Can Muslims support LGBTQ people?

Many Muslims have a gay brother, a transgender coworker, or a lesbian friend from school, and wonder whether standing with them is a betrayal of their faith. The Quran and the Sunnah answer with confidence. Muslims can support LGBTQ people, and doing so is part of the justice (ʿadl) and mercy (raḥma) Islam commands. Same-sex love and faithful same-sex relationships are halal on the stronger view, and every human being carries a dignity that Allah Himself bestowed. Defending that dignity is an act of faith.

Can Muslims support LGBTQ people?

Yes. The Quran’s command of justice reaches past every loyalty a person might hold:

۞يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّـٰمِينَ بِٱلۡقِسۡطِ شُهَدَآءَ لِلَّهِ وَلَوۡ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِكُمۡ أَوِ ٱلۡوَٰلِدَيۡنِ وَٱلۡأَقۡرَبِينَ

“Believers, stand firm for justice as witnesses for Allah, even against yourselves, your parents, or your relatives.”

Quran 4:135

The Quran adds that hatred of any people must never lead believers into injustice (5:8), and it declares that Allah has honored the children of Adam (17:70), every one of them. The reasons same-sex love is halal are set out in Is being gay haram? and the reasons trans Muslims may live as who they are in Is being transgender haram? Supporting the lawful is a good deed in itself.

What does supporting LGBTQ people mean for a Muslim?

The Prophet ﷺ gave his community a rule for every person who is wronged:

«انْصُرْ أَخَاكَ ظَالِمًا أَوْ مَظْلُومًا»

“Help your brother, whether he is a wrongdoer or wronged.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 2444

When his Companions asked how to help a wrongdoer, he said: by stopping him from doing wrong. In practice this means:

• Protecting people from harm. Speak up when LGBTQ people are threatened, beaten, or driven from their homes, and stop those who would do it.
• Guarding their honor. The Quran forbids mocking any people and calling one another by insulting names (49:11). Slurs have no place on a Muslim’s tongue.
• Equal treatment under the law. Support fair access to housing, work, healthcare, and marriage. The freedoms that protect a gay couple are the same freedoms that protect a Muslim’s right to pray, wear hijab, and marry by nikah.
• Keeping family ties. Parents may never cut off a gay or trans child (Is it permissible to disown your child for being gay?), and siblings, cousins, and friends owe them the same faithfulness.
• Opening the mosque. Welcome LGBTQ Muslims in the rows of prayer and the circles of learning (Are there LGBTQ-friendly and inclusive mosques?).

The Prophet ﷺ summed up the whole matter: “None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself” (Sahih al-Bukhari 13).

Is it haram to support gay marriage?

No. On the stronger view, a faithful marriage between two people of the same sex is a lawful nikah (Can two Muslims of the same sex marry?), so supporting it is supporting something good. Muslims who still hold the stricter view can also support equal civil marriage with a clear conscience. The Quran declares that there is no compulsion in religion (Quran 2:256), and in a shared society the law that lets others marry by their conscience is the law that lets Muslims marry by theirs.

Do other Muslims support LGBTQ people?

More than many realize. A Pew Research Center survey in 2017 found that just over half of Muslims in the United States said homosexuality should be accepted by society. Sadiq Khan, later mayor of London, voted for same-sex marriage in the British Parliament in 2013. Imams in South Africa, the United States, and Europe have served gay and trans Muslims for decades, and the Ibn Rushd-Goethe Mosque in Berlin, founded by the lawyer and imam Seyran Ateş, welcomes LGBTQ worshippers openly. Muslims for Progressive Values offers community and education in North America.

What about Muslims who disagree?

Many sincere Muslims hold the stricter view, and they deserve patience and respect. Even on their view, violence, humiliation, expulsion from home, and denial of a livelihood are haram, and harassing anyone about their faith or their life is forbidden (Is it haram to harass women about hijab or religion?). Conversations go best with kindness, with the evidence of the Quran, and with stories of real people the listener already loves.

A closing word

Allah gave the reason He made humanity varied:

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقۡنَٰكُم مِّن ذَكَرٖ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلۡنَٰكُمۡ شُعُوبٗا وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوٓاْۚ إِنَّ أَكۡرَمَكُمۡ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ أَتۡقَىٰكُمۡ

“People, We created you from a male and a female and made you nations and tribes so that you may come to know one another. The noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most mindful of Him.”

Quran 49:13

May Allah make us people who stand for every soul He has honored, and who are known by our mercy.