Rabat – Weekly magazine Maroc-Hebdo has come under fire after it ran a cover deemed by many as homophobic.
The cover depicts two men ‘intimately’ looking at each other in a swimming pool under the headline “Shall we burn homosexuals?”
“Sure it’s an individual right. But what about moral and religious values,” the sub-head added.
The magazine’s latest issue, which hit newsstands on Thursday, comes few days after the Health Ministry called on authorities to decriminalize homosexuality.
The Ministry recommended a policy change in order to reach as many members of the gay community with HIV and other STDs prevention services.
The survey has also found a difficulty in fighting against STDs among the gay community, mainly because of social stigma and criminalization of same-sex relationships.
The magazine’s cover has caused outrage on social media platforms, with many denouncing what they described as the magazine’s attempts to incite hatred.
This is not the first time the magazine runs a controversial front page cover. In 2012, it ran a front page dubbed as ‘racist’ on immigration from sub-Saharan countries with the title “the Black Peril.”
Many readers also accused the magazine of ‘stealing’ the photo it used for the controversial page. They claimed it was taken from a gay-friendly Mexican resort page on TripAdvisor.
This also comes one week after British rock band and Femen expressed support for the gay community in Morocco.
