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Gay, Ex-muslim. Kuwait to anywhere.

onewayticket

Here’s my situation: I’m a 22 years old guy from Kuwait. I ran away from home because i got in a heated argument with my father one day which hinted that I wasnt as straight as he thinks i am and that i didnt believe in islam (the religion of my family & my country) so I woke up the next morning to him on top of me trying to strangle me since I committed two things that are punishable in Islam by death (1-being homosexual. 2-leaving islam) but I was able to break free and leave the house and never come back.

…

I lived in public parks for 6 months. Tried to clean up once every while and apply anywhere I can and got a job . Later I was able to afford a car but not a place to rent …weird? I know. But in here nobody will rent you a place unless you’re married because everyone is so concerned that single people will use those apartments to have sex and host parties where alcohol would be involved (which are all illegal, yeah.. the pre-marriage sex the alcohol and the parties).

No idea if this is real or made up but it’s an interesting read nevertheless. [Link]

143 replies on “Gay, Ex-muslim. Kuwait to anywhere.”

This isn’t just a Kuwait problem. The whole region is being held back because of their non secular governments.

It’s highly unlikely that he couldn’t rent out a place. There are plenty of areas in Kuwait that happily accommodate single expats.

Sorry, I meant single people in general. It might be more difficult for a Kuwaiti, but not finding a place for a whole year is highly unlikely.

Heartbreaking! Maybe a flat share? I see a few being advertised in the papers. First step get off the drink and drugs. Is there no Zakat House to help with housing and food? Get your priorities right if you have to use buses and taxis then do that to keep a roof over your head instead of buying a car. Keep reapplying for jobs. I can only imagine the difficulties you are facing. Life has a way of throwing cruel hardship at you but you will come out stronger and wiser.

What’s even sad is that he is facing all this due to circumstances which he has no control over i.e. his sexuality.

I appreciate your compassion and concerns but you’re getting it wrong.
1-I mentioned the fact that I’m living in my car to explain why I’ve lost hope and mentioned how hard it is to find a place to explain why I’ve been living in my car for a long time .and later on said that I’m not complaining about living in my car as much as I want to get out of here. I rather spend what I have saved up on my asylum case.
2- I can afford food.never said I couldn’t.
3- asking bait alzakat to help a homosexual athiest ? Umm. ..
4-I got the car because I needed to move ( look for apartments, buy food, go to the gym to shower, etc. .) and be able to go to work when I’m needed. And i thought that id find a place to live in after spending few days in my car while looking for one.not living in an apartment was never a money issue. ( sometimes it was because the only places available were crazy expensive.
5- it takes a long time for normal people with HS degrees to find jobs in Kuwait. It’s a bit harder for me given my situation. but I’ve put my name at the dewan alkhedma recently.since ive quit my job not too long ago. and I’m currently on the waiting list.

Thanks for your concerns. And for not judging.

Try bank and telecom call centers. They are always looking for Kuwaitis. + they don’t give a shit on how you look and dress

Buddy come to Vancouver – so many of us – Kuwaiti and non Kuwait – have left to Vancouver because of the tremendous amount of tolerance practiced here. It is 180 degrees the opposite of your experience. I’m Indian, straight and was tired of the discrimination (jail twice for not having my civil ID on me as a TEENAGER) …

now I live in a place where I can appreciate that kuwaitis, indians, gay, straight, male, female – whatever – all of us are equal. Just pack the fuck up and move.

How do you get visa and residency for canada?
Did you find a job before moving?
Just curious as i am an indian and heard its not easy for indian to get to canada

It’s not common. As a Kuwaiti who is openly gay and with lots of gay friends, there are no witch hunts for gay people. There is a massive underground gay culture in Kuwait.

You can act as flamboyant as you want and tell everyone you are gay, some people may throw hate speech or ostracize you, but you only go to jail if you had gay sex in a public manner, but guess what? Straight people also go to jail if they had sex in a public manner.

