In this episode, I introduce myself and give an overview of the current global narrative, highlighting the scarcity of resources in Muslim communities to help individuals struggling with SSA and airing out some of the frustrations that most of us feel. I also give a glimpse into what the podcast is about, who the target audience is, and what to expect from this series.
Links to sources mentioned in the episode:
- Waheed's article
- Br. Yousef's article
- The Straight Struggle online group
- Susan David's TED talk, "The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage"
- Br. Ali's Strong Support foundation
In this episode, I introduce myself and give an overview of the current global narrative, highlighting the scarcity of resources in Muslim communities to help individuals struggling with SSA and airing out some of the frustrations that most of us feel. I also give a glimpse into what the podcast is about, who the target audience is, and what to expect from this series.
Links to sources mentioned in the episode:
- Waheed's article
- Br. Yousef's article
- The Straight Struggle online group
- Susan David's TED talk, "The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage"
- Br. Ali's Strong Support foundation
Waheed Jensen: 0:00
This is Waheed Jensen, and you are listening to "A Way Beyond the Rainbow." Assalumu alaikum wa rahmatullahi ta'ala wa barakatuh, and welcome to our very first episode of "A Way Beyond the Rainbow", a podcast series dedicated to Muslims struggling with same-sex attractions, or SSA for short, who want to live a life true to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and Islam. I am your host, Waheed Jensen, and I am very excited, honored and humbled to be sharing this podcast series with you, as we pave our way together, inshaAllah, beyond the rainbow. This is our very first episode, and it is going to be an introductory episode, inshaAllah, where we talk about this podcast, the goals behind it, what to expect from it.. I'm going to obviously introduce myself, inshaAllah, and air some of the frustrations that most of us share with regards to our communities and the lack of resources available for people like us. So to begin inshaAllah, allow me first to introduce myself. I am Waheed Jensen, and I have SSA. I know that sharing part of my story right now is going to resonate with a lot of people listening who themselves have SSA. From a very young age, I knew that I was different. I couldn't tell what that was, why I was different. And of course, as a child growing up, I would have different perceptions. I would have different perspectives, different feelings. Things weren't sexualized, obviously, during pre-pubescent years, but there was a feeling of being different, looking at the world differently, behaving differently, identifying more with the opposite gender and, of course, the same gender, but to different degrees. And there were so many questions, and it felt weird in a sense. And everything kind of crystallized around puberty, when all of the raging hormones started kicking in, and things became more obvious. During that time, a lot of shame, guilt and fear started growing, because, obviously, I wasn't able to share a lot of my issues with people closest to me, like my parents or friends, because I knew that they would box me, label me, or they would themselves feel ashamed, or they wouldn't know how to answer, or I was ashamed myself. and I had so many questions that I didn't even know where to begin. So it was a very, very confusing period of time for me growing up and realizing that, "What is happening to me? I am different and my attractions are different. And I know religiously that that is not okay, acting upon them is not okay, so what do I do?" I remember gym classes were the hardest, because obviously we had to do a lot of sports together, and there were a lot of locker room issues and things that kind of made it very difficult for me. So the feelings of fear, isolation and confusion continued to grow. I would go on the Internet and try to look up, "Why am I feeling this way?" Try to find an Islamic answer, and the best that I could find was, "You are not to be blamed for your desires or attractions, but you are only blameworthy when you act upon them." Well, that's great, alhamdulillah, but what do I do now? And that was something that I could not find. So I was really frustrated with my community, the Muslim community. I was frustrated because I couldn't find someone that I could talk to. Every time the issue was brought up, it was brought up with a lot of sarcasm, a lot of shame, a lot of hatred and disgust. There were no support groups, and nothing in the Muslim communities was catered to people like me to talk about their issues, to try and find solutions, to try and live a life that is true to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala without living through cycles of shame and fear and guilt, 24/7. This continued throughout high school and college. I remember after the first year of college, I went to a therapist, because I was dealing with so many issues back then. I was going through terrible depression, anxiety, a lot of frustrations and low self esteem, that had