Rabat- Moroccan authorities have reportedly arrested 20 homosexuals and transgender individuals in Agadir. Charges of “homosexuality” and “breach of public decency” were pressed against them.
According to the daily Moroccan Arabic newspaper Al Massae, the homosexuals were arrested and were brought before the Public Prosecutor, wearing women clothes, which they are reportedly accustomed to wearing on the streets.
After receiving several complaints from citizens who expressed their concerns about “the growing harassment and immoral behaviors of this minority” in public, the local authorities led a crackdown in the region, which resulted in the arrest of more than twenty LGBTs.
Citing the Moroccan daily, the LGBT rights group Aswat Collective posted on Thursday a statement denouncing the “homophobic campaign” led by local authorities in the city of Agadir.
“More than 20 homosexuals and transgender arrested in Agadir this week following the homophobic campaign targeting the LGBT community in Morocco,” Aswat said.
The arrest of these LGBT individuals comes amid the controversy caused by two topless French FEMEN activists, who took pictures of themselves kissing by the Hassan tower esplanade. The act that occurred on June 2 was accompanied with the slogan “In gay we trust” written on their bodies.
After the French FEMEN activists were arrested and deported, a Moroccan gay couple took to the same historic landmark in Rabat the following day to kiss one another before the camera.
In spite of the heated debate over the limits of “personal freedoms” in Morocco, the Moroccan penal code is still severe with regards to homosexual acts.
According to Article 489 of the country’s penal code, “anyone found guilty of carrying out “a deviant act with a person of the same sex” will be jailed for up to three years.
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