THEGAYUK

Tag: Khakan Qureshi

Khakan Qureshi, Founder of Birmingham South Asians LGBT – Finding A Voice.
He’s also an LGBT Activist, writer and Speaker.
Recognised on The Rainbow List 2015, nominated for a nOscar at The Naz Project 2016 and National Diversity Award 2017, shortlisted for the European Diversity Award 2016.
Khakan is also a Stonewall LGBT School Role Model, Diversity Role Model 2017 and Diversity Champion in his workplace.

  • COMMENT | Parents, protests and the LGBT Programme, Inside Parkfield Primary School

    COMMENT | Parents, protests and the LGBT Programme, Inside Parkfield Primary School

    It almost seems defunct now the No Outsiders programme has been pulled from the school but here’s how my informal meeting went with Andy Moffat, Deputy Headteacher at the centre of the storm in which parents protested about having their children being taught “gay lessons”.

    On the approach to Parkfield, I noted the sign announcing the school name. What will it bring? I thought.

    There were no signs of Protestors at the gates or media pressing through. It was a quiet, subdued afternoon. I supposed all the school children had gone home. I walked through the gates and through the entrance.

    What struck me most was the colour, the warm welcoming signs and the creativity of images plastered on the wall.

    This was a school which was proud of its heritage, innovations and unique ways to celebrate diversity.

    All the messages/images on the walls were created by children welcoming diversity and difference, embracing all the strands of the Equality Act 2010.

    Andy welcomed me, smiling, with a warm handshake. I could see he was holding it together. We walked through the corridors and upstairs. I was looking for signs of this “gay agenda”.

    All I could see was a celebration of diversity, questions, facts, images, statements, pinned on the walls.

    It was incredibly inspiring. It was the type of school I would’ve liked to have attended when I was a child.

    Andy introduced me to the Headteacher, who was complimentary about my appearance on The Big Questions.

    I made several enquiries about the parents/protestors. Where was Fatima Shah now? And who is the man with the megaphone?

    Fatima has kept a low profile since this furore broke out. The man spewing homophobic rhetoric isn’t even a parent and has no connection to the school at all.

    Andy showed me the assembly hall. Again, the boards were covered with positive words and images about diversity and differences.

    We talked for about an hour. I can’t share all that we spoke about, but it provided me with good insight about the No Outsiders programme, how he had created it with very good intentions, and how the school had supported him with his ethos.

    “No Outsiders has run for four years without complaints until now”

    The programme has been running in the school for four years without any complaints until now. Parents HAD been consulted and they were all on board with the idea and attended workshops.

    Andy showed me the books in question. They are remarkable little books for kids, covering various aspects of family, race, religion, difference. In one book, it mentions there are families with 2 mummies or 2 daddies. That’s all. On one page. In a book. For little children. To highlight reality. And representation.

    In another book, once again, it mentions in one line, LGBT. That is all.

    I realised then, how passionate, committed and almost at breaking point Andy Moffat is. He’s really striving to make positive changes. As a white, middle-class teacher, he could’ve easily gone to ANY school in the UK. But no. He chose an inner-city school, knowing it was in a predominately Muslim location. His plan of action – to break the taboo or barriers and slowly encourage children and parents to learn and accept difference in relation to British values and law. As a gay man, why shouldn’t he introduce LGBTQ issues, discuss discrimination and LGBT- phobia? It exists and is part of life. Andy is working hard in his inner-city school to reduce or eliminate it.

    However, those who are protesting have taken the step to not only try and damage his career, the education the children receive, the reputation of the school, they also damage what it means to be Muslim.

    I heard about the vile death threats, the rumours, the intimidation, saw the images and videos…

    The ironic thing is, the protestors are saying Andy is indoctrinating the children. But in talking so negatively about the lessons, taking the kids out of school, sharing negative petitions, and spouting homophobic comments, is placing them in that very same position. Are they not brainwashing, conditioning and indoctrinating the children?

    It also reminds me of two things:

    1. The controversy and furore surrounding The Satanic Verses 30 years ago. Many who protested hadn’t even read the book.
    2. The interpretation of the Story of Lot and how it is declared by many who state it’s a sin to be homosexual when they haven’t even read it.

    “Protesters are misrepresenting the wider Muslim community”

    As Muslims protesting, I would say they need to take a step back, re-evaluate what they are doing, how they are misrepresenting the wider Muslim community and understand in not adhering to educational policies, standards, ethics and ethos, they are alienating themselves even more.

    Why perpetuate the negative stereotypes in the media especially?

    The protestors also need to stop braying like a lynch mob for the removal of the “gay lessons” and resignation of Andy and look to their own actions.

    I’m sure this isn’t the way of Allah or the majority of Muslims.

    I’m sure Allah said, seek knowledge before making a decision which might have a detrimental effect on oneself and others.

    I’m sure Allah said, defend your faith but with good reason and irrational decisions are made out of fear.

