BERLIN (AP) — Ali Darwich, a gay Muslim influencer in Berlin, picks up a date from his plate, takes a sip of water, and addresses the 15 friends sitting around the table and breaking the Ramadan fast with him.
The 33-year-old German with Palestinian and Lebanese roots — who goes by @alifragt or “Ali asks” on Instagram — has a quickly growing following on Instagram, where he draws attention to the difficulties of living as a young, queer Muslim and calls for more tolerance and inclusiveness.
“Tonight we want to send a message that no matter where a person comes from, no matter who that person loves, no matter how queer that person is, they cannot be too queer … because they are exactly as they should be,” Darwich says, smiling at the diverse group of Muslims and Christians, Germans and immigrants, gay and straight people sharing this meal with him as the sun sets over Berlin.
I am pretty hopeful Tunisia will be spearheading those type of reforms.
They been big on feminism since their independence and any essay written in Arabic can spread through a lot of Muslim countries.
Would you recommend Tunisa as a “progressive” Islamic country to visit for a time ?
Ah they are definetely big on feminism even compared to US on some subjects (abortion) but I don’t know the general opinion on lgbtq+ groups.
They did have a gay man run for president once and there are about 7 organizations dedicated to lgbtq+ rights, however the act of gay sex itself is still a crime.
I never lived in Tunisia myself so this is as much info I can give without going into speculation territory.
Definetely can find more knowledgable people on lemmy than me for Tunisia.
I also have hope that Europe with its significant immigrant population will transfer more moderate ideas back to their countries of origin.
The more cultures mix the less chance there is for extreme views to take hold. Its easy to convince someone to attack someone who is different, if you have never met them.