[infopop]

There's a new story posted yesterday in the Huffington Post by Austin Blake Mullins called Cruising the Kashbah about the gay scene in Algiers. It's a medium-length read but truly fascinating for the insight into another culture and how gay men (or men seeking men) live and operate in this part of the world quite different from the West.

I'll pick up only two paragraphs here and urge you to click through and read the rest for yourself:

In the various Arab cities I've visited over the years, the saying, "We don't have a problem with men who have sex with men, but we don't accept the gay life," is common. This is a somewhat clearly drawn line, since the vestiges of what many would consider a gay lifestyle -- clubs, bars, bathhouses and theatrical parades filled with costumed go-go dancers -- are non-existent from Rabat to Beirut, save in Tel Aviv. Yet, walking down the streets in Algiers provided me endless opportunities to engage with horny young men.

However, these young men do not identify with an organized or vocal gay community, simply for the fact that such a faction does not exist. This is due largely to the laws of the deep state, le pouvior, which condemn and punish homosexuality in Articles 333 and 338 of the Penal Code, with violators subject to fines and imprisonment. Though persecution occurs, it is generally understood to be a familial and not legal matter. Moreover, the importance of family, marriage, and children remain the largest obstacle to openness in the African city. These foundational elements reinforce the marginalization of the queer community by casting them as outsiders bent on disrupting and destroying society. Algeria's queer scene is certainly alive, but is muted and suppressed. There are no civil rights or legal protections and little-to-no safe private space for meeting. Therefore, gay men occupy the only place where they can find other like-minded men: the street.

Some of this reminds me just a little of the 1960s Morocco scenes in the Joe Orton biography Prick Up Your Ears as shown in the 1987 movie of the same name. The difference, if there is there is one, is that Joe Orton's story is really about the British Joe Orton, while the HuffPo article is more descriptive and focused on the lives of men in North Africa.

I hope that KewlDewd66 will see this and add some comments. I know he's described his life experience is from the Eastern Med region and also his college-age group. There seem to be cultural commonalities.

~ Bob