On October 6, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activists in Tunisia raised their voices and banners in the street, amid the hundreds of demonstrators who were peacefully protesting a draft law that would drastically limit criminal accountability for the use of force by the security forces. By a cruel irony, police attacked the demonstrators, including LGBT activists, and arbitrarily arrested them.
With opposition to political Islam as her hobbyhorse, the former RCD member and current president of the Free Destourian Party (PDL) Abir Moussi has become the figurehead of opposition to Ennahdha. This positioning on the political chessboard has resulted in a meteoric rise. But is she really opposed to the Islamists’ social vision? Is she really progressive?
Shams, an association that campaigns for the decriminalization of homosexuality in Tunisia, announced on its Facebook page that the marriage of a French man and Tunisian man in France had been recognized by the Tunisian government. The marriage was recorded on the Tunisian spouse’s birth certificate. Upon the announcement, several English-language media outlets relayed the information, tentatively qualifying Tunisia as “the first Arab country to recognize gay marriage”.
It was in “Antigone”, a tiny bookshop in Milan, where I met “Islam in Love” and “Allah Loves Equality”. The first is a novel, the second is a social media campaign. As you may tell from both titles, they have a lot in common.
I just can’t understand all this hatred and this reject of the LGBT community in Tunisia. Undoubtedly, as a heterosexual, I don’t share the same affinities and sexual orientations with the members of this community, but I can’t accept the insulting and degrading remarks directed at this minority.
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