| Faisal Alam | |
| Birth Place: | Washington D.C., United States |
| Nationality: | American |
| Known For: | Founded the Al-Fatiha Foundation |
| Occupation: | Speaker, Writer, Activist |
Faisal Alam is a gay Pakistani American man who founded the Al-Fatiha Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing the cause of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Muslims.[1]
Alam arrived in the United States from Pakistan in 1987, at the age of ten, and resided in the rural middle-class town of Ellington, Connecticut. In 1997, he started an email listserv for LGBT Muslims that led to the founding of Al-Fatiha in 1998.[2] He served as its President from 1998 until stepping down in 2004.[3] In 2011, Alam and other LGBTQ Muslim activists were invited by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to form a Queer Muslim Working Group to evaluate the needs of the LGBTQ Muslim community. Alam was instrumental in bringing together a diverse group of seasoned leaders to undertake this project. In 2013, the Queer Muslim Working Group launched a new organization: the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD).[4]
He is a former member of the Advisory Committee of the LGBT Program at Human Rights Watch.[2]
"21 LGBT Muslims Who Are Changing the World." The Advocate. December 20, 2016. Web [5]