Research focus
On the basis of interviews, conducted both in person and via the web, the present paper thus
attempts to develop an understanding of how the web is reconfiguring what it means to have a
preference for same sex relationships in Morocco. What is the relationship between the virtual
world and the life of the urban gay in a city like Casablanca? What are the goals of the chat-room
using Moroccan gay? Is the web seen as a potential medium where political demands can be
brought to bear? What is the awareness of the pressures bearing on gay men in other Arab
countries? At a wider level, this paper may provide an element in comparative work on the uses
of the interactive potential of the web in differing cultural contexts.
Contributer’s note
Justin McGuinness lectures in the Department of International Communications at the American
University of Paris. His academic work focuses on North Africa and he has written on urban
space, the built heritage and discursive constructions of national leaderships in the print media. A
forthcoming article, first given as a paper in April 2005 the Arab Media Seminar Series at the
University of Westminster, looks at belief and media images of the Moroccan king. Since1999,
Justin has authored the Footprint Handbooks to Morocco and Marrakech.
3
Convention