Negotiating Space with Family and Kin in Identity Construction: The Narratives of British Non-Heterosexual Muslims
Author(s)
Yip, Andrew K. T.
Abstract
This paper highlights significant moments, strategies, and themes in British nonheterosexual Muslims’ management of familial and kin relations. Significant socio-cultural and religious factors constitute the framework within which they negotiate such relations. These factors are: the strict religious censure of non-heterosexuality (specifically homosexuality) based on various Islamic written sources, the pervasive cultural censure of homosexuality as a ‘western disease’, the expectation of marriage as a cultural and religious obligation, the respect for parents, and the maintenance of family honour (izzat) particularly in the close-knit kinship network. These factors, which significantly inform the participants’ responses and experiences, also reflect the social position of this religious and ethnic minority in British society. Specifically, the participants highlighted the complexity of secrecy, silence and discretion in balancing individualism (ie expression of sexuality) and socio- religious obligations. In general, the data demonstrate the intricate inter-relatedness of structure and agency, and the cultural embeddedness of the production and management of identity and social relations.
