Homosexuality and Islam.  Can the two coexist?  Parvez Sharma, a secular Muslim, has put together a documentary film about gay and lesbian Muslims who ask themselves the same question, not always with the same answer.  One constant, however, is lots of suffering.

Some people in the film do in fact marry, with tragic results.  All of them are deeply religious, a religiosity that takes different forms.  There are those who are distressed by their “sinfulness” and express a desire for punishment.  There are those who say that if Allah made me this way it must be okay.  And then there is gay imam Mushin Hendricks, driven out of teaching in South African madrassas because he came out.

Hendricks tackles the matter by going to the Qur’an. The only reference to homosexuality is in the story of Lot, and he points out that the condemnation is of homosexual rape.  Eventually, he is invited back to the mosque to address the issue of homosexuality before an interested and, it turns out, somewhat open and sympathetic group of congregants.

The film is made in a number of different countries.  A gay man flees Egypt for France, having been imprisoned twice and raped while in prison.  One of the Iranians shows his scarred back, where he received a hundred lashes.  He and three others escape to Turkey, two eventually making it to Canada. 

Interestingly, the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent turn out to be the most tolerant.  One of their saints, Husain, took a Hindu man as a lover, and their love is still celebrated by straight Muslims of the region. 

Some have criticized the film as clumsy and amateurish.  However, some consideration must be given to the secretive conditions under which it was made.  The agony, soul-searching, and humanity of the people who are shown are real and serve to redeem the film from its technical shortcomings.