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Not much information about gays in Mali
but some related stories and reports appear on the Internet:

Behind the Mask--Mali

Gay and Lesbian Arabs website

Gay Islam Reports 1998-2002
Gay Islam Reports 2003-05
Gay Islam Reports 2006-07

Gay and Lesbian Arab Society-Ahbab

Also see:
Gay Middle East Stories and News/Reports on GlobalGayz.com
Gay Middle East Web Site: http://www.gaymiddleeast.com/
More information about Islam & Homosexuality can be found at: www.al-fatiha.org
Other articles of interest can be found at: groups.yahoo.com/group/al-fatiha-news
Queer Muslim magazine: Huriyah

Gay Islam discussion groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimgaymen     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lgbtmuslim
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/queerjihad          http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bimuslims
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transmuslims       http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lesbianmuslims

News & Reports

From: Gay.com

2006(?)

1
Stepping back in time: A gay (suspended) travel writer's journey to Timbuktu, Mali

" There are gay people everywhere, so I'm sure there are gay people in Timbuktu. But I don't know any," Amadou, a local English-speaking tour guide, informed me straightforwardly. "It would be hard for them here; they would have to hide it."

I had spent two weeks on the road to the fabled city of Timbuktu as part of an intrepid group of travelers from the appropriately named tour operator Adventure Center (800/228-8747; www.adventurecenter.com). I obviously hadn't headed there for the gay life. In fact, after a fortnight traveling in the predominantly Muslim West African nation of Mali, I was surprised anyone acknowledged the existence of gays at all.

People who have heard of Timbuktu assume it's a myth, or some murky country in Central Asia. In fact, during Timbuktu's apex in the 14th and 15th centuries, it was one of the most powerful and wealthiest cities in the world, thanks to the trans-Saharan gold trade.

Nowadays, it's a quiet outpost with stuck-in-another-era alleys, where quiet men in long robes and head scarves glide by, where the fires of outdoor bread ovens illuminate women's faces, and the brown spires of mud mosques jut into the cloudless skies, looking like a Star Wars backdrop.

Caravans of camels rest on the town's outskirts after completing the weeks-long trek from the salt mines deep in the Sahara. Timbuktu has no paved streets -- ongoing desertification of the region means Saharan sands continually swamp the hazy town like waves on a beach. When the harmattan wind starts up in winter, the place appears almost foggy.

Even though the Islam of Mali is extremely moderate in its practice, Mali does not enjoy the "homosex" found in other parts of the Islamic world. But it should still be on gay travelers' lists. There is so much more to this country than just the sands of the Sahara.

During my two-week sojourn in the country, our tour group spent days floating on a traditional long canoe down the Niger River -- Africa's third-longest. We camped out under the stars along the tranquil banks of the timeless river, hearing fishing boats cast their nets at dawn. We spent a night in the maze-like medieval town of Djenne, home to the world's largest mud mosque.

For four days we hiked around the dramatic sandstone cliffs of the Dogon country in the east-central part of Mali, where isolated villagers have ingeniously built their homes into the face of a 150-mile escarpment. And we caught a glimpse of Mali lurching toward the 21st century in the modern capital of Bamako, where bankers in suits visit traditional healers for prophecies and where women wash their laundry in a river lined with high-rises. The ancient and the 21st century have no problem coexisting in magical Mali.

Getting there
Gay-friendly Adventure Center (800-228-8747; www.adventurecenter.com) offers seven different guided group itineraries through the country, ranging from 14 to 21 days and priced from $1,040 to $2,965. This includes guides, accommodations from four-star hotels to camping, most meals, and in-country transportation. Note that French is spoken in Mali in addition to tribal languages.

Stay
The best hotel you can check into in Mali is the Kempinski Hotel El Farouk (+223/223-1830; www.kempinski.com; $110-250). Perfectly situated on the banks of the Niger River in a quiet part of Bamako, the spiffy 100-room, six-story building feels more like an exclusive cruise ship. Only stay at the generic Sofitel (www.sofitel.com, +223/221-432; $126-$272) if the Kempinski is full.
In Timbuktu, check out the Delais Azalai (+223/292-1163; $52), built to look like a mud fortress on a hill, with simple but comfortable rooms.

Eat
In Bamako, the restaurant of the Kempinski Hotel El Farouk (+223/223-1830; www.kempinski.com; $12-$20) is run by a talented Lebanese chef who serves up grilled capitaine (a local fish specialty), shish kabobs, pan-seared salmon, and even crA me brulee. Great views of the Niger River are gratis.
Try different kinds of couscous in an artistic African ambience at San Toro (+223/221-3082; $8-$15). In Timbuktu, you can catch a cheerful meal of couscous or traditional meat dumplings at Restaurant Poulet D'or (+223/614-5850; $8-13), located inside the Maison des Artisans art market.

Play
Mali is considered to be at the forefront of world music. In Bamako, enjoy live bands in a small courtyard setting at La Savanna (+223/631-4156; $5 cover), which attracts a young urban crowd and some Europeans.
Le Privilege (+223/941-0631, +223/941-0640; $10 cover) is the hot spot du jour, drawing some American soldiers earlier in the evening and a hip, ethnically mixed crowd that boogies to Europop and energetic West African music late into the night. Same-sex couples dance together here, although they are not usually gay.

See/do
Don't leave Bamako without checking out its fine MusA(c)e National (+223/223-486; www.museenationaldumali.org.ml; $10), full of antiques and textile arts. Bustling Bamako has two frenetic marketplaces worth exploring -- the tourist-centered Maison des Artisans on Boulevard du Peuple, with excellent masks, carvings, and jewelry made by artists working on the premises, and Marche Rose on Rue Mohammed V, which caters to the locals and offers every retail good from toilet paper to 50 Cent jerseys.

From:Behind the Mask
http://www.mask.org.za/index.php?page=Mali

August 1, 2005

2
Mali Gay is Rejected by his Family

Par Jean -Luc

Au Mali un homosexuel a été battu par sa famille, soumis aux mauvais traitements d'un "féticheur" pour le "soigner"et le guérir du mauvais sort, hospitalisé dans un hôpital psychiatrique, interdit de fréquentation de la mosquée par l'Iman, arrêté à plusieurs reprises sous prétexte d'incitation à la débauche et actes amoraux.

Le pauvre homme maintenant a le problème de s,integrer dans la societé d, aller à la mosque pour prier, ou même à visiter la famille à cause de son orientation sexuelle. Mainetenant il est entrain de chercher refuge dans des pays qui peuvent l'accepter tel qu;il est et vivre en paix . Ce qui est dommage c'est que la famille ( sa propre famille) l'a rejeté au lieu de le soutenir.

Nous voyons ces cas surtout dans des pays musulmans comme la Mauritanie , le Soudan, Nigerian …,òu ils ne respectent pas le droit de l,homme , òu les hommos sont mal tratés. Dans ces pays l'hommosexalité est un crime puni de mort.

Un exemple vient de Nigeria où le mois dernier la cour islamique de Katsina, au nord du Nigéria, a condamné à mort par lapidation Yusuf K. et Usman S. pour " crime de sodomie ". Les deux hommes ont été arrêté par la police suite à une dénonciation sans qu'aucun témoin n'ait été présenté à la cour par l'accusation. Alors que deux adolescents iraniens viennent d'être pendus pour les mêmes faits.