Yousaf Shakil
October 7, 2015
Narrative Paper Final Draft
Writing I-B
Gay Muslim The words “gay Muslim” are not two words that one would expect to hear in the same sentence. Nevertheless, those two words dictated my entire adolescence and a good portion of my young adult life. I never thought that it was possible to be both, and that I would never be accepted as someone who was both. Because truthfully, I wonder what it takes for someone not to accept someone else for who they are. Growing up, I lived in conservative Muslim household. We followed to word of the Qur’an and fasted each Ramadan, ate only halal food, and travelled to Mecca as often as we could. However, growing up, I had never encountered someone who possessed the same intersections that I did. To be honest, I never even thought it was possible because in order to be Muslim, I could not be gay. That made me the only “non-Muslim” in my family, which made me think that something had to be wrong with me. Homosexuality was not always brought up at home, but when it was, it was always in a negative context. The stories of Sodom and Gomorrah flashed before my eyes every time I heard the word. I thought about Allah letting his…show more content… Tears started streaming down my face and I knew that I had to try my best to get the words out before it was too late. Suddenly, my parents realized the direness of the situation and started questioning what was wrong. My mother’s mind jumped to sexual assault and asked me if anyone had violated me. I responded by saying no, but I knew that what I wanted to say was going to be so much worse. I kept trying to say the words: “I’m gay,” but my vocal chords kept twisting in on themselves and I felt like I lost the ability to speak. I kept trying. Finally, I was able to get the words out, but they didn’t hear me. They made me repeat myself. That’s when I knew how real it actually was. Because in that moment, my world was flipped upside