The Sweetest Taboo

Everyone’s experience of coming out is different, yet the hoped-for result is the same: finding freedom by proclaiming your true self to the world. But what if you were a Muslim living in a nation governed by Islam and coming out meant risking imprisonment, torture, even death? Gay Indian filmmaker Parvez Sharma studies this dire circumstance in the documentary A Jihad for Love (on DVD tomorrow).

Referring to the literal Arabic translation of “jihad” — not “war” but “struggle” — Parvez documents the stories of several gay Muslims to reconcile their pursuit of love with their dedication to a faith that persecutes them. There’s Imam Muhsin Hendricks, a South African mosque leader who appears on local radio to challenge the notion that the Qu’ran forbids homosexuality. And Mazen, who allows his face to be seen on camera for the first time since being jailed and tortured after a raid at a gay club in Cairo.

But Jihad doesn’t focus solely on their struggle. It also makes plain that the core of these subjects’ shared experience is the joy they find with one another — whether in a consoling embrace or a shared dance in drag to Bollywood music — and the bravery they exhibit in the name of love.


A Jihad for Love will be available on DVD April 21 from First Run Features.