Influencer says ‘detransition’ made her straight, male and anti-gay
Newly transphobic influencer inspires hate speech in Morocco, where gay sex is illegal.
Moroccan transgender influencer Sofia Taloni claims to have “detransitioned” back to being a straight man and now goes by the birth name of Naoufal Moussa. That announcement triggered a wave of transphobic and homophobic hate speech in Morocco, where homosexual activity is illegal.
Abdellah Taia, a Moroccan filmmaker and writer, discussed the recent events and Morocco’s transphobia in the commentary below, which appeared in The Washington Post with the headline “Detransition, maybe”.
COMMENTARY
A Moroccan influencer announced he was no longer transgender. What did it mean?
By Abdellah Taia
In mid-January, the scandalous and hugely popular Moroccan transgender influencer Sofia Taloni announced to the shock of her roughly 800,000 followers that his illustrious days as a woman had come to an end. Wearing boxy, dark sunglasses and draped in a Moroccan flag, his hair cut short, Taloni explained that he had been mistaken all these years and would be returning to his true path as a biological man with his birth name of Naoufal Moussa.
Speaking from the plastic surgery clinic that he owns in Turkey, Moussa, who first shot to fame via a series of lusty videos, addressed his followers: “I’ve already had my breasts removed. I want to be a good example for others. I’m ready to offer free help to Moroccan transgender people who, like me, want to become men again.”
Videos of Moussa, newly dressed as a man, talking with a man’s voice rather than the higher pitch he used to use, went viral in Morocco. Alternating between crying and laughing, he peppered his explanation of his detransitioning with the Arabic words “taouba,” which means repentance, and “hidaya,” which evokes a return to righteousness. Soon, both words began trending on social media platforms throughout the Arab world.
Two months later, the trend is going strong.
Morocco, a majority-Muslim country that has criminalized homosexuality, has been gripped by transphobic fever. As if playing out a scene from the Bible’s parable of the prodigal son, many conservative Moroccans warmly congratulated Moussa on his dramatic conversion, expressed happiness for him, and sent him messages of support and love. Bravo, they said, this is what it means to be a Moroccan man. Other social media stars featured Moussa on their platforms and helped him spread his conversion story. They also hosted messages of hate: Being transgender is wrong; being transgender is against nature; being transgender is against Allah. The message was clear: For those of you on the cursed path, hurry up and do your “taouba.” Others were more blunt in their assessment of trans people: May they burn in hell.
Faced with this tsunami of rage, members of the LGBTQ+ community in Morocco have been rattled to the core.
This was not the first time Moussa endangered the lives of people with nonconventional genders. In 2020, while living as a trans woman in Turkey, the influencer encouraged hundreds of thousands of mostly female followers to create fake accounts on gay dating sites so that they could see how many men use these platforms, including their “husbands and brothers.” At the time, Moussa defended these actions by suggesting that the goal was to call out hypocrisy in Moroccan society by showing people how many men were secretly gay. Though Moussa eventually apologized for the campaign, the damage was done. The international watchdog Human Rights Watch has documented cases of suicide, evictions and death threats born of the publicity-baiting campaign.
Of course, Moussa is a symptom of a much deeper problem. Article 489 of the 1962 Moroccan penal code criminalizes “lewd or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex,” punishable by imprisonment. What this translates to is periodic crackdowns on those suspected of engaging in homosexual acts, trans Moroccans among them. In November 2022, a trans woman was beaten, nearly to the point of death, by thugs in the seaside [city] of Tangier. In 2016, two young girls were arrested in Marrakesh after a photo circulated of them kissing. Moroccans who are arrested on the grounds of violating Article 489 are routinely outed online, a monstrous form of pretrial public shaming that puts them and their loved ones at additional risk.
I am a gay Moroccan writer. In 2006, I came out publicly, and my words created a scandal across my country. I received death threats and went through many dark years alone.
A new generation of Moroccans shouldn’t have to go through the ordeal that I did. When Moussa announced “taouba” to the world, I published two posts on Instagram and Facebook in support of trans Moroccans. Since then, I’ve received dozens of messages from young trans Moroccans who are living in fear.
In its preamble, Morocco’s 2011 constitution states that Morocco “commits to banning and combating all discrimination toward anyone, because of gender, color, beliefs, culture, social or regional origin, language, handicap, or whatever personal circumstance.” If Morocco wants to position itself as a regional leader in human rights, it must walk the walk, encouraging tolerance and acceptance of all of its citizens.
In 2011, the revolutions of the Arab Spring brought genuine hope to people. Mentalities began to change. We were coming out of fear as demonstrators gathered in the streets and dictators trembled. Freedom held out its hands to all of us, including the LGBTQ+ individuals who actively participated in the uprisings. Many courageously came out. About half a dozen organizations devoted to LGBTQ+ rights were created in Morocco during this period. Moussa’s malicious rants put their work in danger.
As I write, the soap opera continues. Almost every day, we are treated to a new episode. Recently, with the affectations of a movie star, Moussa was interviewed at length on “Machrou’a Hayat,” or “Life Project,” a popular Moroccan podcast with a vast following. Once again, he used the opportunity to spread anti-transgender messages, suggesting that he had made a “mockery” of himself by claiming to be a trans woman and urging others to follow his example in detransitioning: “The right way is to be straight.”
In fact, the “right” way is to accommodate all Moroccans, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
