COVER
stations, the Asian radio stations, we gave a lot of
interviews. I was fliering up and down the
country at every Gaysian night, people said they
were going to come.
JH: Do you think that happened because
they knew cameras were going to be there,
because it was going to be a public event?
AL: Possibly...
JH: Or was it apathy?
AL: Interesting question, I think for the gay
Asians it all came down to (the possibility) we
don’t want to be visible. We don’t want to be
emancipated.
JH: That’s a very strong statement, “we
don’t want to be emancipated” why?
AL: Fear. Fear of persecution, fear of being
authentic, fear of self-sabotage. I think all LGBT
people have an element of self-sabotage. We’ve
been oppressed for so long and we still are to a
certain extent, that when we’re close to getting
what we really want in life, we take on the roll of
our oppressors and sabotage ourselves – and
don’t quite make it.
JH: How about those who march in Pride?
AL: I think that marching in Pride is the easy way
to be visible. When it comes to gay Muslim
activism, the real activism is actually going into
the communities, into the mosques, and
community centres.
JH: What about those brave enough to
stand alone and put their head above the
parapet and say No!
AL: The amount of sh*t that Peter Tatchell gets
from the LGBT community… He’s a person that I
really respect because for a person to get a brick
through his window every month… he doesn’t
have to take on board and be an activist and fight
for equality but I think we owe a lot to him.
JH: Are you ready for that?
AL: Getting a brick through my window? I don’t
think I’m ready… no, even now I don’t think I’m
ready, all I wanted to do was perform, I just
happen to perform in a bloody burka. That’s
where it all started. I went into it very innocently
and very naively. I remember after my first Drag
Idol performance, thinking, “should I have gone
on in the burka, has it ruined my chances of
getting further in the competition?” I spent all my
teenage years watching drag queens wearing
nuns’ outfits, to me it was no different than
wearing a burka, but for the world, the world had
an issue with it and I wasn’t ready for it.
So are your parents okay with your
sexuality and drag queen persona now?
AL: My Mum and Dad after lots of challenging
conversations and debates have accepted me.
When it came to the documentary my Mum
didn’t take part in it really easily. She was, “I
support you.” Up until then she’d said to the
community, “no I don’t support what he does.”
With me she was like, “do what you need to do,
just wear good stuff - And cover your body.”
God help me when she sees this!
JH: So the family is fully supportive now?
AL: It’s a family at a time. In my community it’s
all about face it’s all about keeping your name
and keeping your honour. My community are
super hypocritical, on all matters. Say if my sister
married a white guy or a black guy, openly, “it’s
okay, these things happen now...”
Behind closed doors, it’d be, “Oh my gosh, I can’t
believe she married a white guy,” or “I can’t
believe she married a non-Muslim”.
It’s all like tit for tat and hypocritical.
I think in the UK when you’re in an ethnic
minority and there’s only so many numbers of
you, it’s magnified.
JH: Your husband, is he Muslim?
AL: Yes.
JH: So was there happiness that you had
married in your faith?
AL: My mum was like, “Everything is perfect, you
know, he’s educated, he’s good looking, the only
problem is he’s a man”.
Follow Asifa on Twitter
@asifalahore
THEGAYUK | ISSUE 16 | NOV 2015 89