Rahim Thawer – författare

Toronto is home to multiple and thriving queer communities that reflect the dynamism of a global city. Any Other Way is an eclectic and richly illustrated local history that reveals how these individuals and community networks have transformed Toronto from a place of churches and conservative mores into a city that has consistently led the way in queer activism, not just in Canada but internationally.From the earliest pioneers to the parades, pride and politics of the contemporary era, Any Other Way draws on a range of voices to explore how the residents of queer Toronto have shaped and reshaped one of the world’s most diverse cities.Any Other Way includes chapters on: Oscar Wilde’s trip to Toronto; early cruising areas and gay/lesbian bars; queer shared houses; a pioneering collective counter-archive project; bath house raids; LBGT-police conflicts; the Queen Street art/music/activist scene; and a profile of Jackie Shane, the trans R&B singer who performed in drag in both Toronto and Los Angeles, and gained international fame with her 1962 chart-topping single, `Any Other Way.’

An inclusive, evidence-based guide to healing and thriving as a cis or trans queer man. As a cis or trans man who loves men, you face unique and challenging circumstances, including homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia, struggles with body image, and rejection from family. In addition, the lingering effects of bigotry, discrimination, microaggressions, and hate crimes can have a traumatizing and devastating impact on your mental health and well-being. This compassionate guide offers powerful skills to help you heal the pain of trauma and thrive authentically in a world that often misunderstands or marginalizes your identity and experiences.The Mental Health Guide for Cis and Trans Queer Guys offers you a safe, inclusive space to examine, understand, and heal from systemic and interpersonal threats to your mental well-being. Based on proven-effective cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), this book provides proven-effective tools and exercises to help you reflect on, confront, and manage difficult emotions; improve self-image and self-esteem; and develop healthy coping skills.This guidebook will help you:·Cultivate greater self-awareness ·Move past negative thinking habits ·Heal emotional wounds and build resilience ·Challenge heteronormativity and gender role rigidity ·Care for your sexual healthAlso included is a #DiggingDeeper community wellness campaign to help you reflect on the deeper questions of the book and share your own challenges and triumphs with others on social media.If you're struggling with mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, or trauma-or feel oppressed or misunderstood by the world around you-this book can help you overcome the negative internalized messages that are causing you emotional pain, and build the self-awareness, confidence, and courage needed to embrace your unique identity and thrive.

What does it mean to be queer and Muslim in a world that insists you cannot be both?Queer and Muslim is a powerful collection by and for LGBTQ+ Muslims navigating layered identities across lines of faith, family, culture, and community. With contributions spanning essays, poems, letters to past and future selves, and more, the book explores the emotional and spiritual dimensions of queer Muslim life and challenges the perception that faith and queerness are inherently incompatible.These raw accounts confront the psychological toll of grappling with tensions between religious expectations and queer identity and offer rare insight into the ways mental health is lived, expressed, and supported across diverse cultural and theological landscapes. They tell of building chosen families and reconnecting with birth families, radical healing, cultivating spaces of belonging, and reclaiming faith on your own terms.In an era of rising Islamophobia and escalating threats to queer and trans lives, the stories contained within Queer and Muslim-stories of resilience, grief, pleasure, rage, and joy-are vital, each of them an affirmation of the multiplicity of queer Muslim identities. Queer and Muslim invites readers to listen deeply, think expansively, and care more courageously.