Rabat, Morocco (TMT)- Morocco’s Minister of Health El Houssaine Louardi has suggested that Morocco decriminalize homosexuality, a move that comes few days following the sparked controversy that saw two Femen members, followed shortly after by two Moroccan gays, kiss in front of Rabat’s Hassan Tower compound.
As a matter of fact, according to a story on today’s edition of the Moroccan daily Akhbar Al Yaoum, the Ministry of Health has recommended the decriminalization of homosexuality as it is facing difficulties in accessing this community when it comes to fighting, preventing, and healing various dangerous diseases like AIDS, rampant among the gay community in Morocco.
The Moroccan Ministry aims with the decriminalizing of homosexuality in the Moroccan penal code to allow a large number of the LGBT community to access needed health care without fear of stigma, or even being subject to lawsuits.
It remains to be seen whether this suggestion will be taken into account, especially in the wake of the witnessed public rage that followed the kissing in public of the two Femen members, including the two Moroccan gays, in front of the Hassan tower.
It is worth reminding that homosexuality is strictly forbidden in Morocco, with article 489 of the Moroccan Penal Code criminalizing “lewd or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex.”
Homosexuality acts in the North African kingdom can be punished with anything from 6 months to 3 years imprisonment and a fine of 120 to 1200 dirhams.
The Moroccan Times.
