Desiring Sex, Desiring Piety: Sexual Moralities, Islam, and the Good (Gay) Muslim in Amman, Jordan

CURA announces the spring 2026 colloquium schedule. This year-long conversation brings together an interdisciplinary community of scholars of culture, religion, and world affairs. Please register below for the session(s) you plan to attend. The February 6 workshop will feature a paper by Johnathan Norris, PhD Candidate, Anthropology, Boston University

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Abstract: Drawing on phenomenological anthropology and queer theory, this paper interrogates the generative tensions between religious piety and homoerotic desire. I turn to my two years of fieldwork (2022-2024) in Amman, Jordan and recount a story when a gay male interlocutor wrestled over his desire for sex with his boyfriend and the need to perform ghusl ( غ س ُ ْ ل) ( i.e., ritual washing) prior to morning prayer. Being neither an ordinary example of sexual/moral deliberation nor a total moral breakdown between subjects, I argue that these competing desires instead make visible the ongoing project of defining what a Good (Gay) Muslim subject in Jordan can be today.