Reply to Kristin Mink

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]BTW she knows very well what she is doing. She  knows if she tells Moms for Liberty that they are White supremacists (notice she didn't do that), they will vigorously deny it, maybe even sue her. She tells that to "Muslims" and she knows they don't want to be allied with White supremacists because when people assume Muslims are linked to violent extremists, they get persecuted.[/quote]

Yes, progressives would not be able to tell Muslims that banning LGBTQ books is bigoted the same way they do to Christians. What they can do is white savior them from "joining in white supremacist views" which immediately discounts their views on a subject.[/quote]

That's silly. I don't consider myself a progressive, but I'm perfectly comfortable telling ANYBODY that banning books with LGBTQ characters is bigoted.

The MoCo CAIR families get to make their own decisions about whom to ally with. I, personally, think it was a bad decision to ally with the astroturf book-banners, and if anybody had asked me, I would have said so, but nobody asked me.[/quote]

I didn't hear Mink directing her comments at CAIR. The exact words she used were "some Muslim families".[/quote]

CAIR = Council on American-Islamic Relations[/quote]

Yes, I know. Did you know CAIR does not mean the same thing as "some Muslim families"? One is a specific organization, the other can be inclusive of nearly 2 billion people.[/quote]

Oh good grief. "Some Muslim families" does not mean "every Muslim in the world". Similarly, when I refer to "the Muslim people at the protest that happened before the BoE meeting," I am also not referring to every Muslim in the world.

Have you asked any Montgomery County residents who are LGBTQ+ and Muslim how they feel about this?[/quote]

I will weigh in, but obviously do not speak for all Muslims, who have diverse opinions.

What impressed me is her passion for her cause.

What disappointed me was her complete lack of understanding that people from different backgrounds have different challenges to navigate.   And that lack of understanding seems to continue to be present in her apology.

One third of the county are immigrants.   That includes some Muslim families like mine.   We go back to our home country each year to be with close family.  It requires what many here call code switching.  I can act one way here, I must act another way there.  Just as I had to make sure my young kids with their Arab names didn't joke about things like guns or bombs when flying, so to must parents make sure their kids don't talk about certain things that are completely unacceptable among large portions of populations "back home."

I can only speak for me and my family.  Being gay is seen as just one permutation of God's work.   God does not make mistakes.  It is more likely to be accepted (by family and upper class individuals) although not flaunted, if that makes sense.  But the whole boom in talking about transgender individuals is hard to manage.  It is new and brings uncertainty. Muslims should honor the body they have been blessed with by God, and not change or deface it.  God does not make mistakes.  So many Muslims believe tattoos for example, are haram or religiously forbidden.   Modifying ones body to change genitalia is such an extreme example of changing your body.   How do parents make sure their kids don't innocently start talking about that back in their parents' "home" country?"  To relatives who will not understand at all?  Or worse, will anyone turn parents in? Will anyone hurt the kids?  And perhaps in some cases, what if a child believes they are transgender?  In some Islamic countries, being gay is a jailable offense.   In others, it is a death sentence.   But in all, I think, there are definitely people who will culturally not tolerate it, and may be prone to violence against those they perceive of as gay.  And that cultural influence is here as well, among immigrant and close knit Muslim communities.  It becomes a true safety issue.  For some.  Not all.

It is this type of complexity I wish Mink could acknowledge.  Just because a parent wants to opt their child out of certain books doesn't mean they see gay and transgender kids as wrong.  Sometimes it just means they are trying to navigate the unique complexities of their own lives, and opting out would make things a bit easier.

Our kids will gay and transgender in similar proportions as non-Muslims.   Maybe not as obviously.   My sister in law is gay and never married.  She instead cares for our mother in law, and that is the acceptable cover for being single.  She has had close friends.   That part is much easier to hide.  Yes, it is sad that she has to hide, and I have offered to bring her here.  But she feels most comfortable in the culture she was raised in.  She manages.  But she does live in a country where sex outside of marriage is jailable.  [/quote]

This is a very thoughtful response. Thank you for taking the time to write this. [/quote]

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