Morocco Debates LGBT Book in School Curriculum, Sparking Education Controversy

"In the Name of Catherine", a novel written by the French Julia Billet, a specialist in publications for young people (children and adolescents), and intended for 12-year-old schoolchildren, addresses homosexuality. Included in the curriculum at the Belgian school in Rabat, the book is causing heated controversy. Informed, the regional academy of the Ministry of National Education sent a commission of sworn French language teaching inspectors on Tuesday, January 30. Its mission: to get in touch with the managers of this private educational institution.

The mission was not easy. The teaching inspectors were turned away by the school authorities "on the pretext that the director is on a two-day mission in Casablanca," reports Barlamane. They will specify that the Belgian school "provides the program of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (French-speaking community of Belgium) and, as such, complies with the rules and standards of the French-speaking Belgian education system."

In April 2023, the Honoré de Balzac school in Kenitra, part of the French mission abroad, had fired a teacher accused of presenting information on homosexuality to her children.

In Morocco, homosexuality is a criminal offense prohibited by Article 489 of the Penal Code. This article stipulates: "is punished by imprisonment of six months to three years and a fine of 120 to 1000 dirhams, unless the act constitutes a more serious offense, anyone who commits an indecent or unnatural act with an individual of the same sex."