, or being celibate.
meghanada
@Clark35: Other than Iran, I’m not aware of any Muslim country that supports trans people like that. Do you have any other examples?
Jacob23
I admire this person’s bravery. It takes guts to be the only one out there taking threats like this and not backing down. However, if Queerty is going to cover this story, and also a host of other drag-related stories, then why won’t it cover this week’s story about a group of trans activist thugs who hate drag so much that they called the police on a children’s hospice to prevent a drag-related fundraiser?
Think about this. A hospice is a place where children with incurable diseases go to live out their last days of their lives. It is inconceivable that anyone could be so warped, so completely twisted would do anything to impose on such a place. But trans activists got wind that this hospice was going to have an event where the fathers of these kids would help raise money by donning a dress and heels and running a race. It is also a way for these guys, who endure unimaginable emotional pain and stress, to have some fun and levity for a night. But no, trans activists cannot allow it. Because drag is transphobic. (Except when they need to appropriate drag in order to co-opt Stonewall. In that case, drag is actually part of transgender.) So the CALLED THE POLICE on this children’s hospice. It’s a hate crime, they said. This story is all over the UK, so why don’t we see it on Queerty?
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/08/23/trans-charity-label-drag-fun-run-for-hospice-a-hate-crime/
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/trans-advocacy-group-childrens-hospice-run-is-dehumanizing/