to do with my SSA, and that had to also do with a lot of other things that were going on in my life at the time. And the therapist that I saw was pro-LGBT, and when I told him about this - he was the very first person I would ever tell, and I knew that I was protected by the confidentiality in that room. And so I started beating around the bush, but eventually, I had to just come out and tell the therapist about this. He kind of expected it, because I was alluding to that throughout the discussion. He listened, and he was fully accepting and fully embracing, and that was kind of a huge moment in my life. Throughout our discussions, at some point, he would tell me, "Well, what do you feel? How do you want to spend your life knowing that you're different" and all of that. I came to him actually asking him to change. I told him, "I don't want these attractions to exist. I want to change. I don't want.. I don't accept this. I want to be attracted to the opposite gender. I didn't want these attractions to always be with me." So he told me that that is not a possibility, and you just need to embrace who you are and accept who you are. And at the time I told him that "The idea of acting out and having a partner of the same gender, etc., those ideas were in contradiction to my values and my religion." So he accepted that and respected it, and we started dealing with my other issues, like depression, anxiety and all of these matters, and that was really helpful. And then, years after that, I told my very best friend back in college, and he himself was very accepting. He's a practicing Muslim, and he's very open minded. He sat with me and embraced me, and he was very loving, concerned and respectful. We had a very long discussion, I remember that night, and I had done years of research, dealing with my own issue and trying to reconcile my religious understanding with my own sexuality, and how I want to live my life and so on, so forth. At some point he told me something that I still remember to this day, alhamdulillah. He said, "You have an understanding of this matter. You have found your peace, but there are tons and tons of men and women out there who are dealing with the same issue, who have nowhere to turn to, nobody to talk to, and they are suffering. So make this your life calling." And that struck the right chord in me. A few months later, I decided to write an article that kind of talked about our struggle as people with SSA, and I made it very personal. I aired out some of the frustrations that people like us have, and I tried to make it engaging with an audience who finds this topic very foreign territory. The article is called "The Strange Elephant in the Room: Struggles, Passions and Hopes." It was published, alhamdulillah, in 2015 on Virtual Mosque, and the year after that on Alt-Muslimah, and the year after that on Patheos. The third time it got published, it had a wider readership, and people started sharing it right and left. Ever since the first publication came out, I started getting emails from men and women who struggle with SSA from all over the globe, sharing with me their stories, thanking me for speaking on their behalf, telling me about their lives, asking questions, and seeking guidance. That period of my life was transformational beyond description, alhamdulillah. I have learned so much. I appreciate all the stories, all the pain that has been shared with me, people being vulnerable and courageous, talking about their ups and downs, their failures and successes, sharing with me their deepest, most intimate feelings, and being raw with someone they don't even know. This made me feel that this - this issue - is incredibly significant, and you cannot imagine how many people struggle with this on a daily basis. I remember in 2016, it was summer time, I came across another article written by who is now a very good friend and brother of mine, brother Yousef. He wrote an article that was published on Muslim Matters, and it's called, "From a Same-Sex Attracted Muslim: Between the Denial of Reality and Distortion of Religion." That's another article I will be adding its link in the episode description, inshaAllah. That article was the very first time that I was exposed to the notion of same-sex attraction, or SSA. I used to always refer to myself as a "gay person", because that's the terminology that I knew at the time, right? His article was the very first time that I was exposed to so many different notions, and it kind of created a lot of cognitive dissonance for me. A lot of the things that I took for granted were brought into question. He himself has same-sex attractions, and he is married with kids, mashaAllah. He talks about his personal journey, and he talks about the importance of support in our Muslim communities, and he also airs out some of the frustrations that we have. He is a moderator of the Straight Struggle Yahoo group. I didn't know that such a group ever existed, so from that point on, I joined that group, and I realized that there are hundreds and hundreds of brothers and sisters on that group, who have been sharing their own stories and seeking help, guidance and support, and sharing articles, readings and writings, and