An Instagram influencer from Morocco has initiated a menacing trend. A country where homosexuality is considered a crime, she encouraged her followers to use gay dating apps to out them.
Who is this influencer?
Also known by Sofia Talouni, Naoufal Moussa is a tranwoman based out of Turkey. She is a beauty influencer whose nightly Instagram Live series was watched by more than 100,000 people.
As she went live on April 13, speaking in Arabic (Moroccan), she encouraged all the homophobic and transphobic women to download gay dating applications, such as Grindr, with pictures of men. Just to out gay men living in their areas or communities.
Image Courtesy: Queerty
Instagram deleted her account on the following Friday.
“These apps will show you the people who are near to you. 100 meters, 200 meters, even just one meter, just next to you in the living room,” Moussa said in the video, Insider recorded. “Since everyone is together at home, it could show you your husband in your bedroom, it could show you your son who might be in the bathroom.”
Morocco has banned same sex relationships. It is a punishable offence with upto three years in jail. More concerning with men who are gay, it is the fear of physical danger, as a result of being outed in an extremely conservative and religious society.
Consequences of her stupidity were:
Following Taoni’s video, a large number of straight women and men started creating fake profiles. And spreading of the information, of gay or queer males, they found on these applications. There have been reported suicides and violence as well. However, local LGBTQ+ groups were swift enough to put a stop to this.
LGBTQIA+ activists such as Adam Eli and a Moroccan feminist and LGBTQ advocacy organization called Nassawiyat took quick steps. Furthermore, they immediately asked for the removal of this influencer’s account from Instagram.
“We are facing a special case where a queer person that belongs to the community in a way is the one who made people in danger,” a representative for Nassawiyat wrote in an email, told Insider.
Other members of the Moroccan LGBTQ community have reached out to dating apps, to control this madness. “We were shocked when we were contacted by the LGBT group in Morocco,” Jens Schmidt, said to Insider. Jens Schmidt is the CEO and founder of PlanetRomeo, a gay men dating application. “We took immediate action by sending a security message to all our 41,000 users in Morocco. We blocked all profiles created from the time this person addressed her users, and contacted Facebook to have the group page taken offline,” Schmidt said. “Through our work and our personal experience, we are aware that so many more people face similar threats in numerous countries.”
Gay men in Morocco, scared for their lives:
A Moroccan gay 19 year old man, said to Insider that his pictures are currently doing the rounds online. However, they did not reach his family yet. “I’m not just afraid,” he told to Insider. “I’m certain that I will be kicked out immediately. Or worse, beaten up.”
“It is a witch hunt,” said a gay man who’s 20, to Insider. His pictures are also doing the rounds on social media platforms such as Facebook. He is waiting with his heart in the throat, for his folks to find the pictures. He told he wished his parents would just find them already, so he can “defend himself” with “lies” that he’s already prepared. “I’m living in constant fright,” he added.
Eddine is an openly gay Instagram influencer Moroccan. He is 23 and lives in Rabat. Although his parents have started to respect him, since he decided to come out three years ago, he does not want his buddies to endure this pain.
“I’m very worried and I’m very scared. I really experienced that moment when my parents knew. And left my home because I didn’t feel good,” he said to Insider
Eddine also had asked for his last name to be kept anonymous. He said that as a popular influencer on Instagram, he feels like it’s his duty as a to speak for his community, as an openly gay man. “The majority of people cannot talk,” he said.
Eddine and his friends from the community- they are the ones who reached out to dating apps regarding this chaos.
This is not the first time, for such chaos to occur against gay men:
“The law inherently discriminates against LGBTQ people, so it can only be an incubator for this type of abuse,” Ahmed Benchemsi said to insider. “Homophobic people feel empowered because the law is on their side.” Ahmed Benchemsi is director of advocacy and communications for the Human Rights Watch, North Africa and Middle East division.
Hence, being a gay man in Morocco is life threateningly dangerous. Furthermore, many cases of violence against the community people have occured in the past. A group of cis men broke into a house, abused two gay men. They dragged these two naked onto the streets, the Human Rights Watch recorded. As a response, the Moroccan justice first pressed charges against the victims, before the group of men.
