Paper short abstract:

I examine the popular narrative that the Left ‘betrays’ queer Muslims by failing to critique ‘Islamic homophobia’. Drawing on ethnographic interviews and media analysis I explain where this trope comes from, how it is used, and inspect the complex realities underpinning it.

Paper long abstract:

“Islamic homophobia is empowered by Leftist silence”, a recently published article declares. Its author is not, as might be imagined, an alt-right journalist tapping into the now-commonplace rhetoric of homonationalism whereby queers are integrated into the liberal-nationalist imaginary to the exclusion of racialised (and especially Muslim) others. Instead, he is a gay Ex-Muslim with an apparently sincere sense of grievance at the betrayal of a loosely-defined ‘Left’ that diligently calls out homophobia when it emerges from Evangelical Christians or the Far Right, but turns a blind eye when it is revealed among Muslim communities.

This paper draws on ethnographic research to examine this increasingly popular narrative of betrayal and locates it within a wider caricature of a Left (in the UK and beyond) that has a problematically close relationship with Muslim communities. I show how this caricature is deployed to specific political ends, notably by the political right. However, I do not simply dismiss this caricature, but rather dissect it to examine the various strands of ‘Left-Muslim engagement’ in more detail. Paying attention to the ‘doing’ and ‘undoing’ of this trope, I argue can help us navigate a range of uncomfortable debates and support a quest for more meaningful inclusion.