Faisal Alam

Faisal Alam is a gay Pakistani American who founded the Al-Fatiha Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing the cause of gay, lesbian, and transgender Muslims. [ [http://www.lgbtran.org/Profile.asp?A=D&ID=13 Faisal Alam Profile] ; "LGBTran's Religious Archives Network" July 18, 2006; retrieved December 21, 2006]

Alam arrived in the United States from Pakistan in 1987, at the age of ten, and resided in the rural middle-class town of Ellington, Connecticut. In 1997, after a failed engagement to a Muslim girl [ [http://www.oberlin.edu/stuorg/quaf/events/alam.htm Guest Speaker: Faisal Alam] ; "Queers and Allies of Faith" November 11, 2002; retrieved December 21, 2006] while he was attending Northeastern University, he started a Yahoo! Group for LGBT Muslims that quickly became very popular. [http://www.wolfmanproductions.com/faisal.html Hidden Voices - The Lives of Queer Muslims] ; Wolfman Productions; retrieved December 21, 2006] He founded Al-Fatiha in 1998 and served as its President until stepping down in 2004. [ [http://www.ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/2004aug/1401.htm Faisal Alam Steps Down As President of Al-Fatiha] ; "UK Gay News" August 14, 2004; retrieved December 21, 2006] He is a member of the National Religious Leadership Roundtable and the LGBT Program of Human Rights Watch.

References

External links

* [http://www.al-fatiha.org Homepage of Al-Fatiha]
* [http://www.johannhari.com/archive/article.php?id=395 Interview with Alam] by Johann Hari