Gay Friendly Mosque to Open in Paris, France
Though not a huge fan of organized religion in general, I still support progressive ideas and reform within Orthodox communities, as I [personally] think it’s better for such organizations to be more inclusive, than exclusive.
Anyway, here it is, with an excerpt and link:
Ludovic Mohammed Zahed is braced for controversy, maybe even worse. A gay Muslim and an expert on the Koran, Zahed plans to open Europe’s first gay-friendly mosque in Paris at the end of this month. He calls it a place of shelter as well as a place of worship.
“We need to have a safe space for people who do not feel comfortable and at ease in normal mosques,” Zahed told ABC News. “There are transgender people who fear aggression, women who do not want to wear head scarf or sit in the back of the mosque. This project gives hope back to many believers in my community.”
“Common prayer, practiced in an egalitarian setting and without any form of gender-based discrimination, is one of the pillars supporting the proposed reforms of our progressive representation of Islam,” he said.