As a kuwaiti who is openly gay ? Cool. How does your parents feel about that? They’re cool with it ? Great. Does everyone have the same parents as you do? I don’t think so.
Some people may throw hate or ostracize you? If you accept being humiliated.I don’t 🙂
You only go to prison if you have gay sex in a public manner? Well the law doesn’t specifically say that.it’s left open for interpretation. Pre marriage sexual relationships are illegal in general but we have a special sentence for gay people. Both the illegality of homosexual acts and the special sentence are inhumane and degrading. The other part of my story is getting in trouble for saying anything about islam that Muslims donot agree with (which is my main issue.) So yeah it’s true there’s no witch hunt going on here because witches like you don’t want the freedom to practice their witchcraft :p and think hate and oppression are not that bad.as long as my mommy and daddy love me.and my friends accept me.

I’m a Kuwaiti and i have many gay friends, its funny how none of them are in kuwait anymore. and the fact that you call it an “underground” culture only proves my point.

i dont know, reading this i have mixed emotions. Him, his father, family and life here in kuwait.

I can relate to his father’s feelings but i cant for his.

Anyways, good luck in life.

U can relate to a barbarian that wants to kill his son because he doesn’t want to pray to his God and wants to have sex the way he wants? Both are private and no ones business. dude…seriously?

Sounds weird and might be fiction. But yeah if your single and gay I guess you’ll never find a place to rent unless the rent is sky-high price.

Hello, I’m the one who posted that on reddit. I didn’t think I’d see my story on 248am. I’m shocked really. Thanks Mark for the exposure. (Big fan of the blog.js)
I just got this interesting message in my inbox.

Let’s make a deal
6:46 PM
Direct message from jesusfromanthroscape
Hi, let’s make a deal. I want to give you more than $2000 (via PayPal). Delete your post in r/IWantOut and I’ll donate whatever amount of money you want. Your post is bringing unnecessary hateful attention [to](mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com) Kuwait. It’s stirring up anti-Kuwait sentiment. Even though apostasy is legal in Kuwait and several Kuwaitis have legally left Islam and changed their religion…. basically you’re making Kuwait seem worse than it really is.

If your story is genuine, then you can accept the money donations (via PayPal). But I have doubts about the genuine authenticity of your story. You remind me of someone. Anyway I have lots of money to donate to you, so don’t worry… I can even help you get a visa to Australia or wherever.

It’s ramadan, the time of mercy and forgiveness so please accept my offer.
[End of message]

I’m not going to comment much on that but if anyone here has similar views on my case.. lets clear some things out.
1 I didn’t say being gay or an athiest are illegal. I made it clear that homosexual acts + criticizing Islam in any way will put me in prison.
2 I got a lot of money offers even though I said that I do have money. So if you’re offering financial help then thanks but I’m OK.
3 whoever is living in a bubble and thinks what I’ve been through is fiction.. sorry to burst your bubble but all that I’ve mentioned in that post is true. And I’m not the only one who have been through that in Kuwait. Maybe not exactly. The stories are different but the outcome is always almost the same.

Again, thanks for sharing this mark.
Best of luck to everyone out there going through hell for what they believe in ( or not for that matter.) Or who they choose to sleep with.
Bye.

Thanks, good to see that Kuwait has people as understanding and empathetic as you are. Again, thanks.

I think you’re giving up too early, I’m not a psychologist but you might be able to be straight if you want to, it might be just all in your head. Keep reminding yourself that gay sex is disgusting, this isn’t saying that it is or isn’t, degrade men you find attractive, glorify women and the female body, boost your self esteem and manhood, join a gym, you can even use their showers, and consider getting back to Islam whether you change or not, our lives will end whether they were great or not, we’ll all see what’s next.

God bless you my friend! Your problem is multi-headed, I suggest you “handle them each separately”. Self pitting won’t help, I think you have already learnt that by living out of a car nor running away from problem(leaving the country). See that you have a shelter on your head first, a homeless man doesn’t get appointment letters or Embassy communications, what’s the address on your Passport? Sexual orientation apart, if I was in your place, I would even ask a rag picker making less than 100KD a month where he stays or if he can help me get a roof on my head and the try my way upward from there. As, I said your problem is multi-headed. So, there can never be a simple answer to your problem(s).

You can go and “meh” yourself, you asked for an advice. If, you don’t want to take it then keep “mehing” yourself.

This is absolutely horrific. I’m so glad that you ignored the dipshit.
Anyway, i don’t mean to sound annoying but I really do want to help. Clearly money isn’t the main issue here; if you’re looking for a job please let me know. I can help and no, I’m not doing this for you to reveal your identity and no I won’t ask for any personal details or contact information.
I know that Kuwait isn’t fair most of the time and mostly consists of small-minded people, but most of us are actually willing to help you if needed.

