Rabat – The latest LGBTQ+ Travel Safety Index by Asher & Lyric has ranked Morocco as the 30th most unsafe country worldwide for LGBTQ+ travelers, a reflection of the North African country’s strict laws and policies against the LGBTQ+ community.
The Moroccan penal code heavily punishes premarital and extramarital relationships and sexual orientations that do not conform to the Moroccan and Islamic context. According to Article 489 of Morocco’s penal code, same-sex relations are punished by imprisonment from six months to three years and a fine up to MAD 11,132 ($1200).
Despite Morocco’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws, the North African country “only sporadically enforces its anti-LGBTQ+ law and does not enforce it in resort towns like Marrakech,” the report said.
Last month, American comedian and television host Ellen DeGeneres was spotted in Marrakech alongside her wife Portia de Rossi. The lesbian couple was seen walking hand-in-hand through the streets of the medina in Marrakech.
“Morocco even has an LGBTQ+ rights group and is largely viewed as tolerant,” the report added.
The LGBTQ+ Travel Safety Index has ranked Nigeria as the most unsafe country on the African continent and the second most dangerous country for LGBTQ+ worldwide after Brunei.
Read also: US Embassy in Morocco Celebrates LGBTQ+ Pride Month
Kuwait was ranked the third most unsafe country for the LGBTQ+ community in the world, followed by Saudi Arabia in the fourth spot.
The ranking included 203 countries and examined LGBTQ+ rights in each one of them according to 10 ranking factors.
The factors include “legalized same-sex marriage, worker protection, protection against discrimination, criminalization of violence, trans murder rates, illegal same-sex relationships, transgender legal identity laws, propaganda/morality laws,” and whether or not the country is a “good place to live.”
According to the index, Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands, Malta, and Portugal are, respectively, the safest vacation destinations for LGBTQ+ travelers.
As of today, a total of 30 countries have legalized same-sex marriage, with Switzerland joining in July 2022.
LGBTQ+ in Morocco
Even though Morocco is a Muslim and conservative country where homosexuality is strictly forbidden, activists and organizations have made several attempts to normalize and decriminalize same-sex relations and fight for LGBTQ+ rights in the country.
In January 2022, young Moroccan writer Fatima Zahra Amzkar launched her novel “Lesbian Diaries,” which focuses on the struggles the LGBTQ+ community faces within conservative Moroccan society.
The novel, written in Arabic, tells the story of Tytyma, a lesbian woman torn between her sexual identity, self-doubt, and the pressure of her family and society that rejects homosexuality. She aims to break free from the stigma attached to her identity and accept her reality as a lesbian.
Earlier this month, Morocco’s Ministry of Culture announced that the “Lesbian Diaries” novel will not be featured at Rabat’s International Book Fair 2022, one day before the book fair started. The decision came following a heated online campaign against the presence of the book and its author at the fair.
In spite of calls from local and international activists and organizations to normalize and decriminalize same-sex relations in Morocco, the government has rejected the idea. No Moroccan political party has voiced support for LGBTQ+ rights.
Morocco’s civil society, however, continues fighting for LGBTQ+ rights, calling for concrete laws that protect and prevent violence against minorities in the country.
The LGBTQ+ community across the world is currently celebrating pride month, an annual event that takes place during the month of June. The celebration commemorates the years of struggle in the ongoing pursuit of LGBTQ+ rights.
Read also: Moroccan LGBTQ+ Youth Respond to Homophobia
