llhan Omar’s alleged brother she wed in ‘sham marriage’ says he is a gay man in academic paper

Embattled Rep. Ilhan Omar’s ex-husband and rumored brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, referred to himself as a “gay man” in an academic paper published earlier this year. 

Elmi’s self-described sexual orientation adds to the mounting evidence that his 2009 marriage to Omar was a sham to obtain legal immigration status for her alleged brother. 

“As a gay man of the East African diaspora, my fieldwork was never neutral,” Elmi, a doctoral researcher at the University of Bristol, wrote in an August 2026 paper titled, “Out in the Field: Notes on Researching Queer Violence in Kenya.” 

“It was a space shaped by tension, risk, intimacy, and vulnerability,” he continued. “While navigating the challenges of ethnographic research, I immersed myself in the lived experiences of the people I spoke with, while also negotiating my own safety and the complexities of my identity.” 

The paper was first-reported by the Daily Caller. 

Elmi came to live with Omar and her first husband, Ahmed Hirsi, in Minnesota in 2009, The Post reported Wednesday. 

A friend of Hirsi described Elmi as an “extremely feminine Somali guy” who “was walking around in tight female clothing, which is heavily frowned upon in the Somali community.”

The source said that when he asked Hirsi about Elmi, Omar’s ex said “it was his wife’s brother from London.”  

Hirsi explained that Omar had married Elmi legally “to get him papers and that [Hirsi] was only Islamically married to her,” the source added. 

Elmi left Minnesota in 2012. Omar and Elmi finalized their divorce in 2017.

Federal investigators are examining whether Omar was part of a family conspiracy to commit immigration fraud, which could lead to her denaturalization and deportation.

Evidence that the “Squad” lawmaker had entered into a sham marriage with Elmi was previously discovered during a 2016 probe conducted by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, according to a New York Times report that was confirmed by The Post. 

The 2016 case stalled after prosecutors concluded that any potential crime occurred outside the five-year statute of limitations.

There’s no similar statute of limitations if civil denaturalization is pursued.

Omar has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. 

Earlier this month, when asked directly if Elmi could be related to her, Omar told MS Now: “Not to my knowledge.”