Activist Mounir Baatour has become Tunisia’s first openly gay presidential candidate.
Baatour is president of Association Shams, Tunisia’s leading LGBT advocacy group. He added his name to the ballot for Tunisia’s November 10 presidential election and made the announcement June 25 in a Facebook post.
The 48-year-old lawyer is head of the small opposition Liberal Party.
Incumbent president Beji Caid Essebsi, 92, is not seeking re-election.
“After long years in the fight for minority right, I have understood that no one can do the job better than me,” he said, reported Pink News.
Baatour pledged to uphold a progressive and modern platform for Tunisia, from fighting corruption to abolishing Article 230, the North African country’s anti-sodomy law.
Currently, homosexuality is illegal in the country. LGBT people face up to three years in jail. Authorities often enforce the law.
According to a recent survey by Arab Barometer for the BBC only 7% of citizens consider homosexuality acceptable, reported Reuters. Last year, convictions for same-sex relations rose by 60% to 127 from 79 in 2017, according to Association Shams. It recorded more than 25 convictions in the first quarter of 2019.
“Tunisia needs a democratic program that can include the different identities, cultures, beliefs and languages of this country. Our program aims to democratize power, strengthen the Parliament and give more weight to local institutions,” Baatour wrote in his Facebook post.
Baatour’s bid for the presidency would make him the first openly gay president in the Arab world, but he faces a steep climb.