talking about their own lives. That's when a new journey for me started, where I started reading, interacting with others, communicating and growing. I was exposed to so many new concepts, read a lot of books and I spoke to many professionals and people who have been through so many ups and downs, people who have been through lots of traumas and journeys of healing and growth. I was completely amazed. I was in a state of complete awe. Alhamdulillah, it's been years and years, and the journey keeps on going. I wouldn't say I'm a reference. I wouldn't say I have it all figured out. On the contrary, I am here to share my own story and the stories of so many people whom I have known throughout the years, who will be coming with me on this journey as co-hosts, as interviewees, and we will be discussing together so many themes that we have prepared. Last year, I started a personal blog, because I wanted to document this journey and talk about a lot of the themes that are very important for people struggling with SSA. A lot of us are very passionate about helping Muslims in our communities who struggle with same-sex attractions, A very close friend of mine whom I have known for over a year, who also struggles with this - a few months ago, he suggested that we start a podcast, because that's an excellent way of getting the message across, audio-based, very easy to listen to, and it would be a great resource and platform for people like us to come together and start the conversation. One thing that I would like to say, and I know that a lot of you listening would agree with what I'm saying: growing up, we realized that our communities tend to dismiss our problems, they shove them under the carpet and pretend they don't even exist until they finally explode. And this applies to so many of the fundamental and crucial problems that are present in our communities. When we talk about same-sex attractions or the gay community, we are often met with responses like "We've got more pressing issues" or "No, we don't have that in our communities." That's complete denial, right? So what I'm trying to say is, with this podcast, what we hope to achieve is to at least put the tough conversations on the table. To finally have a discussion about them. It is about time that we do that. We are done being silent. We might be your next door neighbor, your friend, your student, your teacher, your doctor, your cab driver.. We might be your brother or sister, we might be one of your kids, or believe it or not, we might even be your own father or mother. And we are here to give you a glimpse of our world. I'd like to share a lot of quotes, inshaAllah, during the episodes, and one that I find very convenient to share at this point comes from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. And the quote goes like this, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." What I hope to achieve from this podcast series is to show people what it means to be us, to give you the chance to climb into our skin and walk around in it. As I said, a lot of brothers and sisters have been sharing with me their stories throughout the years. I have received hundreds and hundreds of emails, and I can say without a doubt that the majority, if not each and every one of them, grew up knowing that they were different. It depends - it's different from age to age. With me, it started from the age of five or six, for others, it started around puberty. But what is common to all of us is that we knew that there was something different. With time, we knew that, what our feelings were, were not labeled as normal. And so we started hiding those aspects of us from the world, and this inevitably would impact our social lives. We would not be very close to other people, out of fear of being found out. We would revert into ourselves to hide. Some people would have double lives. But all in all, what is very common to all of us are the feelings of shame, hurt and pain. We had a lot of questions that we didn't have answers to. "Why am I feeling this way? Was I created this way? Is God punishing me? Is God hating me? What did I do to deserve this? Am I doomed to Hell?" And so many other questions like this. We struggled to find answers and coherent explanations for who we are and what to do with what we have. What makes the issue more difficult are two things: there is a lack of a well-defined Islamic approach to dealing with our struggles as Muslims who face this firsthand, and this is further compounded by the LGBT narrative. Nowadays, this is the overwhelming narrative. "Embrace who you are. Love yourself. Love is love. You are your sexuality. Embrace that, love yourself, go out and be who you are, etc." And this narrative is very captivating, because it says, "It's OK, we know how you feel, and we are here to offer complete acceptance. We embrace you, We give you hope and love." And this is very, very attractive for people like us who haven't had that in our very own communities. So why would we be surprised when a lot of us end up leaving religion or leaving our communities and adopting different lifestyles, because we weren't met with love, empathy, compassion and mercy from our very own communities? A