Siddika Jessa
Today’s episode features an extraordinary advocate for LGBTQ rights in the Muslim community, Siddika Jessa. In 2017, Siddika was the Secretary General of the Organisation of North American Shia Ithna-Asheri Muslim Communities (NASIMCO), holding a global leadership position unique for a woman. Then her son Ali Reza married his same-sex partner, Paul, in a summer wedding in Vancouver, and the proverbial s*** hit the fan… Siddika’s amazing story of principle, insight and courage is told in her conversation with Julie, followed by some reflections from Siddika’s other son, Khalil (whom avid JOTIT listeners might remember from our first season, when he recorded our most popular episode ever – “Islamophobia in our Backyard”) about the impact of growing public hostility toward American Muslims whipped up by Donald Trump.
Related:
Siddika’s letter of resignation to NASIMCO
“Muslim mother forced to resign after attending her gay son’s same-sex wedding” (Gay Times)
Khalil’s JOTIT episode on Islamophobia
“Stoning Gay People to Death in Bruei is an Outrage and Not My Definition of Islam” (The Intercept)
In other news:
The winter 2019 issue of Dædalus, (Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences) examines the national crisis in civil legal services facing poor and low-income Americans; NSRLP’s latest Slaw column considers how insiders and outsiders can work together to inspire change in the legal system; and a new NSRLP blog post by guest Anne Rempel covers the Law Society of Ontario complaints system.
Daedalus Journal Winter 2019 Issue: Access to Justice
NSRLP’s column in Slaw Magazine: “’Outsiders’ and ‘Insiders’ Can Change the Justice System Together”
New NSRLP blog post on the Law Society complaints process
Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Ali Tejani; promotion by Moya McAlister and Ali Tejani.
