Controversial LGBTQ Novel Pulled from Moroccan Book Fair Amid Protests

Fatima Zahra Amzkar’s "Lesbian Diaries" will not be presented at the 2022 Rabat International Book Fair, the Ministry of Culture announced. In the run-up to the event, a campaign opposing the presence of the novel and its author was launched and went viral on social media. The novelist had promised a signing session at the fair, which certainly did not please many Moroccan internet users. Through hashtags such as #NoToHomosexuality, they called for a boycott of the fair. According to opponents of the promotion of homosexuality, the book causes "moral degradation". To support their argument, they cite Moroccan laws, particularly Article 489 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes "obscene or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex". Same-sex relationships are punishable by long prison sentences and fines.

"The state has decided to take the side of people living in darkness and intolerance," Fatima Zahra Amzkar reacted in an interview with Morocco World News. She also denounces a coordinated attack against her person. "Every day, I receive insults and death threats, I feel a serious threat to my life".