The Right Thing: Muslim and Lesbian

From an early age, Fatima Daas knew that she was different. Raised in a strict Algerian Muslim family in the poor suburbs of Paris, she struggled to reconcile the feelings she was developing, with her devotion to her faith. Her upbringing dictated that she would have to choose between Islam and her sexuality. At high school, she tried and failed to start teenage romances with boys.

Mike Wooldridge travels to the suburbs of Paris to meet Fatima and hear about the pressures she came under, and her fears of disappointing both her family and her community.

As she grew up, Fatima says, she coped “by speaking to God…as if he was a counsellor,” sharing with Him, her innermost secrets. And for many years, she says, she was convinced she was the only lesbian who was also a Muslim.

Now in her mid-20s, Fatima tells Mike how she eventually reconciled her inner conflicts and made her choice.

Listen here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct3hh7