Gay Muslim Movie Banned From Film Festival By Kyrgyzstan Court

Last month a gay-themed film was removed from a film festival in Egypt, which made some people wonder whether this was evidence of a new, hard-line approach by the government. Now Kyrgyzstan has done a similar thing, with a court there banning a screening of the documentary, ‘I Am Gay And Muslim’, which was due to be shown last Thursday as part of the Bir Duino (One World) Human Rights film festival in the country’s capital Bishkek.

Kyrgyzstan’s chief cleric, Mufti Rakhmatilla Egemberdiev, said the film presented Islam ‘in a bad form, by using examples of people who have nothing to do with the religion.’ The State Committee on Religious Affairs then decided the film contained signs of incitement of religious hatred and humiliation of Muslims. As a result it was banned amid a new fear over movies that could possibly inflame Islamic opinion following the protests about ‘The Innocence Of Muslims’.

Directed by 32-year-old Dutch Chris Belloni filmmaker, I Am Gay And Muslim was filmed last year, and follows the stories of young gay men in Morocco exploring their sexual and religious identity

Although same-sex relationships were legalised in Kyrgyzstan several years ago, mixing sexuality and religion is still a hot button topic, and it is this that led to the movie being banned. This undoubtedly goes against what Belloni had wanted, as he has said, “I Am Gay and Muslim aims to raise awareness and break the taboo surrounding homosexuality while exposing a broad spectrum of dilemmas that the men struggle with or have overcome in the past.” (Source: GayStarNews)