Tag: gay tunisia
Tunisia political leader found guilty of having gay sex
Mounir Baatour, Liberal Party leader, has been found guilty of sodomy after being jailed for nearly three months, human rights groups criticize the ruling saying anti-gay legislation is used as a moral and political weapon Mounir Baatour, a political party leader and lawyer was found guilty of ‘sodomy’ with a 20 year old man. Baatour… Read more »
Tunisia jails rapper Weld El 15
Tunisian rap artist Weld El 15 lost his appeal on Thursday (June 13th). After three months on the run, the rapper hoped to overturn the conviction handed down for his song “Boulicia Kleb”. But the Ben Arous judge ruled that the rap song critical of the police merited a two-year prison sentence. “The sentence is… Read more »
Tunisian film tops Cannes
Tunis-born director Abdellatif Kechiche topped the 2013 Cannes festival “Palme d’Or” for his controversial film “La Vie d’Adele”. After receiving the award from US filmmaker Steven Spielberg at the French festival’s closing ceremony on Sunday (May 26th), Kechiche dedicated his win to youths of the Tunisian revolution, who “have the aspiration to be free, to… Read more »
French lesbian love story wins top prize at Cannes
An intimate lesbian love story by French director Abdellatif Kechiche won the top prize in Cannes on Sunday, and the film festival’s director immediately urged the large crowds protesting against gay marriage in Paris to go and see it. Cannes(Reuters) – “La Vie d’Adele – Chapitre 1 & 2” (Blue is the Warmest Colour) was… Read more »
Two men arrested under Tunisian sodomy law
Two men were arrested on sodomy charges in Tunisia on March 31, the news website Tunisia Live reported. Staff at the Sheraton Tunis Hotel reportedly discovered the men having sex and called security forces, which led to the arrest. The men were not identified in the Tunisia Live article, which added that “attempts to confirm… Read more »
Tunisia seeks path to unity (Non-gay background story)
The killing of opposition leader Chokri Belaid has triggered the greatest political crisis in the country since the revolution. Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali on Saturday (February 9th) threatened to quit, warning of chaos unless a new government were formed. Jebali said he would resign within days if key ministries held by fellow Islamists were… Read more »
Tunisia Battles Over Pulpits, and Revolt’s Legacy
Kairouan, Tunisia — On the Friday after Tunisia’s president fell, Mohamed al-Khelif mounted the pulpit of this city’s historic Grand Mosque to deliver a full-throttle attack on the country’s corrupt culture, to condemn its close ties with the West and to demand that a new constitution implement Shariah, or Islamic law. “They’ve slaughtered Islam!” thundered… Read more »
Maghreb bike tour supports human rights
A bike tour by young Tunisians, Libyans and Egyptians aims to gather signatures for a petition against torture and human rights abuses, Tunisia Live reported on Sunday (July 1st). According to Mosaique FM, the delegation is meeting government and civil society representatives across North Africa. The young activists have already obtained signatures from the Egyptian… Read more »
Tunisia rejects UNHRC recommendation to decriminalise gay sex
Tunisian minister of human rights, transitional justice and spokesman of the Tunisian government, Samir Dilou has rejected a recommendation by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to decriminalize same-sex acts, stating that sexual orientation was a western concept which is incompatible with Islam, Tunisian culture and traditions. In a press conference held in Tunis,… Read more »
‘Fake gay’ man accused of ripping up Korans in Tunisia
LGBT campaigners in Tunisia claim a man accused of desecrating the Koran in Tunisia is a pawn used by radical Muslims to discredit gays and secularists A Tunisian man has been exposed on the internet claiming to be gay and to be responsible for ripping up copies of the Muslim holy book, the Koran. The… Read more »
Tunisian gay magazine hacked
Yesterday, homophobic hackers attacked Tunisia’s main LGBT title, Gayday Magazine, taking over its email, Twitter and Facebook accounts. This comes after several previous attacks which hacked Gmail, Twitter and the main site, renaming account titles to ‘Garbage Day Magazine’. These attacks take place at the height of an international campaign of which Gayday Magazine is… Read more »
Former diplomat contests Tunisian leader on gay rights
A former top Tunisian diplomat has sent an unprecedented open letter to Rashid Ghannouchi, founder and spiritual leader of the Islamist Ennahda party that now rules post-revolutionary Tunisia, about the direction the country is going. Farhat Othaman is a researcher and author. He was a senior diplomat who was unfairly dismissed by the administration of… Read more »
Ex diplomat quizzes Tunisian leader on gay rights
Farhat Othman questions spiritual leader Rashid Ghannouchi over new Tunisia’s commitment to human and LGBT rights A former top Tunisian diplomat has sent an unprecedented open letter to Rashid Ghannouchi, founder and spiritual leader of the Islamist Ennahda party that now rules post-revolutionary Tunisia, about the direction the country is going. Farhat Othman is a… Read more »
Tunisian health ministry denounces female genital mutilation
In response to recent controversial comments by visiting Egyptian cleric Wajdi Ghonim, the Tunisian Ministry of Health on Wednesday (February 15th) issued a statement against the practice of female genital mutilation, Tunisia Live reported. The ministry also urged doctors to refuse to administer the treatment if requested. The group “Kolna Tunis” on Tuesday lodged a… Read more »
Tunisian journalists arrested over naked picture
Tunisian authorities on Wednesday (February 15th) arrested the director of Tunisian newspaper Ettounsia, as well as an editor and reporter, for publishing a picture of Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira and his partially-nude girlfriend, AFP reported. “Really, this is laughable,” a staff member of the Arabic-language daily said. “This photo has gone around the world… Read more »
Tunisian human rights minister: No free speech for gays
Tunisia’s human rights minister has attacked an online gay magazine while being interviewed by homophobic TV presenter Samir El-Wafi. Minister Samir Dilou said ‘freedom of expression has its limits’ and agreed homosexuality was a ‘perversion’ which needed to be ‘treated medically’. The attack on Gayday magazine, whose editor has faced religiously inspired hatred and death… Read more »
Tunisia Faces a Balancing Act of Democracy and Religion
Tunis — The insults were furious. “Infidel!” and “Apostate!” the religious protesters shouted at the two men who had come to the courthouse to show their support for a television director on trial on charges of blasphemy. Fists, then a head butt followed. When the scuffle ended a few minutes later, Tunisia, which much of… Read more »
Gay Tunisians speak out
The socio-political upheaval Tunisia has undergone since the revolution has led many Tunisians to question their place within this new society – Tunisia’s often undiscussed LGBT community is no exception to this uncertainty. While the fall of Ben Ali has afforded a greater space to free expression, not all Tunisian LGBT people are convinced things… Read more »
Tunisian Interior Minister in a gay sex video scandal
Tunisia’s new interior minister, Ali Larayedh, has been embroiled in controversy and scandal as a leaked video allegedly shows him in a gay prison sex video. This scandal has outraged and inflamed public opinion regarding homosexuality which was already jittery due to the electoral political tactics that used sexuality in order to discredit various opponents.… Read more »
Is life for gay people in Tunisia better since the revolution?
The revolution in Tunisia has brought with it many changes. Under the old regime, for example, being homosexual had always been a problem. So one year on from the fall of former president Ben Ali, RFI talked to a number of gay people in Tunisia, to see if things have changed for them. by Marine… Read more »
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