A Tunisian lawyer announces officially his plan to run for presidential elections as the first gay to run since elections set to take place in November 2019.







Mounir Baatour, a lawyer who has been heading an organization for LGBT+ rights called Shams Association since 2015, announced he is preparing his papers to enter the presidential race in August 2019.

Mounir would be the first gay to run for elections in North Africa and the Middle East where homosexuality is criminalized and the LGBT+ community faces prosecution.

And this is one of the reasons that led Mounir to take his decision, considering the years he spent in activism in fighting for minorities rights. He was also charged with “Sodomy” in 2016 and sentenced to 6 months in jail.

Later when he was released, he has started a campaign to pressure the government into abolishing article 230 that criminalizes homosexuality along with his work in the association that campaigns for sexual minorities’ rights in Tunisia.

Meanwhile, the government has attempted to shut down Shams Association but failed.

Since Mounir announced his decision, he has received support from his community, friends and several social media users.

In Tunisia, the presidential election is set to take part in November 2019 with the current president Caid Essebsi seeking a second term in office, Prime Minister Youssef Chahed created a new party called Tahya Tounes and is still expected to announce their candidate, along with the parliament-leading party Ennahdah who is yet to announce their candidate.

While Mounir Baatour’s chance to win the elections is low for various reasons; including the tough competition he will face from the parties who form the governmental coalition, the fact that he took such a step to run for the presidential office might pave the way for many others to do the same in the future in Tunisia and other parts of the Middle East.

Mounir Baatour, head of #Tunisia's LGBT group Shams and pres of Liberal party, will be running in #presidential #elections. Diversity welcome in Tunisian politics :) https://t.co/v98T7cVR2H — Alessandra Bajec (@AlessandraBajec) June 27, 2019

Tunisia has been a pioneer among countries in the region with amending laws for more equal rights to women as it has been considered relatively the only Arab Spring success story after ousting the longtime dictator Zein el-Abedin Ben Ali. Since then, moderate Islamists and secular leaders were seen ruling the country trying to achieve the democratic changes and economic reforms aimed by Tunisians in the revolution.