Buraq is an upcoming transgender and gender-expansive Muslim anthology. We write this call and beckoning to trans & gender expansive/TGE (includes non-binary, gender nonconforming & intersex) Muslim folks with urgency and excitement - we are here to stay. We must now tell and archive our own stories, so that our younger siblings and kinfolk who are Muslim & Gender Expansive, know that they, too, have a lineage: a heritage, messy and nuanced, but here nonetheless, in this journey called life. We must not only cultivate and shape our own lived experiences and politics to ground ourselves, but to also feel rejoiced and affirmed in our full selves.
As anti-trans violence continues to destroy our survival, especially Black Trans lives, it is time to shift from tragedy to transformation. Trans & Gender Expansive (TGE) Muslims, especially Black Trans Muslims, deserve a world of safety, support, and love—but we can only build what we can dream. That’s why we are inviting TGE Muslim writers from our community to imagine free & self-determined trans futures. Dream with us through the process of actualizing this anthology, and to fight for a world where trans Muslim people can thrive. Please join us by adding your voice to this collection, Buraq, an Anthology of Trans and Gender-Expansive Muslim Works.
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Buraq Anthology is a trans-led initiative, conducted by trans & non-binary Muslim people of color.
Image Illustration by Syeda Mahbub
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The first wave deadline to submit to Buraq Anthology is November 20, 2020. The second wave deadline for submission is March 31, 2021.
Submissions can be in the form of long-form essays, short stories, poetry, interviews, photographs and illustrations. We invite submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following subjects:
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Relationships (friendships, family, transitioning with partners, non-monogamy, heartbreak); Spirituality/Religion; Coming Out (again and again); Race and Anti-Blackness; Islamophobia; Mental Health & Emotions (Depression, Grief, Anger); Sex (gender roles, consent, hooking up, play parties, STIs, PREP, sex work); Our bodies (hormones, surgery, health, fitness, packing, binding, self-love, the voice); Workplace & Professional Issues; Medical Industrial Complex; Violence (sexual, intimate partner, state-sanctioned, childhood abuse); Public bathrooms (horror stories, maps or stories about your ideal public bathroom); Transformative Justice; The State (incarceration, education)
***Anonymous (Not everyone our community wants to or has the ability to come out and be visible in the same way. This space is open to those submissions which shall remain nameless. There is space in this collection for your stories, too.
Values of Buraq:
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Trans-Led: We believe trans people are from the future. We are committed to the stories and voices of this anthology led by radical trans people, especially Black & Brown trans people whose imaginations exist beyond the confines of the state.
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Religious Trauma: We believe that religious intolerance is a toxic, systematized framework that occurs in all faith traditions and has caused mass violence globally. We also believe that Islamophobia is particularly reinforced and weaponized through the language of “war of terror” and deployed across various regions across the globe.
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Self-determination: We believe that gender and sexuality rights are an indispensable aspect of basic human rights. These rights include the right to freely express and experience sexuality without violence or coercion; the right to love and be with whomever we choose; and the right to equitable access to reproductive, medical and public health care. We believe gender does not exist as a binary, and that it contains multitudes.
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FTP (Fuck the Police): We believe that whatever the race or ethnicity of an individual cop or law enforcement figure, the police as a whole are a white supremacist organization and fundamentally about controlling and harming Black and brown bodies, especially trans bodies across the globe.
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We value the fullness of human experience. Perfection isn’t the goal of the stories that will be disseminated through this anthology. We use our spirit and trans ancestry to encourage growth for ourselves and others while maintaining the integrity of who we are as a people with gender-expansive and Muslim experiences. Who we are is enough.
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Abolition: We believe in the freedom of Black & Brown trans people and oppressed nations in the Global South. The senseless killing of trans women and the suicides of trans men and gender non-conforming folks are a result of state violence and toxic masculinity. The circumstances that perpetuate these deaths which in turn, diminishes trans livelihoods must be abolished in order for liberation to be actualized.