Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD)

We offer:

• Online Programming
• Inara Helpline
• Additional Resources

MASGD was created by a working group of queer Muslim leaders in 2011, and was officially launched in January 2013 at an LGBTQ+ conference in Atlanta, GA. Since 2011, our organization has convened more than 700 LGBTQ+* Muslims and their partners for an annual weekend of faith-based reflection, kinship and community building. In 2014, MASGD became the organizational home of the annual Queer Muslim Retreat. In 2016, MASGD convened a conversation between LGBTQ+ Muslims and straight Muslim allies in the wake of the Orlando attack; it also orchestrated media and advocacy work to resist Islamophobic narratives following the massacre. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, our programming has shifted online including Tajwid classes, open mic nights and numerous Ramadan events.

MASGD is a Black/Indigenous Global Majority,Trans, and Muslim led organization that supports, empowers and connects LGBPQ+ and 2STGNCI+ Muslims and those racialized or perceived as Muslim. We challenge root causes of oppression, including misogyny, racism, capitalism and xenophobia. We define Muslimness in terms of the harmful white, western and predominantly Christian gaze that dehumanizes Muslims and, importantly, those perceived to be Muslim. MASGD provides cultural, art and peer support programming that cultivates joy, belonging and Utopia in ways that are specifically designed for the most marginalized of marginalized people.

*We acknowledge that the term LGBTQ+ uses a particular cultural frame for understanding sexual and gender diversity. Many Muslims use other terms and cultural frames for understanding gender and sexuality, and language keeps evolving. Our intention is to be inclusive.