Gay Moroc: The experience is very different for Morocns and foreigners.

Contents:

• GAY-IENDLY: MARRAKECH FOR HOMOSEXUALS
• WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE GAY … MOROC?
• GAY IENDLY / GAY OWNED RIADS MARRAKECH - MARRAKECH FOM
• HOW GAY IENDLY IS MARRAKECH? - MARRAKECH FOM
• GAY AND G GRR MARRAKH - MARRAKECH FOM
• HOW SAFE IS FOR GAY TOURISTS MARRAKECH? - MARRAKECH FOM
• GAY MARRAKH TRAVEL GUI 2023
• GAY MARRAKH TRAVEL GUI

GAY-IENDLY: MARRAKECH FOR HOMOSEXUALS

Travelg to an Islamic untry and experiencg the magic of the Thoand and One Nights together – as a homosexual uple? Even though Marrakech’s clubs and hotels do not openly e labels such as “gay” or “gay-iendly” for advertisg, is the new “Pk Cy”, havg overtaken the formerly ternatnal zone of Tanger.

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE GAY … MOROC?

To beg wh: Acrdg to Morocn law, homosexual acts are illegal and will be punished severely.

Near Rabat, for example, two young Morocns were sentenced to four months imprisonment each 2013 bee of homosexual ntacts.

Strongly fluenced by relign and patriarchal stctur, Morocn society is characterized by tradnal valu, and is, th, rather homophobic. Neverthels, homosexualy is tolerated to the greatt possible extent, as far as ’s lived out discreetly.

GAY IENDLY / GAY OWNED RIADS MARRAKECH - MARRAKECH FOM

They are not gay, but munitg wh their iends the tradnal manner.

Hetero — as well as homo — or bisexual upl should be discreet and save livg out their passns for the privacy of the riad. In spe of the reprsive ndns, a gay scene has grown Marrakech.

Clubs and night life for a gay dience.

HOW GAY IENDLY IS MARRAKECH? - MARRAKECH FOM

Soon, the word of a gay night life the South-Morocn imperial cy spread. The top addrs is, whout a doubt, Le Diamant noir, which is rather gay than gay-iendly durg the week. Apart om that, the gay party scene meets at the VIP-Club, Le Pacha, Le Comptoir Darna, or the other bars along the Avenue Mohammed V.

Gay-iendly hosts: discreet riads and open hearts. The followg riads are gay-iendly (plete list):.

In a Nutshell: Marrakech for homosexuals. Th, homosexuals are not treated differently om heterosexuals.

GAY AND G GRR MARRAKH - MARRAKECH FOM

Some gut ho are labeled “gay-iendly” and are ed to homosexual clients, so there are no irratns when, say, a double bed is requted. The gay night life n be bt experienced one of the clubs mentned above, but is advisable to keep a keen md even there: It is not unlikely that the young man showerg you wh pliments is a prostute, and the police are rather strict their effort to nta prostutn, pecially as is gradually creasg Moroc.

Apart om this, Marrakech is as good a holiday statn for gays and lbians as is for heterosexually orientated.

Jamaa el Fna, Marrakech’s ma square, is the cy’s primary gay cisg spot after dk.

HOW SAFE IS FOR GAY TOURISTS MARRAKECH? - MARRAKECH FOM

For those who heard about the se of Ray Cole—a Brish tourist arrted last year Marrakech, Moroc, on spicn of mtg “homosexual acts” and sentenced to four months’ hard time a Morocn jail prr to his early release— is perhaps difficult to image that Moroc was somethg of a gay paradise for whe men of standg the aftermath of World War II. Somethg of the gay scene moved to Marrakech, but suffice to say, is far removed om Tangier’s heyday and very much nfed to the margs.

Gay life tak place the pths of certa hammams (Turkish baths) and the back rows of cemas, if people happen to know the right spots; needls to say, cisg plays an important role.

GAY MARRAKH TRAVEL GUI 2023

There are no gay bars, but a mix of gay and straight patrons n be found clubs that ter primarily to Wterners. Seen this light, the se of Ray Cole n be said to be another part of the story of the wherg away of gay life Moroc, or at the very least, the end of turng of a bld eye to . But what is more signifint about Cole’s se is that monstrat the te realy for gay men Moroc, namely, that while the laws on homosexualy are enforced nsistently, there is evintly a double standard employed their applitn.

The lerature available to potential gay travelers to Moroc—of which there is a great al sce, spe of laws and social norms there, Moroc remas a prime statn for package holiday-goers om Bra, France, and Germany—is very clear settg out what is and isn’t acceptable. Gay upl should rea om public displays of affectn and would be advised to seek out hotels and riads (a tradnal hoe wh an terr urtyard) known to be gay-iendly. The arrt of Morocns for “homosexual acts” occurs every day and go unreported.

The scen of Cole’s fay greetg him at Bra’s Gatwick Airport ntrast starkly wh how gay men are treated Morocn society: looked down upon, rejected by their fai, dismissed wh the Maghrebi Arabic slur zamel. “More than [Cole’s] own se, what happened to him shows how vulnerable gay Morocns are, ”Abllah Taïa, a Morocn wrer and filmmaker who now liv exile, wrote The Guardian, “They are at the mercy of anyone. ” To the qutn of what is like to be gay Moroc, then, the answer very much means one thg to a Wtern visor and que another to Morocn natnals, who are nsired by their society and their state to be of lser value.

GAY MARRAKH TRAVEL GUI

What’s It Like to Be Gay … Poland? What’s It Like to Be Gay … Romania? Moroc has been and remas a popular statn for LGBTQ+ travelers spe beg an Islamic untry where homosexualy is illegal and punishable by law.

Homosexualy is seen by most of the populatn as a threat to the “tradnal valu” that support the expectatn of heterosexual norms and Mlim teachgs. As a nservative Mlim untry where homosexualy is illegal, there aren’t any official “gay hot spots” or LGBTQ+ celebratns.