RABAT and CAIRO: Morocco has launched the country’s first gay and lesbian magazine in an effort to allow the embattled community to have their voices heard. The magazine, Mithly, hit newsstands on April 1 and is the first LGBT magazine of its kind in North Africa and according to the publication, seeks to allow “lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals to express themselves.†Of course, the publication has already spurred anger and resentment among the country’s conservative commentators, who believe homosexuality is wrong. Mustapha Khalifi, editor of the conservative newspaper Attajdid, told Le Soir Belgigue that “homosexuality is against the future of humanity.†He called on the Moroccan government to “ban this publication that hurts the Islamic values of the Moroccan society.†The magazine, in response to the criticism, wrote that the Arab LGBT community hails from the “most politically and socially unstable areas of the world.†It added that anti-gay bashing and discrimination comes from “ignorance and misunderstanding.†Despite being Moroccan, the editorial team works from their base in Madrid, in order to avoid safety concerns. In Morocco, as in other Arab nations, gays and lesbians can face years in prison and heavy fines if they are discovered and arrested. In Cairo, a number of people from the LGBT community said the magazine “shows the world that there are gay people living in the Arab world and it is time for our voices to be heard.†One lesbian activist, who asked not to be named due to security concerns, told Bikya Masr that “Mithly will do wonders for publicizing and creating a society that begins to learn about our community. We are not asking for special rights. We are demanding being treated equally with tolerance.†At least 200 copies of the controversial magazine have been distributed in Morocco thus far and no legal action has yet been taken against the publishers or writers. Sheikh Mohamed el-Said, a more liberal Muslim leader in Rabat, said that while he does not believe gay people are “right in the mind of God, I don’t know much about their issues and believe that we should be open to reading and learning about others within our society.†He added that “too often do Muslim leaders become scared of what is different that we need to re-examine our own beliefs before we place judgments on an entire group of people.†*additional reporting in Cairo by Bikya Masr Staff **Visit Mithly’s website at mithly.net. BM
