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Gay Moroccan writer
tackles homophobia
14 June 2009-
Morocco- A soft-spoken slip of a young man, Abdellah Taia hardly looks
the part of an iconoclast. But as Morocco's first high-profile, openly
gay man, Taia has made it his mission to win acceptance for homosexuals
throughout the Muslim world.
Taia has defied
Moroccan society's don't-ask, don't-tell attitude toward homosexuality
-- and prison sentences that are still on the books in the North African
kingdom -- to write five autobiographical novels about growing up poor
and gay in the northern coastal city of Sale.
The novels, peppered
with sexually explicit passages, have catapulted him to fame in his
native country and made him the de-facto poster child of its budding gay
rights movement.
His work has sparked harsh criticism. Taia said some
outraged critics have called on him to renounce Moroccan citizenship so
as "not to bring shame" on the country. It's also alienated him from his
parents and eight siblings, who figure extensively in the books and
complain that Taia has publicly humiliated them. But the 35-year-old
author insists he's never been cowed by fallout from his work.
"When I write, I feel
a sense of urgency, as if my life depended on it," Taia said in an
interview in Paris, where he has lived for almost a decade. "When I
first started writing, it never occurred to me to invent some fictional
character and talk about made-up things."
His latest novel, "L'armee
du Salut," or "Salvation Army," focuses on his decision to move to
Europe. An English translation recently came out in the United States,
with an introduction by author Edmund White.
Though Taia immigrated
legally -- he was awarded a scholarship to study in Switzerland -- his
experiences in Geneva paralleled those of thousands Moroccans living in
Europe without papers.
After his older Swiss
lover who was supposed to pick him up at the Geneva airport never shows
up, a penniless Taia seeks refuge at the Salvation Army, where he lives
among illegal immigrants from throughout the developing world.
In the book, he also
talks about his blooming sexuality, describing teenage trysts in the
back of dark movie theaters and flings with European tourists looking
for more than sun on their Moroccan holidays.
Like nearly all Arab
countries, Morocco considers homosexual relations a crime, punishable by
fines and prison sentences of six months to three years. Such penalties
are rarely applied, though, and in practice, Morocco has a long history
of leniency toward homosexuality and other practices forbidden by Islam.
Asked whether he sees himself as
courageous, Taia said, "The most difficult thing was to work up the
courage to pick up the pen and write for the first time." |