lot of Muslims react in a way that makes it even more difficult, either through a lot of the stereotypes that they paint, or with their preconceived notions and a lot of judgments that they have. They're not willing to understand. There's zero empathy and compassion. I remember at one point, I was at a Friday khutbah, and out of nowhere, the imam goes on a tangential topic. He starts talking about homosexuals, paints everyone with the same brush, lumps all people who have same-sex attractions into one group, and he sends them all to Hell. And I remember at that point, years ago, I remember saying to myself, "I am coming here to the House of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I haven't committed any sin, as far as my sexuality is concerned, and what is my fault? Who are you to say these things to me? I know we don't accept specific sexual relations in Islam, but what is with the rhetoric of hurt, shame, disgust and anger? And who are you to be saying all of these things?" I remember looking at people, and they were also ashamed and disgusted. There were hundreds of us in that mosque, I am sure that I wasn't the only one who had SSA back then, and I could imagine how deeply hurt and further ostracized those people were. They even make it sound like it's a choice that we have. No, it's not a choice. It's never a choice. Who would choose something like this? No one would. This is one of the take home messages from today's episode: People, it is not a choice. If you think that it is a choice, then you are sadly mistaken. So please drop this idea. It's not a choice. There's another story that I would like to share that a very close friend of mine told me at some point, which was about a family gathering that he was part of, and the family was having dinner, and afterwards they were watching TV together. And at some point, there was a news report about whatever subject, and an effeminate guy comes up on TV and starts talking, and then some of the family members sitting around start cursing him and making fun of him, and everyone starts laughing. And then they talk about punishment and how these people are an abomination and all of that. My friend there was sitting drenched in guilt and shame. At some point, he tells me, "You know the hadeeth of the seven fatal sins of Islam, like worshipping other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, dealing with bank interests, or usury, and accusing women in their chastity, and so on." He said that homosexual relations aren't mentioned in that hadeeth, and that's not to say that they're not haram, he's just using that example. And then he tells me, "You know how many people from that gathering sometimes accuse women in their chastity, and they use bank interests all the time, and some might even fall into shirk? But God forbid homosexuality is mentioned, then it's just a huge catastrophe." It's so ironic that a lot of people who consider themselves to be religious have no problems with specific sins, but when homosexuality is brought up, then they're the first people to cast a stone. I can speak on behalf of so many people with SSA when I say that we are tired of statements like, "This is all in your head", "You are giving this too much importance", or even "You're not doing this right." As if they know what works for us. And I am sad to say that even for Muslims who have SSA, a lot of us don't know the techniques on how to give proper advice and think that it's like a checklist. "Do this, Do that, avoid this. Don't do this. Stay away from that. Make sure you do this continuously and everything is going to be fine." It's not a prescription. It was never about a prescription. It was never about a list of bullet points that you need to follow. Things are much, much deeper than that. People think that it's just a desire. It's not just a desire. It's much, much deeper than that. And it's not a choice, either. There's a problem with the one-size-fits-all approach, as if we are all the same, and things should be followed in a specific order, or we should try all of these things, and everything is going to be fine. No two cases of people who have same-sex attractions are alike, just like no two human beings or ever 100% identical, not even identical twins. So when people say that marriage works for everyone, no, it does not. I know a lot of people who say that marriage is going to solve the problem. Unfortunately, it doesn't. I know some people who have gotten married and things worked out so beautifully. Others got married and things backfired. Some are adamant about psychotherapy and reparative therapy. For some people, it made a huge difference. For other people, it did not. Some people tell me about a lot of weekend gatherings, a lot of support group activities and things that actually make a difference for people with SSA. So many people vouch for that, other people say it's kind of neutral, others say that it did not work for us. And what really bothers me the most is when people tell you, "This is a spiritual ailment, you need to go back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala." I mean, yes, we all need to go back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We