This makes me sick, Because it is Ramadan he should be silent!!!! this is the problem with Kuwait.

Hypocritism!! In front of people you try to show your rightfulness but behind curtains all is up for game.

How many times have we heard about potential Gay’s being raped in prison by the police guards. What doze that make the Police? Gay Rapist right… What can be worse?

Even a friend (girl with British passport) of mine who was caught drinking was given the choice to either undress or be beaten, in the police station!!

So lets start saying that Kuwait has serious problems and lets fix them, not hide our heads in the sand, because it is Ramadan or any other day for that matter.

I didn’t take a private conversation and publish it, he fucking posted this shit on the internet because he wants people to read his story. How do you not get that?

Call fajer – we need a post laws on denouncing Islam and being gay (which i understand is highly nuanced).

I know this might not be the main point here, but i just felt compelled to state the following: Islam does not give any person the right to judge or punish homosexuals or atheists. According to this religion, a person has the total free will to choose, and only God will judge in the end. It is not permissable for any person under any condition to interfere with other people’s life choices. Any other information otherwise – such as killing/punishing people for their personal preferences – is only preached and practiced by extremists and radical so-called Muslims, imams and groups, and unfortunately, many Muslims are mislead by this false information. This man has the total right to practice his believes safely and nobody has the slightest right to interfere.

Unless everyone starts following quranism, accept the quran and deny all other religious authorities. Then we’ll still be where we are today regarding discrimination and abuse.

And even if everyone did just that and ignored hadith..
Quran (4:16) – “If two men among you are guilty of lewdness, punish them both. If they repent and amend, Leave them alone”

We’ll still have a problem.
But thanks for the support nonetheless ♡.

The quran should should be shelved in the fantasy/fiction section in every library/bookstore along with all the other religious texts.

I would just say Quran is not a fantasy/fiction book it is a way of life, if you get chance pick it up and read.

Mind you many Hadiths are fake, and this is probably one of them as it is opposite to what the Quran says.

The verse (4:16) isn’t even about same-sex intercourse. In fact the entire chapter is about Women.

I’ve been thinking, does my opinion ever matter? I think not but I’ll put it out anyways. We are at this point where freedom of speech and the will to do whatever we want at its peek. What this guy is doing is nothing new to us. What went wrong, that he blew out his disguise as a normal Kuwaiti Muslim guy. Many Homosexuals resides in Kuwait alongside even transgenders (unfortunately). What can we do about it when this phenomenal is now getting accepted and denying it makes you the bad guy? It’s just how it is now and its out of hand kind of.
Everyone is going on about how “Every one is entitled with his believes and sexual orientation” but factually, as an Islamic country and a society used to be based solely on the faith and the teachings of Islam (now its just a mixture of everything) those who are in charge are supposed to apply what the Qura’an and Sharia’a has stated (but who am I kidding, right?)
What his father did wasn’t wrong. He was just doing what the prophet Mohammed and his Sahaba would do. If anyone wanna attack anything, attack the religion not the father.
(brings popcorn.. whops I’m fasting)

*brings popcorn*
*eats popcorn*
*doesn’t get struck by lightning*
More popcorn for me 🙂

Kuwait is already full of gays, public figures even who cares just another one. You want to be gay fine, but community is not ready to fully accept you yet, so just wait and stop bitching about it or better yet leave to a place that will embrace you.

Oh believe me I’m leaving this nice, developed, beautiful, open-minded country. No need to tell me 🙂 and by all means, may the society never accept me. I never asked for that. I posted that on reddit asking about asylum. To qualify for that you have to tell your story. And i wanted to know if i qualify or not. On the other hand, Someone is actually bitching about how gays are everywhere in Kuwait,and it’s not me. maybe mommy will sing you to sleep some homophobic songs before bed tonight, otherwise the big gay monster will come and take you away to gayland (which is Kuwait according to you, lol) .. Sweet dreams.

don’t care either way about what and who you are i do comment about the way you complain about a hardship you brought on yourself, you know you father would be against you being an atheist and gay which is probably normal for this country, again you can do what ever you like as long as its acceptable by your community. you might think you are being robbed of your rights but thats the way things work in this part of the world. plan your life better.

