Tips for Gay and Lbian Travelers Moroc | Frommer's

Contents:

• DOZENS OF GAY MEN ARE OUTED MOROC AS PHOTOS ARE SPREAD ONLE
• WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE GAY … MOROC?
• GAY-IENDLY: MARRAKECH FOR HOMOSEXUALS
• TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS MOROC
• GAY MEN ABED MOROC AFTER PHOTOS SPREAD ONLE
• MOROC USED TO BE A HAVEN FOR GAY ARTISTS. IT’S A B MORE COMPLITED NOW
• MOROC GAY TRAVEL
• GAY MARRAKH TRAVEL GUI
• GAY MOROCNS OUTED THE MIDST OF RONAVIS LOCKDOWN
• GAY MARRAKH
• TRANSGENR BETY FLUENCER OUTS GAY MEN MOROC, SPARKG WISPREAD FEAR

DOZENS OF GAY MEN ARE OUTED MOROC AS PHOTOS ARE SPREAD ONLE

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe ia was to show the hypocrisy of Morocn society by showg how many gay men are livg quietly straight society.

It backfired S/Agence France-Prse — Getty ImagPARIS — At least 50 to 100 gay men were outed Moroc over the last two weeks, rights activists say, after the men were intified on lotn-based meetg apps while shelterg at home amid a ronavis at least three s, men were kicked out of their ho, L.

”In Moroc, a North Ain kgdom where homosexualy and sex outsi marriage are crim, gay people are pafully acctomed to the feelgs of peril and rejectn, and many keep their sexual inti unr, their ver has been blown a way that would be crimal most Wtern societi, rights advot say. ”What mak this episo particularly paful, gay lears say, is that was igned by someone who had also been sgled April 13, a Morocn transgenr Instagram personaly based Istanbul, Naoufal Mosa or Sofia Talouni, was sulted about her sexual orientatn. In a rage, she released a profany-laced vio enuragg women to download the lotn-based meetg apps, like Grdr and Pla Romeo, which are ually ed by gay subsequent vios, she said her aim was to reveal the hypocrisy of Morocn society by showg her attackers how many gay men were livg their vicy, perhaps even their own people followed Ms.

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE GAY … MOROC?

Mosa’s lead and created fake acunts on the apps to gather photos of gay men, which they then posted on private and public Facebook pag, settg off the homophobic attacks igned a firtorm of cricism, both of Ms. Mosa pelled him to acknowledge that he was gay, threateng to post revealg photos showg him wh another gay man. That’s when she got angry and suggted downloadg gay meetg apps, which led to the outburst of anti-gay vlence.

“My datg life Moroc was somehow OK as long as my partner and I were beg super discreet and ut, ” said one gay man who asked to be intified only by his ials, N. Abllah Taia, a proment gay thor and one of few to publicly clare his sexual orientatn Moroc, says that the state keeps people a gray area, makg them vulnerable to abe and discrimatn and forcg many to hidg. ”Moroc’s Interr Mistry did not rpond to a requt for outg episo is seen by many as stroyg a agile balance that the untry’s unrground gay culture has built laborly over the years, ma even worse a time of uncertaty and enomic hardship.

But they do have some support at Bezad, the print of the Pan-Ain Organizatn for the Fight Agast AIDS, said that while Moroc’s laws were unlikely to change, s health mistry enurag associatns like hers to help vulnerable populatns, cludg gay people. Moroc has been and remas a popular statn for LGBTQ+ travelers spe beg an Islamic untry where homosexualy is illegal and punishable by law.

GAY-IENDLY: MARRAKECH FOR HOMOSEXUALS

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. That’s not to say that gay-iendly bars, rtrants, night clubs or beach do not exist.

In urban centers like Tangier, Marrakech and Agadir, ’s possible to fd gay-iendly acmodatns and spots that wele a mix of gay and straight visors.

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

TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS MOROC

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.

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.

GAY MEN ABED MOROC AFTER PHOTOS SPREAD ONLE

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.

MOROC USED TO BE A HAVEN FOR GAY ARTISTS. IT’S A B MORE COMPLITED NOW

” 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. 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.

MOROC GAY TRAVEL

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 MARRAKH TRAVEL GUI

Hetero — as well as homo — or bisexual upl should be discreet and save livg out their passns for the privacy of the riad. 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.

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. Homosexualy is nsired relatively mon, though rarely acknowledged, amongst Morocn men.

GAY MOROCNS OUTED THE MIDST OF RONAVIS LOCKDOWN

Platonic affectn between Morocn mal -- such as holdg hands, which is a sign of iendship and rpect -- is eely shown, and some of the Berber trib (the Atlas Chlh, for example) are known as particularly tolerant toward homosexual behavr. Tangier -- the world's first gay rort -- is still nsired somewhat gay-iendly.

Marrakech certaly has a mi gay scene, thanks largely to the number of gay French upl now ridg there. 800/448-8550 or 954/776-2626;) is the tra associatn for the gay and lbian travel dtry, and offers an onle directory of gay- and lbian-iendly travel bs and tour operators. -based onle travel rource of statns that ter to the gay liftyle, cludg Moroc.

Beyond the Mask () has gay-based rmatn and news articl on each Ain untry, cludg Moroc. GlobalGayz () is a gay-owned travel, news, and culture webse foced on l-bi-gay-trans life untri around the world. Their exposé and other stori on gay life Moroc are very tertg and well rearched.

GAY MARRAKH

The followg travel guis are available at many bookstor, or you n orr them om any onle bookseller: Spartac Internatnal Gay Gui (Bno Gmünr Verlag;); Odysss: The Internatnal Gay Travel Planner (); and the Damron guis (), wh separate annual books for gay men and lbians. The movie tells the story of an Algerian-French heterosexual young man begng a soclogy study of gay islamic homosexuali and disverg gay love wh a young French steward. But when Waleed sudnly dumps him to marry a woman, Rami mt face the realy of life as a gay man Egypt.

All of this at a time of a major crackdown on gay men and the notor Queen Boat arrts of 2001.

TRANSGENR BETY FLUENCER OUTS GAY MEN MOROC, SPARKG WISPREAD FEAR

The batn of beg back his hometown, this prsure om his mother and his homosexualy him to have equent panic attacks. Out Loud is the first film om Lebanon wh a gay theme that sets a new standard for cema om the Middle East the midst of the Arab Sprg.

Abllah, a young gay man, is tryg to fd his way through the difficult sexual, polil and racial climate of Moroc. Salma, a DJ and bartenr fac a difficult moment as she out as gay to her tradnal Christian fay.

A documentary by Peter Barbosa and Garrett Lenoir, I Exist giv a voice to gay and lbian Amerins om the Middle East, who often rema silent out of shame and fear.