Why Arab American History Needs Queer of Color Critique

In discussions concerning Arabs, Middle Easterners and/or Muslims throughout the global north, gender and sexuality form crucial components of notions of cultural, racial and religious difference. That is, gender and sexuality have become barometers of viability in these discourses: the degree to which Arabs, Middle Easterners and/or Muslims can be said to value women's equality or LGBT rights, for example, correlates with whether they deserve citizenship in the global north and national sovereignty in their countries of origin. Gender and sexuality are so fundamental to constructions of difference in the US--whether historical or contemporary--that ignoring them risks misconstruing how these people have come to be seen as "other" and renders attempts to challenge this dehumanization inadequate as well.