“You can do what you like as long as it is acceptable by your community” is probably the dumbest, most useless bit of advice EVER.

C’mon don’t be thicker than a bowl of oatmeal guys.
Obviously fake, attention seeking. What about his cousins aunt uncle? Gay Buddys anyone.. 6 months homeless in Kuwait. I Doubt it…
Please guys dont insult yourselves by believing this shit.

I wish you well my friend. I lived in Kuwait for a period of time and can confirm there is a very active gay side to the country both with expats and Kuwaiti’s.
It is very active.
You would however not find Love, or your soul mate. Very sad.
I am back in UK now.
I am not in a position to advise on Islam or asylum but would suggest that if you wanted to get to this area of the world, then some groups such as Stonewall and Terrence Higgins trust may be able to help with seeking asylum and how best to proceed.
Best of luck

Stay cool dear, don’t listen nor answer the hypocrites.
they have more dirt under their sheets, than you will ever have.

Keep holding your head high, and walk upstream.
Find an exit and enjoy your life, its to short to be spending listing to crappy advice from judgemental monkeys.

I must agree with Ahmad on this. I was born and bread in this country for 28 years. This country is an Islamic country with its own set of rules and guidelines, if they are not to your liking then you are more than welcome to leave, the economy is stretched to it’s limits as it is.

In today’s world we are all led to believe that by being unique we are being free, by expressing our sexuality and the way we dress and eat and drink, is a reflection of a country’s stature in human rights. Merely a brainwashing mechanism by big media moguls to achieve their sadistic objectives. In addition, what you have done to destroy the image of islam by the lies and wrong interpretations you said has offended hundreds of millions around the world, but no!! “soul_tan’s” sexuality and awww so heartbreaking story of him living in his car is much more meaningful and touching.

I urge you (sultan i assume) to rethink and prioritize what is important in your life. Your sexuality is your thing fine. Your parents will not last much long and trust me when you start losing them, you will taste the real burden of self loathing and depression, especially by how you ended things with them. Westerners don’t value family ties and relations as much as we do and by WE i mean every other race in the world (asian, south american, etc..) Western media is about me and me only, what I want, what I eat, what I wear, no relation to friends and family whatsoever. Sometimes you have to compromise to realize.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion and I’m voicing mine. Go home and stop being an immature brat, grow up, and trust me, there are 1000000x worse situations than yours around the world .

My post isubject on r/iwantout so we pretty much agree that I want nothing to do with this country so you can stop implying that it was yours or ahmad’s idea 🙂
And for the rest of the BS that you wrote. I can only reply with “meh..fuck off”

I agree with your point on Parents – but in this case his father tried to kill him – understandable given his conservative mentality and all the hormones that kicked in when he thought of his son turning gay and how he would have to now face society a lesser man – but with all that, if his father hasn’t remorse now, there’s no sense going back. As much as I appreciate your comment on the West becoming all about themselves – in this case I think its a case of I don’t want to change who I am for others – if you can’t be yourself, you are already dead.

If all the people in the world compromised as you’ve asked, there would be no greats to talk about. Amen

Ur gay and athiest who hates Kuwait? simple, go away to Thiland and stay there 4ever, its easy and u’ll find a job in a blink. Stop whining about ur life, I know its shitty, but there are people with even shittier life who are sucking in it up and moving on. Thats the problem with the new generation of Kuwaiti gays, they are full of “Dala3” they just want to live in USA, Canada or a Europian country :/ Man, man up a little bit! even if ur gay.

Insects need to be stamped upon? Why? You think God was wasting his time making other living beings – You’re one of those guys who had limited parenting and sit in hordes in front of jamaiyas and other places creating a nuisance and plucking the heads of helpless pigeons. Learn compassion my friend – you’ll need it to survive in this world.

You see a cockroach in your house and go “oh cute cockroach lets be friends!” no you just kill it end of story. Don’t smart up on me bro I get how every being have a purpose. Being gay isn’t one of them thu.

Ah so you differentiate -which is sensible. In that case with your cockroach mentality I see you need a good stomp 🙂

trump & ahmed I’m sure there where cavemen that would have given more sensible answers than the crap u just gush out.

