Elton John may be one of the most prolific musical acts around, with number one hits dating all the way back to the days of President Nixon.

But there are a few religious leaders in Morocco who want Elton to stay away from the north African country. Following in the footsteps of Egypt, which earlier in May 2010 canceled a concert by Elton, several conservative Islamic groups in Morocco are working fast and furious to get Elton John dumped from an upcoming music festival appearance.

Now the debate over whether Elton should be allowed in the country is stirring up national politics, with leaders of the Islamist PJD opposition party campaigning to get the Mawazine World Rhythms Festival to drop Elton from an upcoming gig. According to Moroccan politician Mustapha Ramid, Morocco shouldn't be a haven for people who brag about their homosexuality.

"Morocco is an Islamic state where stages should not be used to allow a person with such a degree of debauchery to perform because we have to shield the young from such influences," said Ramid. "We asked the government to exclude [Elton John] from the list of artists invited to this festival [because] this man — sorry, I should say this person, not this man — is known for bragging about his homosexuality."

Too bad for Ramid that Elton isn't listening to him, and neither are the organizers behind the music festival, who continue to insist that Elton John and his candles in the wind will be allowed to perform.

"Elton John is one of the best artists in the world. He is great and extraordinary when he appears on stage. That's why we invite him and welcome him to the Mawazine festival," festival director Aziz Daki told Reuters. "The private life of a singer is not our business. We do not invite singers and artists after assessing their private lives."

The division in the country over Elton may seem like a trivial pop culture news flash, but it actually hints at larger developments in Morocco that make it a country worth watching when it comes to the human rights of LGBT people. Case in point, a new magazine that's launched in the country targeting Morocco's LGBT population. The magazine's called Mithly, a term increasingly being used to indicate "gay," and their inaugural issue has sold more than 200 copies, despite calls for consumers of the magazine to be punished with jail time.

The first issue covered the Elton fracas, but also delved into subjects like suicide among Morocco's LGBT population, and how queer people deal with coming out to their families in a conservative, predominantly Islamic, country. "It seems that something is happening in Morocco that does not exist elsewhere in the Arab world," Abdellah Taia, a gay Moroccan author living in Paris, told Reuters. "A new generation ... has achieved a certain freedom of expression thanks to the Internet, and this magazine is a result of that freedom."

Related News