Tunisia Iterary: Thgs to Do In 10 days In Gay Tunisia

Contents:

• TUNISIA ULTIMATE ERARY: THGS TO DO AND SEE WH 10 DAYS GAY TUNISIA
• THE 'NIGHTMARE' OF BEG GAY TUNISIA
• DISVER THE 5 MOST GAY-IENDLY ARAB UNTRI
• TRAVEL TO TUNISIA FOR GAY PEOPLE - TUNISIA FOM
• OP-ED: GAYS IN THE NEW, COMPLITED TUNISIA
• GLOBALGAYZ: THE BOOK
• GAY IENDLY HOTELS TUNISIA

TUNISIA ULTIMATE ERARY: THGS TO DO AND SEE WH 10 DAYS GAY TUNISIA

What I almost never saw om my seat at my favore hnt—the Café Paris, chosen bee, not attached to a hotel, always attracted more Tunisians than tourists—were any signs of a visible, easily intifiable gay or lbian culture. While the gay visor particular might be thrown ially by the ways which two men or two women openly display their physil affectn—whenever we would cross the avenue together, for example, my iend Hs would grab my hand to make sure that I would not be n down by one of Tunis’s notorly reckls b drivers—and while the sight of a man walkg down the street wh a jasme blossom tucked behd his ear might (wrongly) suggt otherwise, open signs of Wtern-style gay inty are owned upon if not absolutely taboo.

In some s, this adolcent homosexual behavr is nsired a stage of life that will soon be left behd, so men who ntue the practice to adulthood—or, worse, who still prefer the passive role—are open to cricism, or worse. In more recent tim, however, as a rult of global media broadsts via satelle televisn and the Inter, Tunisians are regularly exposed to Wtern notns of gay inty. Though sometim clumsily censored, Wtern shows wh gay characters—like The OC or the Spanish Un Dos Tr, a Fame-style show about a performg arts school—are easily available via satelle dish, as are gay phone sex ads that ma me blh.

THE 'NIGHTMARE' OF BEG GAY TUNISIA

We also sometim fet the ways which, even the Wt, gay style is munited through the media and “assumed” by as we figure out how to reprent ourselv to each other and to a larger heterosexual public. As Tunisians who feel same-sex sire see more Wtern reprentatns of gay life, they’re likely to imate the ways of beg and actg, however nstraed by the nf of an Islamic social system.

DISVER THE 5 MOST GAY-IENDLY ARAB UNTRI

Bee a visible gay inty is often seen the Islamic world as a product of the Wt, is difficult to untangle a rejectn of gay inty om a rejectn of the Wt wh s profoundly different standards of public behavr and private moraly. Somethg to nsir, then, is the possibily that the tenncy of our media to portray Islam a negative light is makg harr for those Tunisians who wish to “e out” as pennt women, as gay, or as otherwise nontradnal. The fact that gay inty is built precisely upon a public acknowledgment of beg gay plit thgs a society where, for example, men are so most that they shower their unrwear at the gym, or where, until recently, heterosexual upl uld not so much as hold hands public.

Not surprisgly, whatever gay life that exists tak place vertly, while the life s more public forms is virtually nonexistent. I equented the tablishment bee was one of the only plac Tunisia where I uld experience some semblance of a gay culture, but I had to learn to pe wh the daily proposns. His homosexualy, along wh his antipathy for relign of any kd and his awarens of the many ironi of his role as a universy profsor a police state, had left him, if not exactly jad, at least world-weary om a lifetime of knowg, but never beg able to say out loud, that the emperor has no cloth.

At this fé, where Jacqu met his rent boy, I saw what I would intify as the only visible signs of a gay inty that I saw: some young men nductg surveys about safer sex practic. We do have gays and lbians jt like any other society, but ’s a very closed circle of people and they do everythg to hi and keep secret. Tunisia ultimate erary: thgs to do and see wh 10 days gay TunisiaStori > Iterari > Tunisia ultimate erary: thgs to do and see wh 10 days gay TunisiaSomethg of a sand-buried secret North Ai is the natn of Tunisia, beneftg om both Mederranean beach and Saharan dun that enclose much the way of unique natnal culture.

TRAVEL TO TUNISIA FOR GAY PEOPLE - TUNISIA FOM

In realy, homosexualy is a crimal offence Tunisia (punishable by up to 3 years imprisonment), meang that beg open is not advisable while travellg the untry. Dpe this, creased lol LGBTQ+ activism and acceptance has risen up sce the 2011 revolutn, makg Tunisia one of the better plac the Arab world to be Tunisia gay scene is not easy to fe but, thanks to the ter, ’s bee ever easier to tap to s varyg levels.

