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?
• DOZENS OF GAY MEN ARE OUTED MOROC AS PHOTOS ARE SPREAD ONLE
• GAY PRI
• MOROCNS’ GAY PRI MARCH AIMS TO RVE OUT NEW SPACE OM A DISTANCE
• GAY MOROC TRAVEL GUI
• EVERYTHG YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEG GAY MLIM UNTRI
• MOROC GAY TRAVEL

GAY-IENDLY: MARRAKECH FOR HOMOSEXUALS

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. 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.

Filmed 12 untri and 9 languag, this documentary, directed by gay Mlim filmmaker Parvez Sharma, tells the lorful and varied stori of gay and lbian Mlims om all over the world. Enuraged by Sandra, Ama lnch a blog lled “A Gay Girl Damasc, ” reprentg a margalized voice the Middle East on polics, relign, and sexualy.

In this portra that is multi-layered both terms of form and ntent, a gay man nonts the ghosts of his past and explor hidn longgs, unrequed love and tormentg feelgs of guilt.

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE GAY … MOROC?

After beg tranged om his fay for his homosexualy, we observe a young Arab man over four seasons and om far away as he navigat his solu – all the while attemptg to rennect wh his mother. A short documentary that tells the stori of Mashrou’ Leila, a Lebane rock band wh an outspoken gay sger, and Sarah Hegazy, an Egyptian activist.

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

Between realy and animatn, the story of Nidhal is told, a young homosexual Tunisian who fend dividual eedoms Tunisia through his work rad. 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. 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.

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.

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. 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.

GAY PRI

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 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.

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.

MOROCNS’ GAY PRI MARCH AIMS TO RVE OUT NEW SPACE OM A DISTANCE

”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. 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.

GAY MOROC TRAVEL GUI

“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.

EVERYTHG YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEG GAY MLIM UNTRI

At a time when much of Europe and North Ameri imposed particularly nservative laws, Tangier was a liberal haven where alternative travellers uld e and dulge all the thgs that were taboo back home, cludg dgs, gay sex and prostutn. On 24 Febary 2017, the Primary Court Tangier reportedly sentenced two men, a universy stunt and a real tate agent, to six months prison for ‘engagg homosexual acts’. On 02 June 2016, was reported that a young gay uple, who had gone to a serted area the outskirts of Guelmim, a southern cy of the north Ain untry on 26 May, were ught by police havg sex their r and arrted unr article 489 of the Penal Co, which crimaliz ‘lewd or unnatural acts wh an dividual of the same sex’.

MOROC GAY TRAVEL

On 26 March 2016, was reported that a urt Beni Mellal had sentenced a homosexual man to two months imprisonment acrdance wh article 489 of the Morocn nstutn and obliged to pay a fe of 45 ros ($50). On 01 Febary 2016, a urt Tizn sentenced Hamza M and Osman A to one and a half years jail and fed them 2, 000 dirhams (£375) each on charg of homosexualy.

On 13 Augt 2015, whilst homosexual activy remas unlawful, a urt the central cy of Fez sentenced two men to four months jail and orred them to pay a fe of 500 dirhams (around 50 ros/$55) for beatg up a prumed homosexual man bee of his appearance [R2. On 23 May 2015, a urt Taourirt eastern Moroc was reported to have sentenced three men to three years prison each for practicg homosexualy. Authori Taourirt had arrted two of the men who were ught the act havg gay sex si a mechanic workshop and a third man said to be a mediator between the two men was also arrted [R2.