Gay Muslim Tugay Saraç to Receive German Prize for Preventing Radicalisation
Berlin-based educator Tugay Saraç, an openly gay Muslim, has been named the 2026 recipient of the Klaus Jensen Foundation’s Reconciliation Prize. As queer.de reported on October 28, citing news agency dpa, the ceremony is scheduled for November 26 in Trier, Germany. The award carries €10,000.
Saraç heads the Islam & Diversity counselling project at Berlin’s liberal Ibn Rushd–Goethe Mosque and is responsible for LGBT matters there. In sessions with pupils and teachers, he discusses sexual and gender diversity, Islam, antisemitism and Islamism. His work in this field is also described in a biography on the FrauenWelten film festival website.
The foundation explained its choice through his educational work to prevent radicalisation and address prejudice among young people. According to the award organisers, Saraç emphasises personal encounters, dialogue and his own experience rather than confrontation or moral instruction.
By his own account, Saraç was a Salafist as a teenager; rejecting his own homosexuality contributed to his radicalisation. He turned away from Salafism in 2017. He now uses that experience in prevention work and seeks to show young Muslims that religious faith and a queer identity can coexist.
The Klaus Jensen Foundation has operated since 2003. According to its description of its work, it supports violence-prevention and reconciliation projects in Germany and abroad, and organises workshops, conferences and public talks. Saraç’s award recognises his educational and prevention work.
Uránia previously covered the opening of a community centre by LGBT Muslim organisation Al-Ghurbaah in Cape Town. It serves people seeking to reconcile religious life with their sexual orientation or gender identity.
