We should not expect the government to make the first move.
“We should make the change happen by ourselves. “Although the political situations are catastrophic in some Arab countries, we should not forget about that hope, that light,” Taïa says. The Arab Spring also gave Moroccan people hope for a more progressive future. There are also some Arab associations, like Aswat Collective in Morocco and Shams in Tunisia, doing brave work to change the mentality and politics surrounding homosexuality in the Arab world. While he may have found a bit of freedom as a gay man, a new battle began: avoiding stereotypes and racism in a world where Islamophobia is seemingly at a peak.Īs for the future of LBGTQ youths in Morocco, Taïa says journalists are now treating the gay community with respect, using less discriminatory and insulting language. But Taïa’s fight continued, even in France.
His books helped him to see the world and to dare to be critical about Morocco, France - anywhere. Taïa moved to Paris and began to write freely about his sexuality, politics, hate, and discrimination in many forms. “Beyond the accepted homophobia that reigns in this country, it is possible for a young gay man, if he’s lucky, to have friends who could understand him and support him. “ must wait until the day where he is free, independent, so that he can at least say it to his parents, to his family, without suffering serious consequences,” he says. They were shocked, and out of fear they told him not to talk about it, Taïa recalls, adding that he understood where they were coming from. In Morocco, Taïa explains, because his family is poor, he believed coming out publicly would put his family at risk. He describes his own experience of coming out as dangerous, not only for him but for his family. For me, the worst part of that is that gay people can’t live safely in Morocco - definitely they can’t.”Īnd even though Youssef represents a younger, more open-minded generation of Morocco, Taïa still wouldn’t advise a young gay man to come out in a country where homosexuality is still considered a crime. But in his smaller, coastal town of Agadir, Youssef says, “You won’t see gay people in the streets…. He described a downtown scene in Marrakech, where gay men whom he says are prostitutes come out at night. Youssef*, a 26-year-old man from Agadir, Morocco, who considers himself progressive after completing his education in Paris, shared his perception of the treatment of the gay community in his home country.
It is learning how to “play with society” that determines whether or not you can get away with bei. Cinema always helped him, specifically Egyptian film.Īccording to Taïa, there is an underground gay community in Morocco, even one that is not so discreet. The mom finished by letting me know how the children would remind her when she needed to adjust how she was thinking about something.Taïa says he understood that he needed to become smarter than the world that surrounded him, and he started to lie and to manipulate others in order to get by. These children were all under the age of 12, and had many uses for The Secret – including their sports and friends at school. I began asking them questions about how they used the ideas. I was flabbergasted!! There I was sitting with young experts in The Secret! The mom went on to tell me that her children had been raised on The Secret, and that she had even read it to them in the womb. She told me that one of her children had spied me reading The Secret. In a few minutes they did return, and we struck up a pleasant conversation. I reached out to the Universe and asked for a second chance to love and appreciate them. As I read, I realized that I had not been sending love and gratitude toward these individuals.
I spent the first 15 minutes or so feeling badly that the hot tub was taken, and couldn’t the kids use the pool instead? I finally just sandwiched myself into the hot tub and began reading.Īfter a few moments, the kids did leave for the other pool. I teach theatre to kids on a daily basis, and I look forward to some quiet moments in the hot tub to read The Secret.
To feel free he takes long vacations to Thailand, where he has a boyfriend, and spends weekends. Upon arriving, a number of people were using the pool – including a group of kids in the hot tub. Samir, like many gay men in the Arab world, guards his sexual orientation with a paranoid secrecy. Being homeschoolers, we are on a later schedule, and love having the pool to ourselves in the evening. We piled in the car around 9:30 PM for our usual swim at the local hotel.