Editing LGBTQ people and Islam (section)

====''Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism''====
In his 2003 book ''Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism'', Professor Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle<ref name="emory">{{cite web |title=Scott Kugle |url=http://mesas.emory.edu/home/people/faculty/kugle.html |publisher=Emory College of Arts and Sciences |access-date=21 January 2020 |archive-date=24 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224125024/http://mesas.emory.edu/home/people/faculty/kugle.html |url-status=live }}</ref> asserts "that Islam does not address homosexuality." In Kugle's reading, the Quran holds "a positive assessment of diversity". It "respects diversity in physical appearance, constitution, stature, and color of human beings as a natural consequence of Divine wisdom in creation." Therefore, Islam can be described as "a religion that positively assesses diversity in creation and in human societies." Furthermore, in Kugle's reading, the Quran "implies that some people are different in their sexual desires than others." Thus, homosexuality can be seen as part of the "natural diversity in sexuality in human societies." This is the way "gay and lesbian Muslims" view their homosexuality.<ref name=kugle/>{{rp|194–196}}

In addition to the Qur'an, Kugle refers to the benediction of [[Imam Al-Ghazali]] (the 11th-century Muslim theologian) which says "praise be to God, the marvels of whose creation are not subject to the arrows of accident." For Kugle, this benediction implies that "if sexuality is inherent in a person's personality, then sexual diversity is a part of creation, which is never accidental but is always marvelous." Kugle also refers to "a rich archive of same-sex sexual desires and expressions, written by or reported about respected members of society: literati, educated elites, and religious scholars." Given these writings, Kugle concludes that "one might consider Islamic societies (like classical Greece) to provide a vivid illustration of a 'homosexual-friendly' environment." This evoked from "medieval and early modern Christian Europeans" accusations that Muslim were "engaging openly in same-sex practices."<ref name=kugle/>{{rp|198}}

Kugle goes a step further in his argument and asserts that "if some Muslims find it necessary to deny that sexual diversity is part of the natural created world, then the burden of proof rests on their shoulders to illustrate their denial from the Qur'anic discourse itself."<ref name=kugle/>{{rp|196, 198}}