Allah Loves Equality. Can you be gay and Muslim?
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“In recent years Pakistan has been terribly affected by terrorism, a situation that has spilled on the lives of ordinary men and especially of LGBT people. There is a large community of gays and lesbians who hide. My purpose is to spread the message that Islam is a religion of peace, I will try to transmit it to all people, whether they are Muslim or not".(Wajahat Abbas Kazmi, director and documentary maker)
Allah Loves Equality. The project
The documentary Allah Loves Equality wants to tell the current situation of LGBT people who live in the Islamic State of Pakistan. Through interviews with gays, bisexual lesbians and Muslim transgender we propose to get their voice all over the world, to make known: their daily life, the way they are treated by society, but also to try to understand what The Islam of homosexuality really says and also on what their rights are.
We will spend one day with a group of transgender in the city of Peshawar, we will do exclusive interviews with the parents of gay couples and transgender who live there. We will also talk to some famous local journalists and activists of human rights who deal with the legal rights of the Pakistani LGBT community.
We will tell the lives of transgender people, from those who prostitute themselves to live, to those who are fighting against the HIV epidemic in the trans community. We will discover with their doctors the many problems that LGBT people face to cure themselves. Finally we will meet intersex and transgender people who successfully dealt with their sex transition.
A general picture on the situation of the LGBT in Pakistan
Unfortunately Pakistan is one of the few countries that not only does not respect the rights of the LGBT community, but where members of this community are punished as people "counter-nature". It is a country where holding the hand to a person of the opposite sex is not well seen, while hugging, pampering yourself, etc. With a person of the same sex it is an accepted social rule. It might seem like that the Pakistani LGBT community cannot meet any type of problem. However, that's not the case.
The intolerance of society towards homosexuality is what leads the LGBT community to have no rights and also risk prison, up to 10 years. The company guilty of LGBT people, accuses them of having 'chosen the wrong road' therefore "deserve to be punished". It is not understood that sexuality is not a choice.
Only in 2015 several transgender women died due to transfobia, countless gay men were kidnapped while the lesbians are imposed corrective rapes and married against their will are married. Until the Pakistani company will begin to accept the LGBT community as a part of it, these atrocities will continue to be committed against them.
The great Colibrì for "Allah Loves Equality"
The Great Coliberi It is an activism project in favor of LGBTQI people (lesbians, gay, bisexuals, transgender, queer and intersex) that wants to bring out and tell the importance of the others of erences (ethnic, national, cultural, religious, social, relational, sexual ...) that intersect with those related to sexual orientation and gender identity. "We want to break the wall of silence and prejudice that surrounds those who do not fall into the canons of the majority, overcome the stereotyped and superficial representation of the minorities, make the voice of those who are ignored, fight all forms of prejudice (homophobia, transfobia, racism, Islamophobia. , etc, ..) ".
Wajahat Abbas Kazmi. The recorder and producer of the documentary
Human Rights Activist of Amnesty International and independent director. He was born in Pakistan and grew up in Italy. He finished his studies at the Piero Sraffa school in Brescia. He wrote regularly articles for popular newspapers and magazines, but his passion is to write films on social issues, to increase public awareness.
For Questyo in 2009 he returned to his land, Pakistan, and made his debut as a writer/producer of the feature film "The Dusk" (2011), who will trigger many disputes as he tackled the theme of people who disappeared in Pakistan. He also produced The Blue Veins (2011), Massage for God (2012). In 2014 he also produced a Fatwa - The Final Green Film, which tries to show the reasons for the growth of religious terrorism all over the world and especially in Pakistan.
Pier Cesare Notaro. The documentary co-producer
Born in Milan, he is a doctorate in political science. Since 2001 he has been an activist in favor of LGBT people and migrants. In 2011 he founded the site "www.ilgrandacoli" "which deals with the situation of sex minorities in the south of the planet and launched" homosexual Muslims in Italy ", a project to combat religious and sexual discrimination. Tstao is one of the three facilitators at the last Calem conference (Confederation of Muslim LGBTQI associations in Europe) and works together with activists in Italy and abroad, especially in the Arab-Muslim world.
Zeeshan Kazmi. Screenwriter
Zeeshan Kazmi was born in 1985 and raised in Lahore, Pakistan. His interest in literature and artivisives brought him to the cinematographic world. For ten years he has been engaged in several socio -political projects.
Geneva Campaini. Assistant Director
Born in Florence, a graduate in linguissca and cultural mediation, it has a great passion for languages, the Arabic language and the Arab-Muslim world, which has led her to combine the translation with human rights, sex minorities and migrants. Voluntary translator for various projects and associations on migrants and on the LGBT community, in 2012 he participated in the young "U4right" field in Amnesty International and since 2016 he became a collaborator of the project "Il Grande Colibrì".
If you want to tell this story, give your contribution to fundraising to make it. Go to the site https://www.indiegogo.com/
This project makes use of the fate de The great Colyze, of the patronage of the Gay Milano Gay initiative Center, Gay Lex and the Gionata project on faith and homosexuality.
