Faisal Alam

Faisal Alam is a gay Pakistani American man who founded the Al-Fatiha Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing the cause of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Muslims.^[1]

Faisal Alam
Born	Washington D.C., United States
Nationality	American
Occupation(s)	Speaker, Writer, Activist
Known for	Founded the Al-Fatiha Foundation

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, he started an email listserv for LGBT Muslims that led to the founding of Al-Fatiha in 1998.^[2] He served as its President from 1998 until stepping down in 2004.^[3] In 2011, Alam and other LGBTQ Muslim activists were invited by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to form a Queer Muslim Working Group to evaluate the needs of the LGBTQ Muslim community. Alam was instrumental in bringing together a diverse group of seasoned leaders to undertake this project. In 2013, the Queer Muslim Working Group launched a new organization: the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD).^[4]

He is a former member of the Advisory Committee of the LGBT Program at Human Rights Watch.^[2]

Media Mentions

"21 LGBT Muslims Who Are Changing the World." The Advocate. December 20, 2016. Web ^[5]

See also

• Muhsin Hendricks South African gay imam
• Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed French-Algerian gay imam
• Mullah Taha Iranian gay mullah
• Nur Warsame Australian-Somali gay imam
• Daayiee Abdullah American gay imam