You do realize we have our own version of brainwashing in the Middle East?

It’s called being brainwashed from birth with religion.

On top of any other forms you get exposed to.

Just trying to imagine the pain of a father and mother who bring up a child, raise them, sacrifice much, have dreams, ambitions and hope that their children make them proud and then those very children abandom them FOR WHATEVER REASON just because they’re brainwashed in thinking what they’re doing is absolutely right.

Mark! Can anyone even authenticate his above statement or he is making it up? Or was it other way round? From his comments it seems more likely that he went for his father’s throat and was chucked out of the house and now no one wants to do anything with him. To be a gay you need a partner, you can’t be alone and gay.

I think “kuwait” would rather read about a father killing his son for homosexuality, apostasy or both.
Than reading about the son making it out of there alive.
We should respect “Kuwait”s views on the matter.
Because “Kuwait”s views are rational views.

Here are my two cents for you and for people who sympathize with homosexuals blindly:
Nobody is born gay! You may have a hormonal imbalance which can be fixed medically or born with some sort of birth defect aka. without a sex organ. The act and feeling of being homosexual is nothing biological about it. Being homosexual is merely learned from society. There are resources of help whether medical, social, behavioral therapies to overcome such issues.
Once upon a time, Western society considered homosexuality as an illness, now its being advertised and advocated as something “normal” which isn’t and will never be. This is the same society that influences pre-marital sex, illegitimate children, women seen as sex objects, and the list goes on.
The early spread of Aids began among homosexual community and later spread to the heterosexual and the bisexual community through blood transfusions and drug usage.
Islam is a way of life. There is nothing wrong with religion. Religion protects you from the filthy lifestyle that you lead. Perhaps you should research as to why Islam forbids certain acts for the betterment of society before scrutinizing it. There is a purpose as to why there are males and females on earth. One main reason is to procreate!
But since you want to be gay nonetheless, and leave Islam. That is your choice. No need to force our society to accept you and welcome you with open arms. Go live somewhere else without trying to have people pity you. Not everything Western society dictates is correct and healthy for the well being and quality of life!

So tell us Mark what do you suggest? How do you want Kuwait to treat this problem? Do you want same sex mirage to be sanctioned in Kuwait? I’m very interested to to know your solution

not really rational blaming a group for the spread of a virus that no one at the time knew existed, don’t you think?

“Nobody is born gay!” and in your case can I say “Nobody is born a jackass” Can someone fix your mentality issue with a pill? You make it sound so simple. Being homosexual is not learnt from society – understanding that its ok to be homosexual ,if you are, is what you learn from society – or not so in this case.

Social and behavioural therapies exist for people like you to learn to not hate, if not even accept people you don’t understand.

I have no comment on religion – it IS a way of life and just because you do not choose my way of life does not mean I reject you. I’m not telling you to accept someone different but atleast be tolerant. The world is turning more accepting – don’t be barbaric and don’t be judgemental.

Btw loved your portrayal of the history of AIDS with the bits and pieces you put together for your convenience. Hilarious.

The fact that you resort to name calling shows a lot about your character and shows clearly that you’ve lost the argument 🙂
Go do some research before responding.

No, the fact I called u a moron is because you’re a lost cause and so it would be a waste of my or anyone’s time discussing anything with you.

Don’t bother miss, you already shoved the argument up their throats out their you know where haha. That’s how much one can get so brainwashed. Nothing new. After all, world is going down hill to its doom day by day. At least we tried but oh well.

This is the last time I’m going to comment/ check on this post due to the level of never-ending ignorance that some have. That I rather ignore. Thanks again Mark for the exposure. It helps prove the legitimacy of my desire to leave. For everyone out there. I did do Kuwait injustice “to a degree” by not mentioning the privilege that I had growing up here. And if I ever do leave for good “which I’m planning to do so don’t worry ♡” I will miss a lot about Kuwait.
But sometimes even lovers have to part ways. Because they’re doing each other nothing but harm. I still stand by everything on that reddit post. And I still rather believe in basic human rights over anything else.
Thanks again to everyone who showed respect or “some respect ” at least while addressing my situation.
Love you all♡ the open-minded and the retarded, equally. Abd I would never wish death upon any of you for believing in anything that doesn’t go along with what I stand for.

