They are two communities that often find themselves exposed to vitriol and hate masquerading as respectful debate. Muslims and gays, unlikely bedfellows in some circumstances, know the battle scars of discrimination and prejudice.
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On Monday night, in the offices of the AIDS Council of NSW, a campaigning outfit called Muslims for Marriage Equality celebrated its official launch. Its footprint is modest - founder Fahad Ali estimates 250 people have expressed interest in volunteering nationally, and the group has 1500 followers on Facebook - but its goals are somewhat grander: to shirk the conservative cloak that surrounds Islam and show the flock does not necessarily follow the leader.
Mr Ali, who is gay and a practising Muslim, concedes there is tension between his sexual identity and faith.
"The orthodox Islamic position is quite anti-gay. I think the Muslim community generally has a problem with homosexuality," he says.
"There's been quite a lot of abuse that I've dealt with ... ???I have been called everything from an apostate to an infidel to a hypocrite."
Part of the problem is a lack of Muslim clerics willing to openly support the gay community. Nur Warsame, a gay imam from Melbourne, has received much media attention - but Mr Ali says other Muslim leaders who are "overwhelmingly supportive" in private are unwilling to speak publicly.
Muslims make up 2.6 per cent of Australia's population and its level of support for same-sex marriage is difficult to quantify. Mr Ali points to Pew Research in the US that found 52 per cent of American Muslims agreed homosexuality should be "accepted by society", but predicts the figure would be lower here.
"The reason we've had such trouble uprooting that prejudice is because we've never really had a discussion," he says.
Others argue there should be a degree of natural solidarity between Muslims and the queer community. NSW Greens upper house MP Mehreen Faruqi, who addressed the launch on Monday night, said minorities should understand and empathise with each other's struggles.
"Standing up to remove prejudice and discrimination is not just about yourself, it's about everyone else as well," she says.
"A lot of Muslims make that point," adds Reem Sweid, president of the Australian chapter of Muslims for Progressive Values. "[They] support LGBTI issues coming from that perspective that they are a minority too and all minorities should have their rights."
As for what the Koran teaches about homosexuality, Ms Sweid digresses. "There's a plurality of interpretations," she says. "I try to choose the most humane way."
Ms Faruqi says same-sex marriage is a vexed issue for Muslims, who risk a "backlash" for speaking their minds. She herself paid a personal penalty when she first tried to push a same-sex marriage bill through the NSW Parliament.
"I was told by friends and family I'd been brainwashed by Western thinking and that I'd lost my way and that I'd burn in the hellfires for eternity," she says. "But the things we ought to pursue in life are not easy."
