Transgender woman barred from mosque unless she dresses as a man or can "prove" she's a woman

[Mr. Ambien]

Leaders of a Tempe mosque have decided that if congregant Sumayyah Dawud wants to continue attending prayers and other community functions at the Islamic Community Center, she must either dress and pray as a man or provide medical documentation that she is anatomically female.

Though Dawud was born male, she has been legally female since 2011 — her Arizona driver's license and U.S. passport list her as such. She converted to Islam in 2013 and, until recently, says no one has raised any questions about her identity.

But earlier this summer, a handful of her fellow community members went to the ICC board of directors with concerns that she was not actually female and said having her pray with them in the women’s section made them uncomfortable.

(Dawud is not sure exactly what prompted these people to approach the board, but she suspects it has something to do with her increasingly public image as a left-wing activist and the feeling among many in the Muslim community that protesting is not "the Islamic way of doing things.")

In the past month, Dawud has become the center of what she calls an inappropriate investigation into her personal history and has been thrust into what might just be one of the next frontiers for the Muslim community.

Dawud first became aware of any sort of issue last month when she was called into the office of Nedal Fayad, chairman of the ICC Board of Directors, and asked point blank if she was male or female.

“He told me that they had done a background investigation on me and found stuff that said I used to be assigned male,” Dawud says, adding that not only does she feel her privacy was violated, but this is an issue “that’s none of their business.”

However, hoping to quell any concern and put the matter behind her, Dawud provided two forms of government identification showing she was a woman. She was told the documentation wasn’t enough and that they would need medical proof before they could permit her to continue attending the mosque. (No one from the ICC returned requests for comment.)

Despite feeling humiliated by the whole experience, Dawud gave Fayad medical documentation from her primary care physician that stated she was female. She says he promised not to show the documents to anyone without her permission and assured her that this entire matter would remain confidential.

“I thought the issue was resolved,” Dawud says.

But then last Friday at the mosque, a woman Dawud previously had considered an acquaintance told her to get out of the women’s section because she wasn’t really a woman. Dawud says she got into an argument with the woman and learned that there had been a secret meeting about her the night before.

“This was a meeting I knew nothing about and was not invited to,” she adds.

Apparently having discussed the matter further, the board decided that the medical documents Dawud submitted weren’t enough.

Shortly after Friday prayers ended, she was called back into the office to meet with Fayad, the imam, and two other ICC leaders.

One of the leaders “told me I was not allowed to use the women's areas because ‘I had male biology,’” Dawud says. “I asked where he got that from, and he told me that I was the one who said that at the meeting with [Fayad] previously. I explained that I never said such a thing. He also said I had agreed from the prior meeting to stay out of the women's section, which was also untrue.”

Then the imam “mentioned the medical document and stated he had read that and that the entire board had read it as well.”

Dawud says Fayad admitted to sharing the document without her consent, and admitted to discussing details of their supposedly private meeting.

“He said he had to show and share the information because the ‘imam needed a fatwa’”— a legal opinion about Islamic law. “I was then accused of deliberately deceiving the board [with the medical document] and of making [Fayad] ‘make a fool out of himself in front of the board,’” she adds.

She says Fayad told her that he also showed the document to other doctors to get their opinion on the matter and that since “those doctors did not like how the document was worded” – the document spoke of her gender, not necessarily her biological sex — she would need to produce supplementary documentation that proved she was female.

“They stated I would no longer be allowed to return to the property unless I either provide a document they would accept, at which point I would be admitted to the women's areas as before or otherwise I would have to come dressed in men's clothes, pray in the men's area, and use the men's restroom,” Dawud says.

“When I argued over this, [Fayad] stated he would call the police and have a restraining order placed on me.”

She was also notified of the ICC’s official transgender policy, which stated that "those with male biology will be asked to leave female spaces." The ICC had posted the full policy on social media a few days earlier, but took it down the following morning after it prompted a heated debate.

“In July, it was only a meeting with a leader, then this past Friday it was like suddenly [my personal life has] gone viral,” Dawud says. “It sounds crazy, but it’s like it immediately went everywhere. Rumors have spread really fast.”

She says she’s being contacted by strangers saying they “know for a fact that she was born a male” because they have the documents to prove it.

“I wouldn’t have gone public like this if it weren’t for the fact that stuff is spreading all though the community,” she adds. “Because I lived as a man growing up, there’s this whole issue . . . and they’re making assumptions about what was there in the first place even though there are different gender conditions” – i.e., a person’s physiological situation, even at birth, isn’t always clear.

(Dawud doesn’t want the specific details of her medical past revealed and will only say she’s had irreversible medical treatment and that the medical community considers her transition complete.)

“I can get a document that says I have female biology,” Dawud says, that’s not necessarily the issue. It’s more that the “ICC nor anybody else has a right to dig into someone's real or alleged medical history, real or alleged public records, and then try to ‘expose’ them in order to satisfy rumors, assumptions, and accusations that never had evidence behind them in the first place,” she wrote in a recent Facebook post. “This behavior is un-Islamic and illegal.”

“This is an issue that most of the Muslim population doesn’t address [even though] it’s not always clear cut where a person fits in,” says Ani Zonneveld, president of the board of directors of Muslims for Progressive Values, a nonprofit built around the belief that “Islam is inherently progressive, inclusive, and egalitarian.”

She’s not surprised to hear about Dawud’s difficulty and calls transgender issues an example of “nuanced, spiritual human rights that are not being addressed by mainstream Islam.”

Zonneveld thinks it’s the Muslim community’s responsibility to accommodate Dawud because “bottom line: she’s a Muslim and she’s entitled to pray at a mosque . . . That’s her God-given right. There should not be any discrimination — [especially] discrimination in the name of religion.”