Goodbye.

It’s astonishing the words that you particularity picked, it actually display that your vocabulary is extraordinary for an Arabic person, not alone Kuwaiti.

Oh the Grammar very perfect, too perfect, if it wasn’t that perfect I would believe it’s true, then again, I doubt what you say is true.

Rule one of internet: everything is a lie, unless there is hard proof evidence.

So, anonymous wouldn’t have that much credibility.

If he can’t afford a car, he can’t afford to study in private english school, and the english in public school system is terrible.

I agree with what A Lady said. Mark you’re up to date with all stuff around the world and you have an amazing blog, god job on that. But in terms of research about homosexuality I think the only info you got is from the media and US propaganda about gays, don’t get me worng man, but I think u should ask A lady to teach you about this issue more. No hard feelings here man.

yeah homosexuality is American propaganda fabricated by the media. Some of the comments here today are seriously mind boggling, I really hope nobody outside Kuwait reads some of the responses here or else they’re going to think we’re all stupid like that.

Hey Trump, why ask A Lady, you seem to be well versed about the issue enough to consider her the authority. I hope you both get a decent education and keep open minds – because the world is coming to an end with all this lack of awareness and hate – coming from weak minds being hijacked by stronger ones with agendas. You could agree on the same vein that the “west is doing exactly that” But then again look around you and see how many gay Kuwaitis you come across – they don’t speak a word of English and have not travelled in their life – so maybe they had a US Angus steak from a cow that was reared by a gay guy and it spread to all the gay locals? Wow now that’s very trump indeed – nice theory. Why don’t you post it on Reddit and sell the theory. Arrgh

itfashloon yal 3abi6een your response makes kuwait look bad, i bet none of you slept a night in their car or without the comfort of ur sheets

That guy from reddit, best of luck in your journey, dont mind rude internet strangers

Mark, it’s against the law to post fitnah.

any religion fitnah would lead for deportation for expats, and prison for kuwaiti.

however, I doubt it’s true the whole story it’s fake, I know bangali got a car when he turns 18, so a Kuwaiti doesn’t own a car before age 22 is kinda dead giveaway it’s a lie.

your viewing the world from expat, not from Kuwaiti perspective, there are things we know, you won’t know for hundred years, like I wouldn’t know your country social life style for thousand years, even if I lived in there.

I don’t doubt his story and it’s so sad there’s someone who is living this way and being criticized. I’m always surprised by the discrimination that still exists in 2016.

As far as asylum in the US (I can’t speak for other countries), one has to prove they have suffered maltreatment and fear further persecution by the government. Unfortunately, less than 25% of asylum cases are approved and most of those are already located inside the US. Applying from outside reduces the chances even further.

Seeking asylum on grounds of sexuality one would have to prove they have been physically tortured or had evidence of it happening to others in the past and on a regular basis. Basically there would have to be proof of a ‘witch hunt’.

However, you could always take the chance of flying to the USA on a 10 year visa granted to Kuwaitis (in most cases) and request asylum upon arrival. The immigration officer at the gate can assist you by giving you a ‘credible fear’ interview, or he can turn you around, send you home, and not allow you to enter the USA for 5 years.

I do hope you find the answers you’re seeking.

I was only trying to see if these bigots have any improved argument. For the past two millennia they have the same irrational rationales.

Lets start gathering stones, starting with your brain my friend. We’ll figure out if we need to do the stoning after that. Unless…. you were indicating with your limited understanding and language comprehension that you want to get him on weed and get him ‘stoned’ 🙂

Your sexsuality is just yours and no one else’s God Damn business. Embrace what you are, Gay, Atheist or whatever, and live happy.

With that said, Stop being an Attention Hog.

Hows he trying to hog attention?

Try to put yourself in his shoes.

Its disgusting to see this culture of “blame the victim”.

Regardless of what anyone believes in, some of the replies to this post really show how some people can be evil and really lack compassion or tolerance. It’s terrible

Mark you shouldn’t have approved to keep on any messages that take a hit on Islam, or any religion for that matter.

Your circumstances are very unfortunate and not uncommon. If all you need is compassion and tolerance, then you already have it from a surprising number of people, including myself.

Please stay safe and don’t hesitate to reach out for support.

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