nooutsiders #gay #muslim #andertonpark

Muslim Protestors clash with queer Muslim activist. During filming for our interview with Ferhan Khan (outside the Anderton Park Primary school during No Outsiders protests) was interrupted several times by protestors angry about the school's use of books which contain representation of LGBTQ+ characters to teach primary school children about equality.

Ferhan Khan was there to represent the visibility of LGBTQ+ Muslims. He has previously attended several protests to show his support for both communities and hoped some kind of resolution could be found.

Amid the current anti-LGBT inclusive education debacle, it can somtimes feel like protests against inclusive education are still being seen as an exclusively Muslim thing – almost as if homophobia doesn’t exist in other communities.

However just as there have been homophobic Muslims willing to speak frankly about their opinions, there are also a number of Muslim queer speakers who have had their say too. But guess who mainstream society prefers to listen to?

Queer Muslim groups like Hidayah and Imaan have been very vocal in supporting inclusive education for schools. Independent queer Muslim campaigners like Khakan Qureshi, Ferhan Khan and Hafsa Qureshi have spoken to the press, appeared on the news and written countless articles on why inclusive education for LGBT people needs to happen.

While one Muslim drag queen, Seema, even read a story from the ‘No Outsiders’ range publicly to a class of children, Hidaya have led school lessons on inclusion, and have more on the way. Imaan, Britain’s oldest LGBTQI Muslim support group have been speaking on radio shows in support of queer inclusive education and led this year’s Birmingham Pride parade, alongside No Outsiders programme founder Andrew Moffat. That’s more than just a few Muslims speaking in support of inclusive education. Read more via HuffPost