Ok, I’m sure we all know that homosexuality is illegal in Morocco and many of us in the LGBT community and our many straight supporters fight against these barbaric laws not just in America but also around the world. We do this in many ways:
Maybe we blog all over the Internet to call attention to these barbaric laws.
Maybe we donate funds to international LGBT organizations such as International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Youth and Student Organization (IGLYO), Gay Human Rights and many others.
Perhaps we donate to organizations like All Out which commonly starts petitions to fight injustices across the world.
Follow below the orange fold for more.
Well there is a new petition All Out has started to bring international attention to bear against the arrest and likely 3 year imprisonment of two Moroccan gay men.
Imagine: 3 years in prison just for being gay. That's what could happen to Lahcen and Mohsine, two Moroccan gay men. They were arrested while taking a photo next to a monument in Rabat. The police said they were violating "public modesty" by standing too close together.
Standing too close together, seriously even in Morocco that is hard to believe!!
Link to Petition, please sign
Please sign the petition sponsored by All Out. International pressure has been known to turn the tide and get people released and charges dropped.
Please pass this on to as many as you can. This could well make a difference for these 2 men and over time help turn the tide so that countries like Morocco starts changing these barbaric laws.
Email other supporters and ask them to sign the petition
Post on your Facebook wall and ask everyone who agrees to also sign the petition
Tweet and ask others to sign using the hashtag #Free_Lahcen_And_Mohsine and/or #Love_is_not_a_crime
Again, the link to petition
UPDATE: some have expressed confusion over the title of this diary and feel that it makes it sound like the officer somehow figured out these men are gay based on them standing close together. That is not at all what I am trying to say.
The title of the diary stems from what I reported in blockquote up above. The police had stated that these two men violated public modesty by standing too closely together. The only report I found was that they were arrested because of this public modesty thing.
I strongly suspect that the officer had other knowledge that these men are gay (nothing to do with them standing next to each other) and invented this public modesty thing as an excuse to arrest them. (Or perhaps Maybe they shared a quick kiss or something but that is pure conjecture because I cannot find any indication of that anywhere)
Hopefully that clarifies a little.
Either way I think we can all agree that we should speak out against the arrest of others (no matter what country it is in) simply for being LGBT.