#religious queer

I personally believe in the Lord and I don't discriminate those who doubt him, or even those who vehemently loathe him. In fact I understand them! I wholeheartedly have faith that God gave us humans the power to think critically for a reason. To understand, to criticise, to become our own. It'd be boring leading a flock of mindless believers, I'm sure. I think He'd be prouder of those who decided their own path even if they don't believe in Him. He'd understand— which is exactly what makes him so godly, so infallible, and so divine, in comparison to the short-minded man who thoughtlessly abuses those with differing faiths or the lack of one. He'd be proud of those who yearn to understand how the world works, those who don't simply believe what they're told. The mind was bestowed upon us to be used; to abandon the act of thinking would be equal to blasphemy. Now imagine how He would consider those who have criticised the way of the religion—much more one so discriminated in said religion—yet persisted in their faith.

‘So long as they are not doing others harm’ is a phrase oft neglected when the conversation shifts to sin. We are fortunate now that we live (though in a world of chaos and discord) with the ability to not worry of extinction from the lack of offspring. We needn't fret of bearing children the very moment we turn 18. We can shift our views to other matters such as politics, economy, and identity. Back then it was not so. Long ago humans had to reproduce at all times, for there was so little of us on this wide and precarious Earth, hence why the religions of yore would usually forbid homosexuality. Not to mention the lack of sanitisation back then turning the act of loving into an act of harming both the lover and oneself, with nothing to be received but the passion of the other. There was no child to make up for the risks. Passion could not prevent extinction.

Yet now, look at us— nearly every part has been conquered. Some parts of the world, even, are so overpopulated that the air chokes you. Homosexuality is able to thrive, actually needed now more than ever— for if everyone is reproducing there will be no time to wait for the elders to die. Especially, seeing as how we live longer than our ancestors did. It would actually be dangerous for us to keep on having children with a vigour while the older generation still feeds on Earth's produce. Soon enough there may be no more space left. Already presently there are starving children at every corner, with no parents. Who else (this applies also, to those who are infertile) would care for them if everyone's off having their own children? Same-sex lovers are the little break from such a world we needed.

Notice how I have not once mentioned transgender people? Indeed! I wholeheartedly believe that all the words which forbid transgenderism were written by mankind. Perhaps it confused them way back when they ought to keep on reproducing, I don't know. But of course I don't know, of course you don't know. It was back then. Why, you ask, do I believe it was all written by man? To you I ask, why would God have us humans be this way, when (as aforesaid) it brings harm to nobody? It was the hateful heart of man who wrote it. Why did God create humans to be hateful? Well, he didn't exactly, but he gave us free will and a critical mind. Some people don't use the latter, hence why.

Religion was created by man. One can have faith (be "religious") without truly believing in the created religion itself. I personally am Catholic, but that's that. I don't believe in the bigoted parts. You can say I "cherry pick the bible" the way that bigots do, except I have my reasons to cherry pick, I choose my cherries which are not rotten to share to the world. They choose the crumpled dying cherries and say "this is how God sees you!" They do so out of hatred, bitterness, and cruelty. They do not think. They do not criticise what they believe, and what I believe is that God's mighty disappointed in them.

To all religious queers, I wouldn't say you're not a sinner. All humans do sin, that's what makes us human. Animals are not sinners; they do not have the mind for it. We are human, and that's alright. God will forgive us for our sins. Our queerness, however, is not one of those sins. It is who we are, what we are. It is a part of us intricately woven by the Lord, can't be chosen by ourselves. It's the way of life. Never beat yourself down over it.

First of all, Kongdech's story hits incredibly close to home because I’ve known several people exactly like him: young men from marginalized, rural communities with very narrow horizons.

In 1990s Thailand, remote villages, particularly ethnic minority communities near the border regions (which I’m inferring from how far his parents had to travel) faced severe systemic hurdles. These included barriers to obtaining citizenship documents or national ID cards, extreme poverty, and acute geographic isolation from major hubs like Bangkok. Consequently, this resulted in minimal access to formal education, leaving them with virtually no path toward higher learning or professional careers.

So, based on what he tells Tanrak, it sounds like he's describing a community where basic rights and opportunities aren't guaranteed for everyone. A church scholarship wouldn't just mean religious training; it would also provide housing, education, social mobility, and a genuine path out of poverty. His mother's happiness might be less about "my son is going to be a priest" and more about "my son finally has a future."

Then there's the romance plot. If Tanrak chooses love and ends up with Barth, it strongly reminds me of a movie I watched a long time ago. I can't recall the exact line, but it was also a religious romance. The lead character asked something along the lines of, "Aren't you afraid I'll cheat on you? Because choosing you means I'm betraying God. If I'm not afraid of betraying God, why would I be afraid of betraying you?"

However, looking at TTH from a storytelling standpoint, there is an important nuance here: Tanrak’s ties to the church didn't begin as a matter of free, mature spiritual vocation. The pilot suggests that after losing his parents, he clung to the promise that good people go to heaven. Driven by a desire to see them again, he sought refuge, purpose, and hope within the church, making his ultimate ordination less about a pure calling and more about unresolved grief and longing. That's completely different from someone independently discovering a genuine calling to the priesthood after years of self-reflection. His motivation feels less like a true calling and more like a reaction to loss.

So if the story evolves into him realizing, "I do love God, but I never stopped to ask myself what I wanted," that would perfectly align with the reserved, emotionally repressed nature we've seen since his introduction. The central conflict seems less like "God versus love" and more like duty versus self-discovery, childhood promises versus adult choices, and the struggle between living for a memory versus claiming your own life.

Viewed through this lens, the story seems less interested in betrayal and more interested in whether his chosen path was ever truly a choice at all.

Barth, a young gay man whose estrangement from his faith stems from feeling rejected by religion, creates a fascinating contrast with his foil. While one boy believes deeply but has yet to truly know himself, the other possesses a profound self-awareness but struggles to find a place for belief. Their dynamic forces them to constantly challenge each other's underlying assumptions.

The fact that the show kicks off with news coverage of the 2025 marriage equality act before flashing back to 1996 is hardly a neutral choice. It strongly suggests that the writers want viewers to keep broader social change in mind as the story unfolds. It's a powerful way to remind the audience that the closeted, high-stakes world these boys are growing up in back in the nineties is vastly different from the world that exists today.

Hello!

The truth is, I don't follow many accounts focused on this topic, however this is what I found while searching!

Accounts (mix of accounts focused on queer Muslim experience, and some accounts from queer Muslims that are mixed with other content)

@/i-am-simply-here and their queer Muslim reflections/musings

@/queermuslims and @/queermuslimarchives

@/bigenderrevert

@/blackxlesbianism

@/queer-muslim-culture-is

Other

The Trans Muslim Liberation Podcast

Other Podcasts

Some book recs

Homosexuality in Islam by Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle (written in 2010 but from what I've seen its quite progressive for its time)

Hijabi Butch Blues by Lamya H.

lgbtqreligiousarchives.org

FTM Hijab Tips

Black Queer Muslims (Documentary)

List of Queer Muslim Books

A new podcast hosted by Mx. Yaffa from The Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD).

There are two episodes of The Trans Muslim Liberation Podcast so far.