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

Contents:

• WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE GAY … MOROC?
• GAY MOROCNS FACE BLACKMAIL, BULLYG AFTER THEY WERE OUTED ONLE
• GAY MOROC

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE GAY … MOROC?

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.

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 .

GAY MOROCNS FACE BLACKMAIL, BULLYG AFTER THEY WERE OUTED ONLE

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. What’s It Like to Be Gay … Poland?

GAY MOROC

What’s It Like to Be Gay … Romania? Omar is a 21-year-old gay Morocn.

Omar’s fears are rooted the fact that homosexualy is a crimal offence Moroc, as is many other Ain untri. The law b wh a strongly nservative society to create a real sense of danger for members of Moroc’s lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex (LGBTI) muni. And, as I pot out my book, the weight of Islam – Moroc is a predomantly Mlim untry – adds another dimensn, accentuatg gay people’s feelgs of nial, self-loathg and guilt.

There have been several high profile s of homophobic vlence Moroc. In July 2015, a man was btally beaten the cy of Fès by a mob who hurled ephets at him bee he was apparently gay. They were later released, but not before the UN Human Rights Commtee reacted to the story by llg on Moroc’s thori to crimalise homosexualy.