INTRODUCTION

This chapter explores how three Scottish Muslim gay men struggle to integrate their sexual and religious identities as they navigate their sexual orientation within an existing condemnatory religious, social and cultural context. The present study illuminates the heterogeneity and diversity of experiences within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population. It further raises the importance of providing a nuanced portrayal of the lives of men, who do not necessarily incorporate Western discourses into making sense of their identity as gay men (Rahman, 2015).

Perusing the literature on the subject of sexuality and religion, we find that the existence of gay Muslim men in Scotland has been neither recorded nor studied. To my knowledge, no academic literature has focused specifically on Muslim men from the LGBT ‘community’ in Scotland. Their stories remain hidden and their existence ignored. I aim in this chapter to expose some of the issues that emanate from their multiple identities, to consider the intersection of the men's gay and religious identity and to explore the interplay of oppression that they experience. The chapter begins by highlighting the very limited research carried out on the lives of gay people in Scotland. This is followed by an overview of the theory of intersectionality in order to understand and situate how sexuality is not a separate entity of one's identity, but is interconnected to other parts. Adopting an intersectional framework allows us to appreciate how gay men experience different forms of oppression in relation to their race/ethnicity and sexuality in ways that are distinct from their White counterparts and/or heterosexual men (cf. Crenshaw, 1996). It is also pertinent to discuss previous research undertaken on the lives of gay Muslims to position the findings of the present study. The final part of the chapter identifies the themes emerging from the narratives of the three participants and their experiences as Scottish gay Muslim men.

THE SCOTTISH GAY SCENE

The Rainbow Europe Index 2015, which evaluates progress in European countries on LGBT equality, declared Scotland to be the ‘best country in Europe for LGBT legal equality’. Scotland met 92% of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) Europe's criteria, compared to 86% for the UK as a whole.