At MPV mosques, everyone “prays Mecca-style” — not necessarily segregated by gender — so that “people can pray where they feel most comfortable,” Zonneveld says. “It takes off the pressure of a transgender person having to ask ‘where must I stand?’”

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/transgender-woman-barred-from-tempe-mosque-unless-she-dresses-as-a-man-or-can-prove-shes-a-woman-7605136

I really don't see why anyone being transgendered is an issue, it's not like they're getting naked to pray.. or are they? (second last paragraph on the part I quoted seems to resonate the most with me)

[babych]

Sweet Jesus A - where do you get all of these articles from?

[etsen3]

If I were her I would never have provided any documents, I would tell them to &^@# off and then go find another mosque.

[Mr. Ambien]

Sweet Jesus A - where do you get all of these articles from?

Twitter. I don't use it for the "social" aspect, I use it as a news aggregator (also have things like Alberta Emergency Services, ENMAX, etc. for power failures, weather warnings, etc.) -- Trillian and Miranda (which work with Windows, Linux, and Android) have Twitter apps which update pretty often (every 2 minutes for me). It actually functions pretty well. Not too much need to bother sifting through news websites.

[TheFirstLine]

Like with most religious temples, church's, mosques there is a certain set of rules and regulations a person must follow to openly pray without any problems. Islam is a religion against transgendered etc so I don't see the issue with this. She can pray at home.

[John Tortorella]

Like with most religious temples, church's, mosques there is a certain set of rules and regulations a person must follow to openly pray without any problems. Islam is a religion against transgendered etc so I don't see the issue with this. She can pray at home.

The though of someone converting to a religion that by default wont accept them shows the true image and power of organized religion. Its beyond illogical its borderline mind control. I cant figure out any other word for it. It would be like signing up for boxing when you have no arms.

[Heretic]

Like with most religious temples, church's, mosques there is a certain set of rules and regulations a person must follow to openly pray without any problems. Islam is a religion against transgendered etc so I don't see the issue with this. She can pray at home.

Is it? There was no such thing as a transgender back when the main stream religious texts were written...

[thejazz97]

Is it? There was no such thing as a transgender back when the main stream religious texts were written...

Crossdressing was though.

[Heretic]

The though of someone converting to a religion that by default wont accept them shows the true image and power of organized religion. Its beyond illogical its borderline mind control. I cant figure out any other word for it. It would be like signing up for boxing when you have no arms.

What if you want to help change it? Isn't it better to be on the front line than bury your head in the sand or just sit around and complain about it?

[desiboynux4lifee*******]

Your right, agreed.

[John Tortorella]

What if you want to help change it? Isn't it better to be on the front line than bury your head in the sand or just sit around and complain about it?

that mindset is crazy imo. Do you know what a religion is? Its typically a set of tules or values. If they constantly change whats the point of religion? Wouldnt a changing religion be to obvious that they dont have a set answer thus the religion purpose of providing a meaning of life and a reason for our existance be flawed? Wouldn't that then = science that it can change with new material or information? I mean for example. Jesus either died on cross for our sins or he didn't. Altering aspects of religion would discredit the religion far faster then science already is.

[Edlerberry]

[Mustapha]

This person is obviously out of touch with reality.

Religious groups have a terrible track record of accepting LGBTQ+/trans/etc.

Islam tolerates executing people for being gay in other nations, so why would anyone think they would accept a trans person with open arms?

[Master 112]

Is it? There was no such thing as a transgender back when the main stream religious texts were written...

Not universally, no. It's a religion of over 1.5 billion people with adherents in every corner of the earth. Interpretations of scriptures and teachings - and, by extension, thoughts on issues like this one - are going to vary greatly by location and individual Muslim. Events such as the one written of in the article are, however, quite ordinary in Islamic communities and mosques. This is not something that has only happened this one time.

Interesting quick read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transsexuality_in_Iran

But keep in mind that proper medical treatment for transgender people has only been available very recently, and that the community is a minority one which has been largely invisible until recently (especially to Islam). Most groups are divided on their thoughts regarding the phenomenon already, and if any kind of universal Islamic stances are going to established around it*, it is not going to happen soon.

*fat chance, I'm guessing? i don't know much about Islam, but there are too many specialized belief systems, regional politics, and other variables involved.

Crossdressing was though.

Which is not the same thing.

[Seifer86]

BREAKING NEWS:

A self proclaimed "religion of tolerance and progression" acts in an intolerant manner. Shocking!!

[Heretic]

that mindset is crazy imo. Do you know what a religion is? Its typically a set of tules or values. If they constantly change whats the point of religion? Wouldnt a changing religion be to obvious that they dont have a set answer thus the religion purpose of providing a meaning of life and a reason for our existance be flawed? Wouldn't that then = science that it can change with new material or information? I mean for example. Jesus either died on cross for our sins or he didn't. Altering aspects of religion would discredit the religion far faster then science already is.

The core isn't - but the interpretation and what you are supposed to get out of it and what is important is what matters.

[Lancaster]

I wonder if this individual will ever undergo the Hajj now....

[The Colt 45s]

She/he should be counting his/her blessings he/she does not live in the Middle East. Depending upon the country, this would have never been an issue. They would have thrown him/her off the side of a tall building.

[Realtor Rod]

What's going to happen when a perv starts going into women's bathrooms saying he is a transgender woman?

[Master 112]

What's going to happen when a perv starts going into women's bathrooms saying he is a transgender woman?

I don't know. What's going to happen and how is it relevant to the topic?

If you want to use fictitious could-be contexts to argue against societal acceptance of a legitimate condition, go make another thread with that as the discussion point.

e: I guess bathrooms were mentioned in the article, but still - ridiculous post contributing nothing. As if someone's going to play dress-up to invade a mosque's facilities lol.