On April 11, London will be hosting the first Muslim LGBTQI+ festival which will be the first Muslim Pride Fest in the world. The event is named “ImaanFest” and the tickets have already started being sold. The event comes after a successful crowdfunding campaign by its organisers, Imaan, a leading Muslim LGBTQI+ group in the United Kingdom (UK). LGBTQI stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, non-binary and intersex, while the ‘+’ represents other sexual identities.
✨Calling all LGBTQI Muslims!✨
Tickets are now live for #ImaanFest Muslim Pride on 11 April in London. Don’t miss an amazing lineup of speakers, workshops, art, entertainment & food!https://t.co/xXxMq45ogY— LGBT Foundation (@LGBTfdn) February 26, 2020
The event will take place on the 11th of April, many people from all over the globe plan on attending. “The event will build on the incredible events we organised in the past, and feature panels, discussions, speakers, arts, culture and history — a first for LGBTQI Muslims,” they were quoted as saying. An Islamic online news agency, 5 Pillars UK, notes that the event has been organised “despite Islam’s strict prohibition of homosexuality”. The news agency adds that the “practice and promotion of homosexuality is considered a major sin in Islam by all mainstream schools of thought”. Imaan group has received a slew of negative tweets from online trolls after announcing the event over social media. But the group is responding to negative responses with “#Islamophobia”. To read more from ProperGaanda: Prices of protective equipment increases alongside the risk of coronavirus