COVER
JH: So, how has life been since the Channel 4
Documentary?
AL: It’s been very, very busy. My life has changed in
the sense that when I go out people stop me. They
want to talk to me. They want to know if I’m okay.
They want to know about my life and how I’m
dealing with things.
I’m judging the Rainbow List for The
Independent, I’ve been invited by the Oxford Union
to give a debate in November about the issues in my
life and the issues that surround my life. I think the
general public have definitely embraced me and the
values in my life and what’s affected me in my life.
There’s definitely a consensus out there that more
needs to be done and the question now is what’s
next?
When I talk to the LGBT community in
particular there’s definitely this fire. I think what
the documentary really fired up, is what’s next for
the LGBT community? There’s all these little
sections that the LGBT community itself wasn’t
aware of. There are a lot of mainstream gay and
lesbian people saying, “oh my gosh, we didn’t know
that this was happening in our community.” I’ve
had conversations that have harked back to pre1960s when homosexuality was criminalised. For
those of us who choose to come out and be visible
it’s one thing, but actually what about those people
that are living hidden lives. There’s more LGBT
people living hidden lives in the UK than are visible.
JH: The new Office for National Statistics
survey says that only 1.7% of the UK
population is LGBT how do you respond to
that?
AL: I think it’s a statistic for anyone who wants to
tick a box. I actually believe it to be inaccurate,
because for every one person who comes out on the
mainstream gay scene there’s probably, like a
hundred waiting, or not having the courage or not
knowing how to or where to come out too. It’s so
very much an invisible statistic.
JH: When you say one in every hundred, do
you mean in the gay Muslim community?
AL: Definitely I see it at my club nights, I see
hundreds and hundreds of men and women coming
into my club night and they would never be out in
public, out to their families and to some degree out
on the mainstream gay scene.
JH: At the very beginning of the
documentary you talked about the number
of death threats you had and have received.
With every public event, every article, every
interview that is written about you, do you
worry more and more about your safety?
AL: Definitely, every time I do something I’m
actively taking a risk, that’s something that’s so
present in my life, not just now but from the
moment I started. The moment I took on the title of
Muslim Drag Queen... I’ve been actively taking risk.
I’m constantly questioning myself, some times I
think, god, is it worth it? Should I carry on or
should I just drop the Muslim tag and just call
myself an Asian drag queen? The reality is that this
is who I am and it doesn’t matter how I package
myself I’m still going to face all sorts of sh*t that’s
thrown at me. When the documentary went out, I
think the reason people were so struck by it was it
started with me revealing my death threats. As soon
as it went out, on Twitter and on social medias it
was like, “it’s about time ISIS got her”.
JH: Do your haters pose more of a risk than
other haters? Is there more of a risk that the
hate might surface in your real life, to your
club nights, your photo-shoots or your
homes?
AL: Well, a photo-shoot like today I wouldn’t
advertise it. The police have told me not to publicise
things that openly. I don’t advertise where I’m
going, what time I’m going, because the reality is,
yes there are active death threats. The era that we’re
living in right now with Islamic extremism and with
a high level of threat on the UK yeah, I am at risk.
JH: How does it feel that your religion is
being hijacked by ISIS, by and that the
media really only talks about Islam when it’s
only aligned with extremism?
AL: Really really sad, it’s disheartening. If you sit
down and talk with a British Muslim the realities
are that you’ll have more in common with them
than you have differences. What I and the
documentary have brought to the forefront is a
different image of being Muslim. Each of the people
THEGAYUK | ISSUE 16 | NOV 2015 83