Inspired Davids Stand Against Stupefied Goliaths--Gay Activism in the 21st Century

It takes great courage to confront the brick wall of systemic homophobia in Morocco.

By Richard Ammon
GlobalGayz.com
May 28, 2010

Read this News Report (http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/05/27/feature-03) or read the Previous Blog, May 27, on this site (http://globalgayz.blogspot.com/2010/05/courageous-gay-magazine-mithly-debuts.html) about a gay magazine published for Moroccan gay people and distributed in major cities in Morocco. A daring first.

Even if the publishers and activists are in Madrid, understandably, this action takes great courage to confront the brick wall of systemic homophobia in Morocco.

Despite criminal threats and social outrage this magazine and the gay Morrocan organization Kif Kif (English version) are undaunted because they see the rightness of the 'cause' for freedom of expression and the rightness of LGBT people to declare their equal presence.

The magazine does not advocate action or try to 'recruit' straights to be gay. No pornography, no criticism of the King, no call for a Pride festival.

The rightness of the cause comes from politics but from the objective certainty--the nature--of being homosexually attracted to a same-sex other. Unlike religion and politics that have their bases in opinion, myth, imagined stories, alleged traditional values, that is, 'invented truths' for the sake of conformity and power control, homosexuality is a universal truth of nature that is not imagined or derived from opinion. It is a verity of the natural world like speech, upright walking or sight.

With the certainty of this inherent fact, LGBT activists in many countries are now taking action to demand the world listen to this 'natural selection' phenomenon; homosexuality as a innate variant of humanness that is no more harmful or deviant than left-handedness.

It is the social crime of homophobia that creates the harm, the violence, the corruption of young minds, the blindness of clergy, the bigotry of politicians.

The 21st century is becoming a watershed century for outing the truth of sexual orientation as it slowly drills through unexamined dense traditions and unchallenged social ignorance that pervade most countries around the world.

Activists will be harmed and maimed or worse in the tortured process of coming further out in the streets and in the media. Innocent non-activist gay people (LGBT people) will continue to be bashed and killed because of gossip or truth about their 'homophillia' (attraction to the same gender).

The list of real heroes and the battalions of Pride marchers, writers, artists, parents-and-families of gays, out gay politicians, actors, musicians and countless small gay organizations in countries like Morocco, Belarus, Turkey, Malawi, Uganda, Nepal, Iceland, Honduras--are all filled with the inner light and force of their inherent sexual truths.

They deeply feel the cause of holding that light up to lead the way for the present and next generations of young and not-young LGBT citizens who know and love their own gay truth and want a better life beyond a suffocating and duplicitous closet.

Courage, bravery, endurance, resolution, spirit, spunk. Such is the food of these heroic legions, these inspired Davids against stupefied Goliaths.

This weekend we will see another battle between these enemies as Moscow gays stage a peaceful Pride event against the prohibition from the mayor of Moscow. As in the past five years the day promises to be injurious and hopefully not too bloody. Stay tuned.

Courageous Gay Magazine 'Mithly' Debuts in Morocco

Despite Islamist hostility and a restrictive legal climate, homosexuals in Morocco are publishing a magazine that covers issues in their community and beyond.

Posted by Richard Ammon
GlobalGayz.com

May 27, 2010

By Imane Belhaj
Magharebia News
Casablanca

[mithly.net] Magazine Mithly (Gay) published its first edition in April but has not applied for a government li

In a move that probes the limits of freedom of expression in Morocco, a group of gays and lesbians is working to raise their community's profile by publishing a trail-blazing magazine.

The gay organisation Kif Kif (We are Similar) released a limited number of copies of the first edition of Mithly (Gay) in April, without applying for a government licence that they claim would have been denied.

"We didn't submit a formal application; we knew it would be rejected," Mithly staff member Karim S., who asked that his last name be withheld to protect his privacy, told Magharebia.

"Before, all of us were banned--not to mention the magazine", said the journalist. "But we're aware that we need more struggle, persistence and time."

"Only 200 copies of the first edition were released in April to a number of interested people and advocates for freedom of intellectual, ideological and sexual choices," he added. "Currently, it's not at news kiosks, though we can offer it online pending a suitable form for print distribution."

Moroccan laws make homosexuality a crime punishable by six months to three years imprisonment and a fine, Samir Bergachi, who founded Kif Kif in 2004, told Afrik.com on May 4th. The country's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and intersex people, whose rights Kif Kif was set up to protect, also face widespread hostility from Islamists.

A Ministry of Communication source who asked to remain anonymous told Magharebia that the ministry had not received a license application for Mithly.

The source also said that refusing to give a distribution license to a magazine for gays and lesbians does not constitute any breach of law or suppression of the right to expression, but the law bans any publication that violates public ethics and morals.

Despite the obstacles, Kif Kif is determined to press on, Samir S. said. If the magazine does not obtain official permission to go to print, the staff will resort to online publishing.

For now, Mithly has been distributed in a quasi-secret fashion in northern cities in particular, and does not appear at kiosks in major cities such as Casablanca or Rabat.

Although it is a magazine for all gay Moroccans and Arabs, Samir S. said, Mithly will carry news, cultural items, literary works and interviews with famous figures that interest a wide audience.

Despite such plans for bridge-building, Mithly is already encountering public opposition.

The personal liberty of homosexuals is their own affair, but to publicly display their sexual orientation threatens society's values, Mustapha Khalfi, a member of the Islamist-leaning Justice and Development Party, told the local press last week.

Another Islamist, Mohammed Najid, told the press that preventing Mithly from being issued may "protect" gays and lesbians, since no one can predict society's reaction to the new publication.

A student contacted by Magharebia, Fouad Noune, said Mithly was more dangerous than a mere magazine. "It'll be a source of ideas inviting moral disintegration and licentiousness, and our society today is infested with a lot of deviance and doesn't need more," said Noune.

But another student, Bouchra Hanine, told Magharebia: "You can't talk about freedom of expression in Morocco if we're denying a group of people the right to express their suffering and problems. Why not open the door to them in order to learn about their perspectives and ideas and what pushed them toward this different orientation, so we can understand them before making pre-judgments?"