We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir

We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir is an award-winning 2019 memoir by photographer, journalist, and LGBTQ+ activist Samra Habib. We Have Always Been Here documents Samra’s journey from early childhood in Pakistan to their present-day position as a renowned journalist and public LGBTQ+ Muslim figure. Their family moves to Canada when they are young to escape religious persecution. In Canada, their family faces poverty and racial/religious-based discrimination as immigrants in a new land. As their family struggles to adjust, Samra grapples with their LGBTQ+ identity in a strict religious household. When Samra turns 18, they run away from home and an arranged marriage to find themself. Samra brings together their two identities, being Muslim and LGBTQ+, and shows that they are fully compatible despite what many might think. Samra’s story defies stereotypes and charts their journey toward a complex and nuanced understanding of both their faith and queer identity. The memoir deals with themes such as Reconciling Faith and LGBTQ+ Identity, navigating Found Family and Finding One’s Identity, and the complex journey of Healing Intergenerational Trauma.

We Have Always Been Here won the Lambda Literary Award and the Canada Reads Award in 2020.