Hello friends and comrades,

The past two years have been a very challenging time for all of us. The pandemic has cracked open the deep ruptures and fissures that exist in our communities and so devastatingly and disproportionately impact our communities of Black and brown LGBTQ Muslims.

At Salaam Canada, our small team of volunteers has felt this deeply. After ten incredible years of service, our current leadership is planning for a transition and searching for new leadership. Thankfully, in 2019 we brought together 50 LGBTQ Muslims from across Canada to build capacity, learn new skills and become champions for our communities. The future looks bright.

In an effort to sustain Salaam Canada and support another generation of LGBTQ Muslims we’ve decided to pause all programming immediately, take some time to rest, and thoughtfully prepare a succession plan. We hope to return in the Fall of 2022 with a national steering committee that reflects the full diversity of our deen with some wonderful regional champions from coast to coast.

What does this mean?

1. The national, virtual peer support group will pause until further notice. However, Toronto’s regional group, in partnership with The 519, will offer a comparable monthly space.
   
   
2. Salaam will no longer be monitoring its email or social media accounts. We’ve set up an autoresponder to communicate as much.

While we take this break, we’d like to also share that we’ve launched five new educational resources. You can access them on our website: https://www.salaamcanada.info/publications

1. It’s Not a Phase: Support for Family Members of LGBTQ Muslims
2. More Than Just Feeling Alone: Understanding LGBTQ Mental Health
3. Do Ask, Do Tell? Coming In, Out & Around as LGBTQ Muslims
4. What Is Islamophobia? Safety and Resistance for LGBTQ Muslims
5. A Community Discussion Guide (to create your own peer support group)