How difficult is life for gays in Morocco ?

Question

I read a question in here about someone asking for gay places in Tangier - and there were lots of hate posts.

I wondered why... I have been to 25 countries and Morocco always seemed the most gay place ever, all over the place, everywhere, even straight guys showing they would not mind.

But the official stance is one of a century back... and all these gays did not really show, but not really hid either...

a very strange situation.

What exactly does it feel like to be gay in Morocco ? Are they very suppressed ? Is life becoming better for minorities or is it still very bad ?

Thanks a lot!

I know the difference between cultural habits and guys winking or trying to follow me to the hotel :) In that, Morocco is incredible... It happens ten times a day.

Answer 1

A good friend of mine lives in Tunis and is a gay man. While there might be profound differences between the two places, I am going to assume that they share a common view on homosexuality (sorry for making assumptions, but hey, sometimes they're useful).
According to him, it is much like you say. He's one of those guys that really can't help but broadcast his sexualtiy, really loudly. So he gets hit on all the time, and everywhere. On the bus, walking to work, at work. And not just by gay men, straight men come on to him just as often. Apparently its not seen negatively if you're not the one receiving.
On a related note: my sister in law had a long time boyfriend from Lebanon. When they used to visit they would go over into Syria sometimes. She said that although all the women were wearing various forms of traditional coverings, there were many plastic surgeons [er capita. Apparently a lot of the women get themselves modified to please their husbands tastes.
Kind of says something about appearances in the arabic world doesn't it?
Have a good one.

Answer 2

Keep it indoors and hidden and they'll be fine.
I also want to say that I like what Mormex said about kissing on the cheek and holding hands. Most Muslims, especially Arabs, don't have a complex about their sexuality and therefore don't see physical contact like this as a reason to question their being straight or not.
This love shared between brothers and between sisters in Islam is one thing that initially attracted me to Islam before I converted.

Answer 3

Can you define hate please? you reminded me of Bush when he said : " if you are not with us you are against us".
Morocco is one of the most tolerant countries in this planet, but it doesn't mean that it's OK to come in our backyard and stain it with your perversion, that is unacceptable, if you are gay it's fine with us, I'll write it again it's fine, as long as you do whatever you do behind closed doors, because everyone is free and entitled to mold his private life as he/she wishes, but when you try to impose your "gayness" on us as a community and talk about it as if it's "normal" that's when you should be stopped, because your actions and choices have no room in our society that has centuries of written and unwritten laws and moral standards.
As far as "morocco seemed the most gay ever" you are right when you said it "seemed" because, appearances might be deceitful sometimes, when you see buddies kiss each other on the cheeks when they meet, and hold hands when they walk, hug etc..that's tradition, it means we are still pure, we have no complexes or sickness that makes us unsure about our gender.

Answer 4

Yeah, what you see as gay probably isn't gay at all. It's probably just your cultural misunderstanding.

EDIT: In that case they just want your MONEY they are no better than the guys who look to marry foreign girls for papers.