'In our country',[says Jamal, a 30-year old from Marrakech], 'you really have to have a strong character if you're going to accept your homosexuality. You need to have some kind of reference points. Unfortunately, nowadays in Morocco, when you're 15 and you start feeling attracted to boys, you've had it. There are no reference points, no examples to follow, no gay visibility. You feel isolated...Nowadays nobody speaks out in public to defend homosexuals. Not even human rights organisations...' (Grottu, L.2005, 'Secrets and Lies','Gay in Morocco: A mini -dossier complied for the Moroccan weekly Telquel' 2005, Index on Censorship, Number 3-Attachmen 10.
'I don't have a problem expressing my sexuality normally and I've never considered leaving the country', says Wadie, a young homosexual from Tangier. Wadie is 21 and shares his life with a young man from the same town. As long as his acquaintances are not in the picture, there's nothing to stop him, says this young lad who feels that 'there's no need to change anything in Moroccan society' (Grotti, L.2005, 'Secrets and Lies','Gay in Morocco: A mini -dossier complied for the Moroccan weekly Telquel' 2005, Index on Censorship, Number 3-Attachmen 10.
I've got three faces', says Hassan, a 20-year old from Casablanca, ' one for my parents, one for my friends and one the one I see when I look in the mirror'...
The vast majority of homosexuals... prefer to live in secret... All those that we met say the same thing: if you want to live in Morocco as a homosexual, there's only one way: absolute discretion...'(Grotti, L.2005, 'Secrets and Lies','Gay in Morocco: A mini -dossier complied for the Moroccan weekly Telquel' 2005, Index on Censorship, Number 3-Attachmen 1.