Well, I’m just a nineteen year old kid. So I don’t have some new and amazing way to decode my book and decide that everyone, all these years, has been wrong.

The way I see it, to understand the book, you have to know the language. Not the modern version of the language, and certainly not the English translation. You have to understand the words and tenses used, and You have to understand the situations in which the verses were revealed.

Having said that, I’d like to emphasise I’m not gay, nor do I accept any such labels. Sometimes I present masculine (which is most of the time) and then other times, I feel/present feminine. The label genderqueer is only said to help others identify a little with what I feel and am trying to present myself as, because humans have a need to put things into boxes.

It is a sin, in my religion, as anyone will tell you. So is eating pork, and other such nuances. But considering there are way worse sins to commit, I feel as though God, who created me this way (as it is certainly not something you choose to be) loves all creations and we are all perfect because God commits no mistakes. Therefore, on the Day of Judgment, I feel as though I will be able to stand before God, having performed the five obligations of a Muslim (Shahada, Salah, Zakah, Sawm, Hajj) and believing in the six obligations (God, Angels, Books, Messengers, Day of Judgment, and Fate) and say, “God, I was the best Muslim I could be under the circumstances you provided. I tried my hardest.”

Considering we’re taught everyone goes to Hell for a little bit to burn off their sins (except for the Prophets and Messengers, of course, who committed no sins) if I wouldn’t go in for this sin, it would be to burn off another.

No one is perfect, and I feel as though I balance my religion fine with who I am and who I want to be.