Discussion Paper: Homophobia when You're Dealing with Faith, Sexual Diversity and Access to Health Services

In the Asian region, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Maldives, Malaysia and Indonesia have a majority Muslim population. Although Islam is in a minority in India, the influence it has on men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people is similar to that of MSM and transgender people in majority Muslim countries. This is indicative of the fact that Orthodox Islam comes with a particular power that has an overwhelming influence on Muslims, irrespective of population size and geography.

This discussion paper examines why Islam matters in preventing HIV, what Islam and Muslim scholars say about MSM and transgender people, as well as how this impacts on the lives of MSM and transgender people and their access to health services. Muslim MSM were interviewed to provide some anecdotes for the discussion paper, and desk-based research was undertaken. It provides a number of recommendations aimed at human rights organisations, human rights defenders, gender activists, policy makers, Islamic scholars and Islamic organisations.