all need a close connection to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But when you tell me that the things I've been feeling ever since I was a little kid, the things that I haven't chosen, the things that are deeply entrenched into my psyche and have to deal a lot with my emotions and my traumas and the way that I look at life... If this is a spiritual ailment, then I'm afraid you are deeply mistaken, and you do not know about the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala or what Islam is about. I am sorry, but this kind of rhetoric, we are over this. Or even the talk about repressing ourselves. "These things should not be talked about", as if we are less than. Repression is what got us to this point to begin with. Look at all of the problems that we are facing as a Muslim community, and how many problems we have repressed over decades and centuries. So, no, repression is not the answer. When we look at the Muslim efforts, as far as people with SSA are concerned, either people overlook the issue entirely - they live in denial, or you have people who are pro-gay, pro-LGBT Muslim apologists, and you find a few scholars here and there and people of knowledge who are really willing to engage. And we salute you, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for doing that, because we know that that's not easy. A lot of them are afraid, or they don't want to learn. But all in all, what I personally find is that there is fear. Fear of the unknown. They don't know about the topic. They're afraid of engaging in it. There is lack of knowledge, and there is an overwhelming global narrative nowadays, so there is fear of that. There's a lot of fear, if you look at that. Not to mention when the feelings themselves are confused with the acts, and "how do we label?" you know it becomes even more confusing. A lot of families do not offer help. I have had so many stories being shared with me, from people who have chosen to tell their parents or their family members about their own attractions - they haven't done anything wrong. They just told people. They wanted to vent, they couldn't take it anymore. They just wanted to say something, and when they did, they were abused. They were hurt. Some were even kicked out of their houses, and that's not okay. A lot of therapists and counselors in the Muslim world do not know how to deal with this. Many imams, as you can imagine, do not know how to deal with this. Teachers, parents, friends, family members... We don't know how to talk about this. We are sick and tired. We feel cornered, misunderstood, lost, and taking everything that I've said into account, who do we turn to? Again, would you be surprised to know that many of us end up leaving religion altogether, because they can't find their place, they can't find their space in there. Others would still consider themselves to be Muslim, and they choose a more liberal, progressive, pro-LGBT path, which says, "Okay, I am Muslim and I am gay at the same time, and I want to engage in same-sex relations or have a same-sex partner. And as far as the verses or the ahadeeth that talk about this, then I choose a path of reinterpretation." And then you have others who struggle in silence, and they continue to repress and repress, and they don't know what to do, they have no one to turn to until things eventually explode. And to add more to that, when you have mental health issues that are part of the equation, like depression, anxiety, mood disorders, low self esteem and even suicidal ideations, that makes it even more difficult. A lot of Muslims, unfortunately, have taken their own lives, because it was too much to bear. At one point, a friend of mine chose to tell his family, they were completely surprised, and they didn't take it well. And then when he told them about Muslims who have SSA who have their own support groups, and he shared with them some articles, they were quite surprised, and they didn't even realize that there is this in our Muslim communities. They didn't realize that people like us exist. Yes, people, we do exist! I hate to break it to you, but that's the reality of it. So why this podcast, "A Way Beyond the Rainbow"? It's our way of telling people, it is about time that we have this conversation in the Muslim community. We are not shying away from many topics that are considered to be taboo. And as you'll come to learn, we will be talking about things that are necessary to discuss. We hope that this podcast becomes a safe space for Muslims struggling with same-sex attractions. I hope that you feel heard, understood and you find a chance to grow and heal. One thing I would like to mention at this point in the episode is with regards to people who say that we shouldn't be talking about these topics, out of fear of spreading wrong in our community, or out of fear of opening doors to specific desires or topics. As if these are not even open to begin with. But again, what I want to say is that this is not right. Repression only compounds the problem. We have repressed for years and years, and nothing has come out of that, except for more shame, pain and hurt. You are not compromising your religion, values or ethics when you