Muslim drag queen Asifa Lahore comes out as trans
A Muslim drag queen has come out as transgender.
Asifa Lahore, a drag performer from London who rose to fame after appearing on the documentary Muslim Drag Queens, has spoken about coming to terms with her gender identity.
Lahore began to feel uncomfortable about two years ago and has since come to understand her gender.
In a moving video, the performer explained that she had finally come to the conclusion and has “begun the process of transitioning”.
“In the last couple of years, I have really been questioning my gender identity and who I am as a person.
“If I’m totally honest with myself, I’ve always been a woman.
“It’s the happiest I’ve ever been,” she explained.
The Pakistani explained that she felt her work as a drag queen acted as a way for her to begin to understand her gender.
However, she has had to overcome great obstacles, including her husband who decided to leave her.
“He left me. And he left me because he couldn’t accept that I was a woman and that I am going to transition,” she said.
Despite this, she is now learning how she can live her life as Asifa and how to balance her life within the LGBT community as well as being Muslim.
She explained: “I hated Ramadan with a vengeance because it was the ‘peak’ of my identity clash as an LGBTI Muslim. In order to adhere to the rules of Ramadan which are very much grounded in submission, sacrifice and reflection, I would have to take a month off partying in LGBTI venues, attending support groups and refrain from all sexual contact. This to me was very black and white
“In 2014, I decided to fast, take part in the parade, break my fast at the appropriate time, pray and then perform during the night.
“It was an exhausting yet for fulfilling experience because I did everything that both of my identities wanted to do. One wasn’t given up in favour of the other and I didn’t feel a sense of emptiness as I had done previously,” she added.