    I’m sure good Muslims take time out to reflect, review and reason before they judge others?

    I’m sure Allah is watching and on the Day of Judgement ask the Protestors: What did YOU do to bring unity to the community?

    As I’m part of the LGBT+ community and a person of faith, I really believe we need to be standing up together. We may have fought for our rights, but we really need to embrace our brothers and sisters who are similar to me.

    We really need to strive for more action and positive changes to educate and include.

    I thought the battle scars were healing, but this protest at Parkfield has opened old wounds.

    Please don’t allow it to become another Section 28.

     

  • Read Khakan Qureshi’s amazing Warwickshire Pride speech

    Khakan Qureshi was one of Warwickshire Pride’s key speakers… Read his epic speech about being gay, Muslim and dealing with division.

    Being LGBT isn’t about one-upmanship“my oppression is worse than yours”

    No. Being LGBT and holding the flag is about being able to connect with others, understand each other’s struggles regardless of colour, creed or class and not say I’m  as Good As You but say I’m the SAME as you meaning:

    We Are All Human.

    I might look like a politician, but you can be assured I’m not! 

    I was invited to speak at this event as there was a lack of diversity and the organisers wanted persons from minority ethnic backgrounds. They couldn’t get Rupaul so here I am !”

    In the UK, we commemorate 50 years since the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality. Long gone are the days when many LGBT were in the closet, discreetly knocking on doors, and entering clubs and bars which were underground and only known to the LGBT community. 50 years of challenging the status quo has brought changes and in recent years we have civil partnerships, the right to adopt and foster and equal marriage.

    We talk about diversity and representation but there is also division and derision.

    On the peripheral looking in, the sense of being different can lead to isolation and in my case, it provided me with a different world view.

    In the mainstream, I was too Asian.

    Within the South Asian community, not Asian enough. 

    I didn’t present to the world a confident young man. 

    I was shy, quiet, an introvert. I didn’t fit in with the gender stereotypes like my brothers and peers, who displayed outward signs of being very much heterosexual men – confident, ambitious, competitive, sporty. 

    Whilst I felt more comfortable at home with my mother and sisters, watching TV, helping them cook and clean, offering them style tips on dress and makeup.

    The more apparent forms of homophobia, although I didn’t recognise it as such at the time, and discrimination came from my brothers who would mock and ridicule, my voice, my mannerisms and my close relationships with the females in the household.

    Later, as I shied away from them, I created my own make-believe world in which they didn’t exist. 

    Unfortunately for me, the bullying didn’t just stop with them. It would sometimes rear its ugly head at school. But again, I was protected by female companions and teachers who realised I was different in the sense I was very creative and could express myself very well in the written word. I daren’t speak up too often, especially after having years of torment from my brothers, brothers in law and peers, about how I spoke or sounded which made feel too embarrassed about my voice. 

    When I spoke up at school, it led to all forms of humiliation and name calling. It identified me as “queer, sissy, gay, batty boy” in amongst other name calling such as “Paki, brown boy, coconut “ and variations on how to pronounce my name –

    Being Muslim and gay, you don’t just deal with coming to terms with it. There’s the cultural oppression and religious guilt to contend with.

    But I was fortunate.

    When I came out, aged 22 to my mum 26 years ago, she said whatever makes you happy makes me happy. 

    And my happiness stems from being in an interracial relationship of 26 years. 

    But in recent years, with the rise of homophobia, bi-phobia, transphobia and Islamophobia, it makes me wonder how far we, as an LGBT community, have really come?

    As a South Asian Muslim gay man, I thought I was part of the LGBT community and found more labels – “curry queen, otters, chapatti queen, bears, rice queen, twinks, daddies” etc. 

    We don’t want our lives and identity defined by labels. 

    I don’t want to be boxed in because of the colour of my skin, my religiosity, my age, my relationships, my sexual orientation. I want to be allowed to be me, burst out of that box and say to the world I am what I am. 

    Religion appears to oppress the LGBT community.

    Being LGBT isn’t about one-upmanship “my oppression is worse than yours” or “Muslims persecute gays, therefore, being white LGBT gives you higher privileges”. 

    No. Being LGBT and holding the flag is about being able to connect with others, understand each other’s struggles regardless of colour, creed or class and not say I’m  as Good As You but say I’m  the SAME as you meaning We Are All Human. 

    Being LGBT, being human means reaching out and overcoming obstacles and difficulties, offering support and understanding, demonstrating compassion and delivering words which say I am with you all the way. 

    We are continually looking outside when we really need to look on the inside and face reality.  

    We are LGBT and your truth is not the same as mine. 

    What I do know is that we need to navigate our own lives in the here and now, be mindful of our circumstances and safety, and not look to what others say or all the yesterdays. 

    Martin Luther King said, “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred” 

    Acknowledge the past as we can’t change history, try and live for today as we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. 

    Whilst we are trying to be citizens of the world, let’s try and educate and inform others about the A-Z of identities to make future generations more understanding and accepting.