are seen as a safe space where people tell you things, and they confide in you. And that might even be life saving for a lot of people. It doesn't mean that you encourage people to sin, or you lead them astray by doing that. It doesn't mean that you're opening the door for sin. When we talk about things, when we address our problems, that is how a lot of us feel that we are embraced and acknowledged, that we feel someone else understands us. And that is the beginning of the path of healing and growth. Repression only leads to catastrophes. And there's something else. There is a difference between "I don't like a specific action" versus "I don't like a person" or "I hate that person." We hate sins. We hate specific actions, but we never hate people. We are all sacred. We are all creatures created by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and that is very important to always keep in mind. The WHO tells us that depression is the single leading cause of disability worldwide nowadays, much more than cancer, much more than heart disease. And if you notice, in today's world, we tend to have a rigid response towards our emotions, whether we go to an extreme of overthinking about our emotions constantly, ruminating and regurgitating, or we go to the opposite side of just pushing away our emotions and not even giving them attention. A lot of us are shamed when we talk about our emotions, and we shame others for the emotions that we see as negative, but we don't see these emotions as inherently valuable. One of the powerful Ted talks that I've listened to is called The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage by Susan David. A link to this I will add, inshaAllah, to the episode description. In this TED talk, she says, "Being positive has become a new form of moral correctness, that there is a tyranny of positivity that is cruel, kind and ineffective that we inflict upon ourselves and others." And she says that "Rigid denial doesn't work. It is unsustainable for our communities, whether we overthink our emotions constantly or we bury them and push them aside or we fake positivity. That's all part of rigid denial." When emotions are suppressed and ignored, they amplify with time, and we are very familiar with this. Eventually what happens is that they start controlling us. An internal pain always comes out. And who pays the price? We pay the price. Our friends, families, colleagues and communities. "Pushing aside our emotions takes away from us our capacity to develop skills to deal with the world as it is, not as we wish it to be." InshaAllah in the next two episodes, when we talk about vulnerability and courage, we will dissect a lot of these notions together. But what I want to say at this point is that tough emotions and tough conversations are part of our lives. "A meaningful life does not come without stress or discomfort." For people with same-sex attractions. I know that this topic is very difficult for a lot of people in our communities. Let us not focus on the things as they should be, but how they truly are. Until we do that, things are not going to change. Let's stop hiding behind our fingers. Let's acknowledge our problems and have conversations about them, for that is how we start to grow and heal. What I ask the listeners to do is to look at things through other people's glasses. Listen to people like us, have a conversation with us. I know that it's difficult, but it's necessary. Try and get out of your comfort zone and reach out to others. Drop your assumptions, generalizations, preconceived notions, stereotypes - anything that you have that would cloud your judgment. Open up your heart and ask questions. I used to always say that a lot of scholars, unfortunately, live in ivory towers; they just see the world the way that they see it, pass judgments, write things and call to action in specific ways that have nothing to do with reality. I invite people to step down from their ivory towers and sit with us on ground. Listen to us. Engage in the conversation. And I can assure you that you will be doing yourself and us a favor. Another quote that I would like to share is from a novel called Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card, and he says, "When you really know somebody, you cannot hate them. Or maybe it's just that you can't really know them until you stop hating them." I'd like to reiterate our position in this podcast series, which I believe is already clear by now. But just in case, I would like to say that we do not identify with many of the ideas of the LGBT community, particularly matters that are explicitly prohibited in Islam, like same-sex sexual relations. What I'm saying is that we are men and women with SSA who aim to live a life true to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, a God-conscious life in line with Islam. What about the efforts that are present in the Muslim communities? Of course, there's a scarcity of such efforts. Most of the resources available to helping people with same-sex attractions are mostly Christian or Jewish, and they are great and amazing. They've done a great, great job. We will be referring to many of them in later episodes, inshaAllah. But when