Ex-Muslim groups have been organized in the Toronto area since the early 2000s. In 2013, an organized group of ex-Muslims in Toronto merged with the Ex-Muslims of North America (EXMNA), who also began running meetup groups across the continent.
In 2020, with meetup groups growing fast, EXMNA spun them out to be independently run. EXMNA is now focused on advocacy work and special projects like the Persecution Tracker and WikiIslam.
The Ex-Muslims of Toronto (EXMTO) is one of those city groups spun out of EXMNA and now independently run. We pride ourselves on maintaining the strict screening protocols and standards that have served our groups so well.
As a group, we host in-person meet-ups across the greater Toronto area. There’s often a few events each month which members can join, ranging from dinners out, picnics in the park, hiking excursions, and private dinner parties. In fact, our members are encouraged to create events of all kinds, and they do!
Like most ex-Muslim groups for the religiously unaffiliated, we advocate for the acceptance of religious dissent, the promotion of secular values and governance, and we aim to reduce the discrimination faced by those who leave Islam.
We believe that people have rights, but ideologies do not. We aspire to live in a world where Muslims are free to leave their religion and still live in harmony with their religious brethren.
Most of our members are ‘closeted’ in that revealing that they no longer believe in Islam can have devastating consequences for their safety, security, or the emotional well-being of their families.
It’s a gradual process, and we’re here to help our members through it.
To read more about our objectives and our values, please see our Manifesto.