By Richard Ammon GlobalGayz.com Updated January 2017 A near-unanimous Muslim population in Algeria makes the fight for rights of gays a dangerous place and struggle. It is a huge country about the size of Western Europe with most of it rural desert with widely scattered villages and towns, many far from the major urban
Algeria is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent. The conquest of Algeria by the French (1830-1958) was long and particularly violent, and it resulted in the disappearance of about a third of the Algerian population. In December 1991, the Islamic Salvation Front won the first round of the country’s first multi-party elections. The military then intervened and cancelled the second round. It forced then-president Bendjedid to resign and banned all political parties based on religion (including the Islamic Salvation Front). A political conflict ensued, leading Algeria into the violent Algerian Civil War (1992-2002). Much of Algeria is now recovering and developing into an emerging economy. According to Article 388 of the penal code from 1996, sodomy may be punished with imprisonment from two months to 2 years and a fine of 10,000 Algerian dinars. Algerian public attitudes can be ‘violently homophobic; gay people can be assassination targets of Islamic fundamentalists and that honor killings by family and neighbors are not rare. Also see: Islam and Homosexuality
Name: Algeria
Population: 32814000
Capital: Algiers - Pop. 3060000
Area: 2381741 sq. km/ sq. miles
Language: Arabic, French, Berber dialects
Religion: Sunni Muslim
Status of Homosexuality: Illegal
Telephone Country Code: 213
Being Gay in Algeria Today
Intro: Living their sexuality mostly in hiding, the gays of Algeria are cautiously more evident, but face a reactionary social mentality. The penal code severely condemns homosexuality so gays are faced with major difficulties for meeting or socializing. The Internet is helpful but finding privacy is a problem.
Algerians Modernize Tradition of Circumcision
Westhampton, MA – September 24, 2009 Richard Ammon – GlobalGayz.com This is a story from Magharebia News by Hayam El Hadi published yesterday about the ritual of male circumcision in Algeria. The action taken is a surgical removal of the penis foreskin, essentially a mutilation of the body. And for this pain and humiliation the