El-Farouk Khaki

El-Farouk Khaki (born October 26, 1963) is a Canadian refugee and immigration lawyer, and human rights activist on issues including gender equality, sexual orientation, and progressive Islam. He was the New Democratic Party's candidate for the House of Commons in the riding of Toronto Centre in a March 17, 2008 by-election. Khaki came in second to Liberal Bob Rae with 13.8% of the vote.

Biography
He was born in Tanzania, which his family fled in 1971 escaping political persecution. His parents arrived in Canada in 1974 and settled in Vancouver where Khaki grew up. He earned a law degree from the University of British Columbia before moving to Ottawa in 1988 and has lived and worked in Toronto since 1989. He worked as a political staffer at Queen's Park until 1993 when he left to establish his legal practice. Khaki is a member of the Upper Law Society of Canada and has been in private practice since 1993.

Activism
Khaki founded Salaam in 1991, a support group for LGBT Muslims.

In 2003, he helped organized the first female-led, mixed-gender Muslim congregational prayers in Canada for the Salaam/Al-Fateha International Conference, and in 2005, organized the first such prayers anywhere to be held in a mosque. He has served on the Toronto Mayor’s Committee on Community & Race Relations, on the board of The 519 Community Centre, and is now elected chair of Africans in Partnership Against AIDS.

Khaki regularly speaks publicly at events and in news media on issues ranging from refugee protection, to the global AIDS crisis, Canadian multiculturalism, racism, Zpersecution of sexual minorities around the world, and religious and racial profiling in the war on terror, among other topics. His appearances include CTV's morning television program Canada AM, CBC Radio One's The Current, and others.

On April 30, 2007, Khaki won the New Democratic Party's nomination in Toronto Centre. Since then, incumbent Bill Graham resigned necessitating a by-election to be held on March 17, 2008.

Refugee law
In 1994, Khaki represented a refugee claim before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada which lasted eight sittings rather than the usual single session and led to the implementation of sensitivity training for IRB Members and staff on sexual orientation issues.

Khaki continues to specialize in representing before the IRB a variety of severely marginalized social groups, such as persons living with HIV/AIDS and women fleeing domestic violence or other gender-based persecution.

Progressive Islam
Khaki founded Salaam, the first gay Muslim group in Canada and second in the world, in 1993, and organized the Salaam/Al-Fateha International Conference in 2003. He also co-founded and served as Secretary General of the Muslim Canadian Congress, which, after its inception in 2002, became nationally known in Canada as the voice of progressive Canadian Muslims. In August 2006 the group split in two over the issue of participation in demonstrations against Israel's role in the 2007 Lebanon conflict. Khaki and many other members including much of the leadership lea the MCC and created a new organization, the Canadian Muslim Union (CMU), stating that the new organization "will be far more responsive to the issues being faced by the community at large, rather than having a very single agenda that the MCC (has)".

Awards
Khaki was honoured at the 2006 Pride Week gala for his role in promoting queer Muslim awareness through Salaam. Reverend Brent Hawkes of the Toronto Metropolitan Community Church said of Khaki and the group, "I think Salaam is very important, both locally and internationally, in terms of creating a safe place for people of Muslim tradition to be able to come together both socially and spiritually". Of Khakis role, he said "The work that El-Farouk has done is to help to make sure there is an option there."

In spring 2007, Khaki received the Steinert and Ferreiro Award from the Lesbian and Gay Community Appeal Foundation for his "major role in paving the way in Canada for refugee protection on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender", and because he "broke ground" in his work on gender equality in the Muslim community. The previous summer, Pride Toronto, one of the world’s largest gay-pride festivals, recognized his work building tolerance and inclusiveness in the Muslim community with the 2006 Pride Award for Excellence in Spirituality. Also in 2007, Khaki was honoured with the Canadian Bar Association's Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Conference Hero Award for contributions made in the area of equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people for his work with refugees who are sexual minorities or suffering from HIV.

Electoral record



 * Bob Rae
 * align=right|14,187
 * align=right|59.2
 * align=right|+7.0%


 * El-Farouk Khaki
 * align=right|3,299
 * align=right|13.8
 * align=right|-9.9%


 * Chris Tindal
 * align=right|3,263
 * align=right|13.6
 * align=right|+8.4%


 * Donald Meredith
 * align=right|2,982
 * align=right|12.5
 * align=right|-5.7%


 * Animal Alliance
 * Liz White
 * align=right|123
 * align=right|0.5
 * align=right|+0.4%


 * Doug Plumb
 * align=right|97
 * align=right|0.4
 * align=right|-
 * align="left" colspan=2|Liberal hold
 * align="right"|Swing
 * align="right"| +8.5
 * align="right"|