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

Contents:

• MOROC GAY TRAVEL
• TOP GAY DTATNS: MOROC
• TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS MOROC
• TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS MOROC
• WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE GAY … MOROC?
• GAY-IENDLY: MARRAKECH FOR HOMOSEXUALS
• MOROC USED TO BE A HAVEN FOR GAY ARTISTS. IT’S A B MORE COMPLITED NOW
• GAY TOURS MOROC
• GAY MARRAKH TRAVEL GUI
• TANGIER GAY GUI AND HOTELS
• EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS MOROC
• GAY MARRAKH
• GAY MARRAKH TRAVEL GUI
• TOP GAY DTATNS: MOROC
• MOROC USED TO BE A HAVEN FOR GAY ARTISTS. IT’S A B MORE COMPLITED NOW

MOROC GAY TRAVEL

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.

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.

TOP GAY DTATNS: MOROC

At a time when much of Europe and North Ameri imposed particularly nservative laws, Tangier was a liberal haven where alternative travelers uld e and dulge all the thgs that were taboo back home, cludg dgs, gay sex and prostutn. It beme a haven for gay travelers.

From private rooms and apartments to LGBTQ-iendly hotels, you have the optn to stay the heart of gay districts as well as other neighborhoods the plac you vis. A loft Soho, a shared room Barcelona or the Castro, a gay-iendly hotel Le Marais or Chelsea, experience misterb&b all gay travel statns! Tips for Gay and Lbian Travelers Moroc.

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

TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS MOROC

For both gays and lbians, discretn is advised.

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. The Internatnal Gay and Lbian Travel Associatn (IGLTA; tel.

TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS MOROC

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.

Gay Journey () is a U.

-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.

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE GAY … 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. 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.

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.

GAY-IENDLY: MARRAKECH FOR HOMOSEXUALS

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.

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

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.

GAY TOURS MOROC

“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? What’s It Like to Be Gay … Romania?

GAY MARRAKH TRAVEL GUI

Travelg to an Islamic untry and experiencg the magic of the Thoand and One Nights together – as a homosexual uple?

TANGIER GAY GUI AND HOTELS

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. 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. 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.

EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS MOROC

Clubs and night life for a gay dience.

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 MARRAKH

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

GAY MARRAKH TRAVEL GUI

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

TOP GAY DTATNS: MOROC

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.

The book is a seri of semi-tobgraphil vigt, which clu sci-fi elements and scriptns of gay sex. Moroc was no stranger to gay and bisexual men the mid-20th century, cludg famoly out wrers Tman Capote, Tennsee Williams, and Gore Vidal.

Morn art and lerature clus queer figur such as lbian wrer Fatima Zahra Amzkar and gay wrer and filmmaker Abllah Taïa, whose award-wng novels Salvatn Army and My Moroc, among others, scribe his youth as a gay man nontg Moroc’s homophobia. The Jard Majorelle–Yv Sat Lrent Mansn, a fn of two mms, opened to the public 2017—one about Berber history and another dited to the gay signer’s work, both hoed the former rince of Lrent and his partner Pierre Bergé. Homosexualy the Islamic state—even same-sex kissg—remas illegal and punishable by f and up to three years prison.

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

In 2020, dozens of gay men were outed a untry-wi Grdr leak, leadg to an uptick bullyg, stigmatizatn, arrts, vlence, and blackmailg. I traveled to Moroc twice the past year as an out cis-genr whe gay man. I met other gay men livg there, some closeted, others who were out and felt safe enough to live their liv thentilly.

Grdr still works Moroc, but only wh a VPN (as many untri where homosexualy is illegal).