amsterdam: the moroccan quandary

November 1, 2004: Amsterdam is known as a liberal city, where just about anything is allowed, but it is also a multicultural city where permissive Dutch law does not always sit well with conservative immigrants. Dutch liberals and gay immigrants alike face a multi-layered issue.

Visit Amsterdam in the Netherlands and mingle with lesbian and gay activists and you will hear a repeated word of warning - the liberal ways of the city are under threat, from a new wave of conservative thinking, largely Muslim, immigrants. Most often referred to as Moroccans, the growing immigrant population however includes Turkish, other north African, middle eastern and sub-Saharan African people; what they have in common is their religion - Islam. Observations about the new phenomenon threatening Dutch liberalism are often couched in terms of it being "a problem" or "the big issue in the gay community" and the most recent manifestation of the problem was the banning of a youth publication for schools called Espresso. The publication sought to discuss issues of sex and sexuality, as well as sexual orientation, in the language of the youth - it was unashamedly explicit, tackling Muslim homophobia head-on. However, the publication was banned - not in response to the reactions of children or parents but by, some would argue, over-compensatory school boards. On the whole, those for whom it was intended never even got to see a copy.

One Dutch Amsterdam resident described the shift in the city that has been occurring over the last few years. "On Queen's Day the whole city comes out on the streets, and it is a very gay affair. Although I would never hesitate to hold my partner's hand or hug my friends on the street normally, on that day, of all days, it would never occur to me to hold back. However, this year I was with a friend who drew back when I tried to hug him - he looked around and said, 'I don't think that's a good idea' and he was referring to the numbers of Muslim looking people that were all around us. After fighting for years to have the right to be ourselves, we give it up so easily in the face of these new conservative thinkers who are coming to the city."

Liberal thinkers, who in past decades may have been in favour of less strict immigration policies, are now finding themselves reticent about a further influx of Muslims to Amsterdam. Gay politician Pim Fortuyn once described Islam as "a backward religion" and was openly opposed to immigration into the Netherlands. In May 2002 he paid for his right wing attitudes with his life - he was assassinated, just days after reporting receiving death threats. So one part of the quandary is how lesbian and gay residents of Amsterdam, who hold the liberal attitudes of the city so dear, approach issues of immigration and the underlying interlinked issues of racism and religious diversity. The other part of the quandary is how lesbian and gay immigrants fit into the picture. They find themselves despised by their own communities, forced, more often than not, to remain in the closet and therefore unable to access the city's famous gay scene and sometimes even forced into marriages of concealment. On the other hand, Moroccans and other immigrants are not always welcomed by right wing Europeans, including conservative lesbian and gay people. The Moroccan quandary not only has Dutch liberals treading unfamiliar ground of non-permissiveness, at least with regard to immigration, but also gay and lesbian immigrants somehow stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place.

However, that is not to say that there are no facilities on Amsterdam's diverse gay scene for those Moroccans (and others) who do manage to struggle from the closet. In the back streets near to the bustling Leidseplein you can find Habibi - a small, sparsely populated bar with Arabic décor and music. One local resident told me that Habibi is very popular with Moroccan gay people but many don't want to be seen entering so they go around the block and slip in from a side street rather than walk the length of the road where they may be spotted too easily. Those I saw the night I visited certainly didn't look like they were hiding anything about their sexual orientation - but then calculate the possible number of gay Moroccans in Amsterdam compared to the population of the openly gay crowd in Habibi and you begin to wonder where they all are… The barman is from Algeria and confirmed that a lot of north Africans find refuge and entertainment in Habibi, and so too do a few local Europeans who have grown tired of the "homogeny of the gay scene" elsewhere in the city.

COC, the oldest gay organisation in the Netherlands, hosts a monthly party for Arabic and north African gay people - they also run a support group for Moroccan gay and lesbian people facing coming out issues in their communities and, along with HIV/Aids prevention organisations, discuss same sex behaviour and safer sex with men's groups in Muslim communities. "We don't talk about sex between men directly, the word 'gay' never comes up - we discuss friendship and its characteristics, that leads us on to sex practises and safer sex." One outreach worker informed me.

I visited the monthly party - the Algerian barman was the DJ, and he was not the only familiar face, the regulars at Habibi were also the most prominent members of the congregation at COC. The mood was jubilant, free, subversive in the subtlest of ways; not particularly cruisy - this was a time to celebrate and affirm but also to mobilise, or at least that is what I assume the speeches in Arabic and cheering were all about.

The bar and the parties and the support group are offered for those who have the ability and/or courage to claim them as their own - but Amsterdam has many sides and to assume that it is any kind of paradise for gay immigrants is to ignore the multiple issues of racism, xenophobia and poverty that plague immigrant communities in every city. Many north African immigrants do not find it easy, or culturally acceptable, to join in the party making. I spoke to Ali, also from Algeria. "I came here as a student and over stayed. Now I am illegal here but I don't have the money to get back to Algeria, even though I want to go - I don't want to be deported and then never be allowed back again." He makes his money through prostitution. "I don't work from one of the bars on Paardenstraat, although you will find Moroccan boys there, I cruise the parks and find guys who will give me €20 or €30 - so I get nice sex and some money, too. But I don't like the Dutch men, they smell; very poor hygiene." He changes tack. "All I want is to get back to Algeria. I hate it here, so cold, so hard to make money. I do this because I have to." Ali is not the only immigrant who solicits in the parks, but he is one of only a few who at least admit to being gay - most identify as heterosexual men who just have sex for the profit of it. As I leave, Ali stops me, "I want to ask you something… but I don't know the words." After a hesitation in which I hoped that he wouldn't ask me for money he said. "I know, when you get back home, say hello to Africa for me."