Five North African LGBTQ+ Artists You Should Know

Malak Elkashif (Egypt)

Malak Elkashif is an Egyptian trans woman, writer, and human rights activist who counters transphobic discrimination. She is the executive director of Transat, a regional organization and platform that promotes scientific and cultural awareness of gender issues within the Arabic-speaking communities.

After getting arrested twice in 2014 and 2017 due to her appearance, Elkashif became the first openly transgender Egyptian to be arrested for political reasons on March 7, 2019. She was charged with allegedly “aiding a terrorist organization” and “misusing social media to commit a crime punishable by law,” for attending a protest, calling for justice after a train accident in Cairo on Feb. 27, 2020.

Elkashif spent more than 120 days in pre-trial detention; because her government ID didn’t reflect her gender identity, she was kept at a men’s prison and spent four months in solitary confinement. Hundreds of online users shared the Arabic hashtag “Solidarity with Malak Elkashif.”

Upon her release on July 15, 2019, she filed a lawsuit against the Minister of Interior, in collaboration with the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, to demand the allocation of safe detention places for transgender individuals. After two years of exhausting and lengthy sessions, the lawsuit was rejected.

Despite the setbacks and violence she endured, Elkashif continues to make her voice heard and advocate for trans rights. About pride month, Elkashif posted on Instagram that, “There is no pride month without Palestine,” highlighting the importance of intersectional solidarity.

Khookha McQueer (Tunisia)

Khookha McQueer is a beloved figure in Tunisia’s queer community. As a drag queen and entertainer, she creates space for LGBTQ+ individuals to express themselves and support each other. As an activist, she targets Article 230, which dates back to 1913 under French colonization and criminalizes same-sex sexual activity, and all articles that prohibit or limit sexual freedom and gender expression. She also raises awareness about sexual health and LGBTQ+ rights.

Amidst recent crackdowns on Tunisia’s civil society as well as its nightlife and LGBTQ+ communities, McQueer shares that watching pride on social media gives her a feeling of alienation. “Pride month is a yearly reminder that Pride is actually not allowed for everyone, and that we should fight to make it ours,” she tells OkayAfrica.

McQueer highly believes in Pride as a feeling and values its importance in every queer person’s life. “I tend to see it through a racial lens,” she says. “We should learn how to be proud of ourselves through our own gaze, not through the white gaze. We still suffer from colorism and racism and self-hate as queer people in Tunisia.”

Two years ago, she wrote a Facebook post saying “Pride should be locally ours.” “The post popped up again this year and I think it’s always valid, especially with the current context and deeper gap between the [West] and [SWANA region] after October 7,” she says.

Sofiane Hennani (Morocco)

Sofiane Hennani is a Moroccan queer activist who advocates for plural and inclusive masculinities, instead of the toxic and exclusive masculinities that are presently enforced by the status quo. He writes columns for the magazine PDREVUE, the LGBTQI+ South African magazine QR Passion, the independent Moroccan blog The Openchabab, and other LGBTQ+ platforms.

Hennani, who has a Ph.D. in Oncology and Molecular Biology, is the producer of "Machi Rojola," a podcast on which he hosts academics and activists working in queer and feminist studies for conversations reimagining masculinity. Machi Rojola is a popular expression meaning “it’s not masculine” in Moroccan Arabic. It implies that someone is “not a man,” often used to point out a lack of bravery, honor and strength.

Hennani grew up in a small town in Morocco where queerness was an undiscussed taboo. While he built a strong sense of self regardless, he witnessed other queer youth suffer and thus felt inspired to challenge harmful systems. "It is very difficult as a queer person to have access to education, social services, hospitals," Hennani told DAWN. "All problems in society are related to the LGBTQI situation. If there is violence in society, LGBTQI people are violated more."

Hennani’s work is embedded within a wider context of growing LGBTQ+ activism in Morocco, which has seen the emergence of several young queer organizations in the past decade.

Ahmed Umar (Sudan)

Raised in a Sufi family living between Sudan and Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Umar fled to Norway at a time when being openly queer was punishable by death in Sudan. He remains strongly connected to his culture and the region through his multidisciplinary art practice which spans sculpting, painting, performance and photography. In April, Umar opened the Venice Biennale with a performance of a traditional bridal dance. In June, he is exhibiting for the first time at Art Basel.

“As an artist, some of your success and also economy depends on recognition from the outside world,” Umar tells OkayAfrica. “For now, I was the first Sudanese to show in the Sydney Biennale, making a statement that ‘This is Ahmed Umar and he is gay.’ I want to occupy as much as possible of any important art spaces in the world, because I want a queer name to be present in the art history of Sudan.”

Umar has a major long-term goal: he plans to organize The Nile Pride in the Sudanese capital Khartoum in 2030. “I think it’s possible,” he told Talent Norge. “There is an awful lot of hatred, but at the same time there is hope.” During Pride Month 2023, he joined the march in Oslo, waving a Sudanese flag with “The Nile Pride 2030” written on it.

Habibitch (Algeria)

Lissia Benoufella, aka Habibitch, is an Algerian-born Paris-based, non-binary, queer, femme, boss, dancer, choreographer, activist and Sociology teacher. They arrived in France at four years old, fleeing the civil war in Algeria.

As an artist, they use spaces like the Ballroom Scene or feminist and institutional stages to express themselves creatively and politically. As an activist, they give intersectional workshops and performances aimed at decolonizing dance floors around the world. Habibitch frequently comments on social and political debates related to race, gender, immigration and marginalized groups in France and beyond.

In an interview with Mykali Magazine, they reflect on their queer Algerian diasporic identity and what it means to accommodate these different cultural experiences in one body. Like Umar, they would like to give back to the queer community in North Africa; like McQueer, they are mindful of the way LGBTQ+ cultures and identities are expressed differently there than in the West; and like Elkashif, they continue to assert that being queer means standing up against imperialism and borders.

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The commonalities of these artists and activists prove that queerness is more often than not a unifying experience that concerns itself with the improvement of our societies and genuine solidarity for all.