In Morocco, like in 32 other African countries, homosexuality is ‘illegal’ with a maximum prison penalty of 3 years. Article 483 of the Penal Code criminalises acts or gestures of public obscenity and indecency. In 2015, two men were prosecuted under this law. In 2018, the government charged 170 individuals in the country with “homosexuality”.
Naofal Moussa, also known as Sofia Talouni, is a trans woman based in Turkey who—before Instagram took down her verified account on Friday—had over 627,000 Instagram followers. According to Pink News, On Monday, she used her nightly Instagram live session—watched by about 100,000 people—to encourage the straight women amongst her followers to use gay dating apps and use pictures of men to find out which men in their lives are gay.
“These apps will show you the people who are near to you. 100 meters, 200 meters, even just one meter, just next to you in the living room,” Moussa said in her video. “Since everyone is together at home, it could show you your husband in your bedroom, it could show you your son who might be in the bathroom”. Although she spoke Moroccan Arabic, a Business Insider reporter, Irene Jiang translated the video in their report.
This video has led to homophobic attacks in Morocco.
Some gay men in Morocco, who spoke to Business Insider and chose to remain anonymous said that many people are using the apps to ‘out’ men in their community. And in some cases, they say, men are being kicked out of their homes in the midst of the pandemic.
In the days since Moussa’s video was posted, Business Insider reports that Facebook groups have been used to circulate pictures of the gay men on these apps, exposing them to humiliation and danger. One man said that had he not quickly deleted his pictures from Grindr, he would be “in a very dangerous situation right now.”
Another gay Moroccan man, who is 19, said that his photos are currently circulating online but haven’t reached his family yet. “I’m not just afraid,” he said. “I’m certain that I will be kicked out immediately. Or worse, beaten up.”
“The law inherently discriminates against LGBTQ people, so it can only be an incubator for this type of abuse. Homophobic people feel empowered because the law is on their side.” Ahmed Benchemsi, the communications and advocacy director for the Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division told Business Insider.
But that wasn’t all that Naofal Moussa did.
In an Instagram Live which she did after the first, she held up her phone and showed screenshots her followers had taken of gay men’s dating app profiles.
Many others who have been outed in the process have withdrawn from their social media platforms.
“She has ruined the lives of so many people just in the past four days,” a gay man who lives in Casablanca tells Pink News. He knows at least 40 gay men who were exposed and have been kicked out of their homes in Casablanca alone, as a result of Moussa’s videos.
