After two teen girls were caught kissing in Morocco, they could be facing up to three years in jail and have homosexuality charges. On the roof of a house in Marrakech, the 16 and 17-year-olds were taken to jail by the police. On Friday, they will go to trial, so they are released right now. In the trial, they will be fighting Article 489 of the Moroccan Penal Code. Article 489 states that "any person who 'commits a lewd and unnatural act' with an individual of the same sex may be sentenced to six months to three years of imprisonment." Omar Arbib said that to defend the girls, they will have a lawyer.
Analysis/Synthesis: This article was created by CNN Arabic Staff, and it was posted on CNN on Thursday, November 3rd. CNN is a very trusted and factual site, so when I read this, I believe it. This article breaks my heart. Being a person who accepts diversity, Article 489 should not be in place. I wish this Article would be eliminated. Love is love, and I hope they would understand and accept the LGBT community. I am hoping these girls will not have to face any time in jail. They deserve to love whoever they want. On the article, it showed a picture of a shirt that had Article 489 crossed out and it said, "Love is NOT a crime". This is a very strong message being sent to Morocco. If the creators of this Article can love who they want, why shouldn't these girls be able to? In the United States, we grant that same-sex marriage is legal; I wish it was legal where these girls are too. This article is so upsetting to read, and I hope they will quickly act on accepting the LGBT community.
While marriage equality is a great and important step in the fight for LGBT equality, and was the necessary step for America in the past few years, Moroccan activist need to first focus on eliminating the laws that call for the imprisonment of LGBT people. Marriage equality will come in its own time in Morocco, but they must first lay the ground work for basic human rights.
ReplyDeleteI agree!
DeleteAgreeing with you Ava, this article broke my heart! Although the country that we i have in is making a lot of progress in accepting the LGBTQ+ community, a lot of us forget that in most countries around the world, people suffer horrible punishments for embracing their true selves.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that the United States no longer has laws against the LGBTQ+ community but it's so sad to hear about the oppression they face in other countries.
ReplyDeleteWe most certainly do still have laws against LGBT people in the US.
DeleteI agree that this is terrible, however, I am compelled to point out the dogma surrounding CNN that you so comfortably accept. CNN, like all news sources, chooses what to focus on, and details to omit. While it is likely credible on this issue, the argument that one can trust it because it is a credible source is fallacious. How does one know that it is a credible source?
ReplyDeleteMoving on - This is horrible, and Americans need to remember that other countries have horribly homophobic and transphobic laws in place, but that does not mean we can forget the homophobia and transphobia present in our own country. The fact that other countries have it worse is hardly a revelation, and it should not cause us to relax in the face of discrimination here.
-Cal Thompson
I can't believe this, they should not be getting in trouble for living their life they way they chose. I hope other countries change this and allow people to love whoever they choose.
ReplyDeleteWhile the points expressed above regarding the importance of recognizing how much farther America as well as the world need to adjust to eliminate the massive amounts of discrimination against LGBTQ+ people are valid, I believe the authors are missing our points (I had an article regarding a similar topic). YES, we did acknowledge that America is relatively accepting compared to other countries, but we also acknowledge that the inclusivity is still developing. Without any intentions of offending anyone, as I am merely an ally rather than a member of the LGBTQ+ community and I realize that I am not completely qualified to speak about such matters, I wish to point out that Ava and I realize that discrimination does still exist and I believe I can speak for the both of us in saying that we wish to act to remove the barriers set in society that prohibit LGBTQ+ as well as other minorities from being successful. We did not intend to glaze over the "bad" and advertise only the "good", we just wished to acknowledge that progress is beginning. My apologies again if my opinion offended anyone.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU, RACHEL!!
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