A Jihad for Love: A Film Screening and Panel Discussion

Program Description

Mr. Sharma's film is the world's first feature documentary to explore the complex interconnections between Islam and homosexuality in a global context.  The film-maker will participate in a panel discussion with scholars and advocates expert in critical race theory, Film and Media Studies, and will be moderated by International Law faculty, Asli Bali. 

Focusing on Muslims as a case study, this program will explore the racialization of sexuality and the specific role of religious difference in that process.  The film's director, scholars, and advocates will examine how the demonization and exotification of sexuality informs the "Otherizing" of communities of color.

At a time when Muslims are being attacked, stereotyped, and subjected to specific forms of discrimination, Mr. Sharma attentively captures the complexity of Muslim communities by foregrounding LGBT Muslims intent on challenging Orientalist notions of sexual identity within Islam.  The event seeks to draw the connections between prevailing stereotypes of Muslims as hyper-homophobic with larger dynamics of exclusion and subordination linking religion, race, and sexuality. 
      

Trailer

Co-Sponsors

David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy
The Williams Institute
OutLaw 

CRS Series

This event is the second program in a 2009-10 series, "Reinventing the Enemy Within," which explores anti-Arab and Islamophobic discourse and practice beyond September 11th.  The series addresses issues confronting Muslim/Arab communities in (and outside of) the U.S. since September 11^th with a particular focus on whether and how this picture has changed since the advent of the Obama administration. 

The series includes panels that explore civil rights issues, sexuality and Islam, immigrants’ rights issues, and the criminalization of Islamic philanthropy. 

For questions about the series, please contact UCLA Law professor, Asli Ü. Bâli, who is an affiliated faculty member of the CRS program.