Our history is here

The founders of Tarikhona Hona aim to archive the lives of the LGBTQI+ community in Morocco.

Rabat. Image credit Christine Henske via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

In Morocco, same-sex relations are criminalized under Article 489 of the penal code and punishable by up to three years in prison. Although the law is enforced eratically, it has contributed to a dangerous climate of intolerance towards queer and trans people who are simultaneously vilified in the media and erased from the national narrative. In this context, the Moroccan feminist platform Tanit put out a call for volunteers in June 2021 to help construct an archive of the LGBTQI+ community in Morocco. Their project, Tarikhona Hona (Our History Is Here), focuses on four main themes: the queer movement in Morocco and its political context; queer issues in Moroccan media; LGBT people in Moroccan culture and art; and queer Moroccan folk culture. I spoke with two of the organizers about the inspiration behind Tarikhona Hona, the logistics involved, and its larger significance for queer people in Morocco.

About the Interviewee

Marwan Bensaid is a co-founder of Tanit Feminist Platform for Change.

L.A. is a co-founder of Tanit, as well as a sociologist-researcher, and expert in gender equality and sexual diversity.

About the Interviewer

Kristin Gee Hickman is an assistant professor of anthropology and international studies at the University of Mississippi. Her research examines the relationship between language and identity in contemporary Morocco.

Further Reading