With the mid-terms just hours away, some Muslims are urging their fellow Muslims not to vote Democrat.
Traditionally Muslims in America have voted democrats. But in recent years, some have been reconsidering that voting pattern. One of the main reasons for this shift is due to the party’s stance on transgender issues.
The Democratic Party platform now includes support for transgender rights, including medically transitioning children. This is something that many Muslims find morally abhorrent.
Recently Muslim and Christian parents blast Dearborn, Michigan school board for ‘sexually explicit books,’ which included pro-transgender messages.
The controversy erupted over six books — two that were available in digital form, and four hard-copy books in the districts’ high schools. Following parent complaints, the books were temporarily removed from circulation while the board reconsiders its review process.
Parents debated whether six books with LGBTQ, sexual or sex abuse themes should be available to students.
Many in the largely-Muslim crowd who took three-minute turns at a microphone in front of the Dearborn Public Schools board spoke passionately about protecting their children from what they portrayed as “filth,” “pornography” and affronts to their religious faith in books that were, until recently, available to high school students.
Arab Americans make up about 42 percent of Dearborn’s population, and Muslims are thought to represent a majority of that community.
“I’m a taxpayer in this city, and I don’t want my money going to books like this,” said one mother, who read from what she described as sexually explicit passages in two of the books.
“These books violate our religious principles,” said another mother. “They are not appropriate for anyone, let alone children.”
“I’m a Christian, and I would not want my child reading these books either,” said a third mother.
One mother, Amina Ahmad, said “I don’t think it’s appropriate for our kids to be learning about this at such a young age… five, six years old.”
Another mother, Dania Darwish added: “These books are encouraging our kids to have gender dysphoria.”
The school district has since put the books on hold while they review their policy. But this isn’t the first time that parents in America have spoken out against the Democratic Party’s stance on transgender rights.
In 2017, a group of parents in Minnesota sued their school district over its transgender-inclusive policies. The lawsuit claimed that the district’s policies violated their religious freedom and the rights of their children. They later dropped the law suit.
The district’s policy allowed students to use the restroom and locker room that corresponded with their gender identity. The policy also allowed students to use the pronoun of their choice.
The parents claimed that the district’s policies were “coercive” and “forced them to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.”
So while Muslims have traditionally voted Democrat, the party’s support of transgender education as part of school curriculum and encouraging transitioning in young children is causing many to rethink their allegiance.
Hassan Chami one of the parents who was at the Dearborn meetings too to twitter to urge Muslims not to vote for democrats ahead of the November 8th Mid-term elections.
So, while traditionally Muslims have voted Democrat, that may not be the case this year. Some Muslims are choosing to vote Republican in order to align themselves with a party that better reflects their values.
With the mid-terms just hours away, it remains to be seen how this will impact the vote.
