Dozens of Gay Men Are Outed in Morocco as Photos Are Spread Online
PARIS
— At least 50 to 100 gay men were outed in Morocco over the last two
weeks, rights activists say, after the men were identified on
location-based meeting apps while sheltering at home amid a coronavirus lockdown.
In
at least three cases, men were kicked out of their houses, L.G.B.T.Q.
activists said. In interviews, many others in the country said they had
been blackmailed and threatened, and thousands fear that their photos
will be spread on social media.
“Here
I am just waiting for my death sentence,” said a young man whose photos
were leaked online and who spoke anonymously for fear of being
attacked. “I’m frustrated and scared.”
In
Morocco, a North African kingdom where homosexuality and sex outside
marriage are crimes, gay people are painfully accustomed to the feelings
of peril and rejection, and many keep their sexual identities under
wraps.
Now,
their cover has been blown in a way that would be criminal in most
Western societies, rights advocates say. Yet they have no legal
recourse.
“Forcibly
outing people is not just an obvious violation of their right to
privacy,” said Ahmed Benchemsi, the communications director for the
Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. “When
wrapped in incitement to hate and calls to violence based on sexual
orientation, it’s also a crime.”
“A
legal system respectful of universal rights would empower victims to
press charges,” he said. “But in Morocco, same-sex behavior is also
criminalized, so victims could find themselves trapped in a tragic
catch-22 situation.”
What makes this episode particularly painful, gay leaders say, is that it was ignited by someone who had also been singled out.
On
April 13, a Moroccan transgender Instagram personality based in
Istanbul, Naoufal Moussa or Sofia Talouni, was insulted about her sexual
orientation. In a rage, she released a profanity-laced video
encouraging women to download the location-based meeting apps, sites
like apps like Grindr and Planet Romeo, which are usually used by gay
men.
In
subsequent videos, she said her aim was to reveal the hypocrisy of
Moroccan society by showing her attackers how many gay men were living
in their vicinity, perhaps even in their own homes.
Many
people followed Ms. Moussa’s lead and created fake accounts on the apps
to gather photos of gay men, which they then posted on private and
public Facebook pages, setting off the homophobic attacks.
The attacks ignited a firestorm of criticism, both of Ms. Moussa and of Morocco’s discriminatory laws.
You can read the rest of the story on the New York Times.