Abstract:
Our identities are multifaceted. Throughout the life course, we will join and leave
many different social groups. Some group memberships are transient, such as being
a university student as one eventually graduates and ceases to be a student, while
others are viewed as primordial and “essential” to the self, such as one’s ethnic
group membership and, for many Muslims, their religious group membership. Some
of the facets of our identities can become “inter-connected” over time often
because other people highlight the links between them. For instance, religious
authorities often problematize homosexuality and, thus, they render religion and
homosexuality “inter-connected” in people’s minds. Consequently, we begin to think
about how the two identities fit together, that is, their compatibility and coherence.
Over the last few years, social scientists have conducted research into
identity processes among gay1 men of religious faith (Coyle & Rafalin, 2000; Jaspal &
Cinnirella, 2010, 2012). In this work, it has become clear that contemplating the
relationship between sexuality and religion can be a source of psychological distress.
In many religious traditions, there is an emphasis on heterosexual marriage – the
sacred, spiritual, and physical union of a man and a woman. Homosexuality is often
understood to constitute a contravention of this religious expectation. It is
noteworthy that some individuals may therefore construe their homosexuality in
terms of a behavior, rather than as an element of identity, given that behavior is
generally perceived to be more transient and mutable than identity. This chapter
focuses on the relations between religion and sexuality – two facets of identity are
often inter-connected - among Muslim gay men. There is a widespread perception
that Islam is fundamentally opposed to homosexuality, which can present social and
psychological challenges to wellbeing among gay Muslims. In exploring the interrelations
between religion and sexuality among Muslim gay men, tenets of Identity
Process Theory and Social Representations Theory from social psychology will be
drawn upon.