From ‘straight’ unhappy hbands to ‘same-sex-not-gay’ liaisons between iends, the gay work certaly exists, allowg for discreet (yet cisy) nnectns at any time. The lack of anisatn and outward stutns however means ’s hard to form a legimate gay muny, but ongog work om anisatns like ‘Associatn Shams’ and ‘Mawjoud’ helps prent a proud face for gay Tunisia. Belhadj, who was 38 years old at the time, was charged wh homosexual activy and taed the civil prison of Mornaguia, southwt of the Tunisian pal.

Belhadj's story is all-too faiar Tunisia, where the crimalizatn of homosexualy ntradicts the right to privacy and nondiscrimatn that is supposedly enshred Tunisia's 2014 nstutn. His oral shows what is like livg as an LGBTQ person a untry where homosexualy is nmned and illegal, and the social stigma of beg exposed n have dire nsequenc on people's a recent terview wh Democracy Exile, Belhadj said that his se was overwhelmgly publicized whout his knowledge while he was prison. "Belhadj's story is all-too faiar Tunisia, where the crimalizatn of homosexualy ntradicts the right to privacy and nondiscrimatn that is supposedly enshred the nstutn.

OP-ED: GAYS IN THE NEW, COMPLITED TUNISIA

Ali Boselmi, the executive director of Mawjoud—"We Exist, " Arabic—a Tunisian NGO fightg for LGBTQ rights, nfirmed Belhadj's acunt of prison and scribed the majory of Tunisian society as homophobic. "When Mounir Baatour, who is also the head of Tunisia's Liberal Party, announced 2019 that he would n for the untry's princy, he beme the first openly gay printial ndidate not only Tunisia but throughout the Arab world. The stigma of beg intified as gay led to more discrimatn public, cludg whenever he went out to bars and f, and equent harassment by police.

Belhadj said that three bouncers at a mic venue Tunis beat him wh baseball bats a night after he attend a ncert there, bee they regnized him as the gay filmmaker who appeared on the news.

Asked why the Tunisian ernment allows the NGOs to operate while the penal crimaliz homosexualy, Baatour said that there is a difference between civil and crimal law: "The civil law allows to create an associatn, but the crimal law nmns homosexualy. "LGBTQ activists and human rights lawyers prott outsi a urt Tunis after filg a requt mandg the crimalizatn of homosexualy the untry, followg an appeal agast the sentencg of two Tunisians jailed unr the strict penal , Dec. Through a haze of shisha smoke and somewhat stiflg sexual stigma, the Arab world unveils an unexpected realm of possibili for trepid gay travellers.

GLOBALGAYZ: THE BOOK

If you n five the state-approved homophobia and are willg to act wh discretn while out and about, the Arab untri n reem themselv a thoand and one different ways, om the ancient centre of Petra to the glterg ephets of Bahra and to the serts beyond. While by and large closeted kgdoms, the handful of gay clubs the progrsive cy of Beit n allow you to be your te self, while the luxury ternatnal hotels across the regn n ensure your privacy is rpected.

GAY IENDLY HOTELS TUNISIA

Wh so much do see and do, Mt is bt seen by tour b, allowg you to hop off at untls mms, the Sultan’s Palace and the Mutrah Corniche wateront, before venturg further afield on day trips to the beach and turtle-filled lagoons for divg and of the slightly more tolerant untri the regn, Oman is said to have once had s own gay sultan – Sultan Qaboos b Said al Said – although the state prs is quick to ny this as a pric mour!

Neverthels, the unofficial gossip is that the former sultan leads a lavish gay liftyle wh his palace, divorced om his wife and enjoyg the ocsnal English lover. In realy, the laws are rarely upheld except high-profile s, however, and gay Oman remas a perfectly safe place to | Photo: Katera KerdiPetra, particular, is the crowng glory of Jordan, protected wh sandstone cliffs and offerg an unrivalled llectn of monuments, cludg the fg Siq to the Treasury on an ethereal sert se of red rock and dun known as Wadi Rum2. Now you, avid explorer of gay Arab worlds, get to see the antiqui all their majty, movg om Roman Amphheatre to Csar stle wh a samplg of early Christian art along the way.

Jordan crimalised homophobia as early as 1951 and while there remas social stigma and ‘public moraly’ laws that hr LGBTQ+ eedoms, gay Jordan gas tractn thanks to s unrground gay muny (most active on Grdr! Gay Bahra legalised homosexualy 1976 though this means ltle as an LGBTQ crackdown is still force targetg those that supposedly vlate “public cency”, as Jordan.