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Junaid Jahangir has been trying to improve the understanding of LGBTQ issues in Edmonton’s Muslim community for years, but he said it’s more important now than ever.

That’s why he’s organizing Edmonton’s first conference about Islam and LGBTQ Muslims. It is set to take place from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1. The conference is supported by MacEwan University, where Jahangir is an assistant professor.

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With anti-Muslim and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric on the rise in recent years, he said it’s more important than ever to find understanding.

“(The Orlando shooting) was one event that could have pitted minority communities against each other,” he said, given that the shooter was Muslim. But it didn’t.

Jahangir said his greatest concern is for the well-being of local queer Muslim youth. He said that some messages they can receive through the faith community can still be “fire and brimstone,” even in 2017.

“Imagine you are a 16, 17, or 18 year old youth,” he said. “You are financially dependent on your parents. Where do you go?”