you look at the Muslim efforts and the Muslim communities, there are a few resources available. Some articles written out there, like Yousef's article, my article and a few others. Some support groups are available online, like the Straight Struggle Yahoo group. There's also a new foundation that is based in the UK, called Strong Support, that has been recently established by Brother Ali. I will also add the links to these websites in the episode description, inshaAllah. But all in all, there's no centralized approach, and the efforts are still lacking. A lot of scholars, professionals, counselors and therapists do not know how to address these matters, particularly in the West, where issues of sexuality and gender are very volatile. This is a pressing issue that needs attention. And that is why we chose the name, "A Way Beyond the Rainbow", because we're trying to go beyond the available discourse nowadays. I know some people might ask, "Why did we choose the term "rainbow"? Why are we associating ourselves with such symbolism? Why couldn't we choose something that is unique?" Well, to tell you the truth, it's because this is the prevailing narrative. It doesn't mean that we identify with it, but we are starting with something. We are starting with this, and we are paving the way beyond the rainbow. This is how we see it. We wanted to choose something that is relevant. But we also wanted to make it unique, because we are paving our way beyond it. And hence the name, "A Way Beyond the Rainbow." Who is our audience in this podcast? Obviously, this podcast is dedicated to Muslims who have SSA, and many of the topics that we want to address are catered to people like us. But also we hope to address so many relevant topics of benefit to the wider community, and that includes parents, family members, friends, imams, chaplains and community leaders. Is this podcast aimed just for Muslims? Obviously not. This podcast is open to people of all religions, but obviously in this podcast series were adopting the Islamic paradigm. We're referring to the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and we are basing our discourse on the Islamic paradigm. So what do we have planned? There are a lot of topics that we will be discussing. We will talk about shame, guilt and vulnerability, and we will be talking about pain, courage and healing. What difference does it make if I say "I am gay" versus "I have same-sex attractions"? What about the gay identity? Should I embrace that? Should I not? What difference does it make? What are the causes of same-sex attractions? Is it purely genetic? Is it environmental? Does it have to do with my childhood upbringing? Family dynamics? Do trauma and abuse have any role to do with that? What about society, etc.? We want to talk about the roles of therapy, particularly reparative therapy, how it helps, and some controversies associated with that. We would also like to touch upon the role of support groups to help individuals heal, grow and find love and strength. Some of the topics we will be addressing are also about marriage. "How do I know if I should get married? Should I stay celibate? Is this fair? What about loneliness? What are some outlets that I have?" We will also be addressing some difficult topics like addictions: pornography addiction, masturbation addiction, sex addictions.. We will also be talking about sexual abuse and rape. And we will go deep into the topics of transgenderism, gender dysphoria and gender identity disorders. For parents, we have some episodes trying to give advice on how to deal with such matters, and answering some questions, for friends and siblings as well, and imams, chaplains and community leaders, we have some episodes dedicated to them. And of course, we have episodes that are directed to your own individual questions. If you feel we haven't addressed a specific topic that much, or if you feel that a topic has to be discussed that we haven't yet discussed, or if you have any specific questions or comments, some episodes will also be dedicated to that, inshaAllah. For any comments, questions or suggestions, or if you just like to say "hi!", feel free to email me anytime on: awaybeyondtherainbow(AT)gmail(DOT)com. I encourage you to please share and spread the word. You can catch "A Way Beyond the Rainbow" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Google Podcast, Stitcher, iHeart Radio and TuneIn Radio. All our episodes are also available on our website: awaybeyondtherainbow.buzzsprout.com. And as you know, our episodes are every Friday, inshaAllah, at 12pm GMT. And with this we have come to the end of our introductory episode. I hope that you have enjoyed it and have learned something from it, inshaAllah. In the next two episodes, my dear friend Aadam will be joining me to talk about shame, guilt, pain, vulnerability, courage and healing. With every episode, I would like to end with an inspirational quote. For this episode, I chose Mother Teresa's famous quote, "I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples." This has been Waheed Jensen in "A Way Beyond the Rainbow." Till next Friday, inshaAllah, assalumu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.