I think I’ve finally found the phrase that identifies me, at least with regards to the kinda guys I go for. According to part 3 of the Gay Muslims documentary, I would be a “Mohammed queen”. (Similar to how a white guy who likes East Asian guys is called a “rice queen” and a non-white guy who likes white guys is called a “snow queen.”) I feel like my ideal lover and life partner would be a guy who identifies as Muslim and practices the faith (or, at least, shows some genuine love/affection for it).

(Originally written: 2/25/07)

Let’s be blunt: I want stuff to happen, and I’ll generally do my darndest to make it happen—as long as the means are morally permissible, of course. Three examples will suffice.

A 60th birthday gala for the late gay rock star Freddie Mercury was canceled Thursday on the east African island of Zanzibar, where Mercury was born, after outraged Muslims threatened to disrupt it, Agence France Presse reported.

On Wednesday, organizers said they would continue with the planned Sept. 2 event despite fierce opposition from Islamists, who said the lifestyle of Queen's flamboyant lead singer was offensive to many on the overwhelmingly Muslim archipelago. Organizers said Thursday they have no choice but to call it off.

Being a student with limited income and living in an expensive coastal California city like San Diego, money does not go far when you have little disposable income available on hand.

I was on my way home from the masjid when I noticed an advertisement for this play I heard about called "Southern Baptist Sissies." I had never seen the play, but I remember that those in college who did see it loved it. So I shelled out close to $60 dollars for an aisle seat with no visual obstructions to the stage. The play was at the Birch North Park Theatre in San Diego's North Park district, a neighborhood adjacent to Hillcrest (the gay ghetto) and University Heights, where I reside, commonly called "Uptown."

Mark Simpson was born in York, England, where he attended the same school as Guy Fawkes, though not in the same year.

After running away from Oriel College, Oxford and working as a deckhand, a bouncer, a photo-love novel model, a pot-washer and a double-glazing salesman, he realised he was unemployable and so naturally turned to writing.

Exposed by the New York Times as the deadbeat dad of the 'metrosexual', he has since been asked by hundreds of publications and TV stations around the world to explain himself, his own ‘lesbosexual’ sense of anti-style, and his offspring’s perfect complexion. He also appears to have been the inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's manic cameo appearance in the movie Sleep With Me as a party guest obsessed with the homoerotics of the classic Eighties blockbuster Top Gun.

Support for Israel in the gay community is something that can be explained like this:

1. The gay community is majority white, most Americans in general feel that Israel is justified in their response to Hezbollah and the killing of Lebanese civilians is Hezbollah's fault since they use "human shields."

2. Israel is a homophobic society, but in a nation of soldier-citizens, there is no "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Gays can openly serve in the IDF, not so in the US, gays face legalized discrimination if they come out, I used the "gay card" to get discharged earlier, my separation papers say "not recommended for retention." I can never serve my country again until the Pentagon reverses its discriminatory practices against homosexuals.

OK Ilan killed the personal ads idea, so I shan't be playing auntie for anyone on PI.org. I still think we should have a discussion on progressive Muslims finding mates that are spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually compatible (among other things). Marriage isn't the same as it was when our grandparents were getting hitched, and for those of us who have multifaith families, we've got several traditions/forms of baggage to handle. Let's talk about love, people!

My new PI.org name is Fashion Mujahid. I plan to offer something on the Fashion Jihad in a bit, I'm thinking something along the lines of selecting one's best colors. Stay tuned, and be beautiful to yourself.

This topic concerns issues of conflicting identities.

I shall talk about my subjective experience as both a gay man and a Muslim man living in America. I stated shahada in 2003, at the age of 23 though I am now 26, I still do not know the prayers completely in Arabic and my knowledge of Islam is still lacking in some arenas.

I do attend a mosque regularly, the Islamic Center of San Diego which is quite political surprisingly; unlike the mosque I originally attended in Los Angeles sandwiched between Hollywood and Koreatown on Vermont Avenue.

Dan Varisco's post on gay marriage, the trade of young brides in Afghanistan, and the value of marriage on his group-blog Tabsir is so sensible it just makes me still with gratitude. Most of Varisco's writing is like this. He is one of those who combine comprehensive knowledge of an area and common sense. Here he offers a summary analysis of the historical value of marriage and suggests we might consider that there would be no loss of value should gay marriage be legitimized. Cultures have typically used marriage to build legitimate alliances between families or communities, regulate sexual access to fertile women, and consequently protect the validity of the alliance through the legitimacy of the offspring. It is only rarely about love. The child brides given over for debt in Afghanistan are symptomatic of marriage as alliance in its worst manifestation. Needless to say here, such marriages are not Islamically legal. But we all know too that few care what legal scholars have to say.