Openly Gay Pol Seeks Tunisian Presidency

Mounir Baatour, an openly gay Tunisian politician, has set his sights on his country's top office: That of president. If elected, he would be the first openly gay president in an Arab nation, numerous media sources report.

Baatour is up front not only about being gay, but also what it means not to be heterosexual in the Arab world. "I was jailed for three months for sodomy in 2013," Baatour recalled, reported UK newspaper the Independent in a profile on Baatour last month.

That's not as straightforward an "offense" as one might take it to be; the Independent took note of the sorts of things can lead to a conviction for such a crime under Tunisian law, including – in at least one case – a young man being imprisoned under anti-gay laws after having been gang raped and then reporting the assault to the authorities.

The Independent also noted that police in Tunisia are empowered to force people to submit to anal examinations in order, ostensibly, to confirm their sexual orientation.

But Baatour refuses to allow the hatred and violence around him to poison is view of himself, telling the press, "There is no shame for me. There is no shame for any of us."

Baatour was officially able to announce his candidacy last week, reported CNN. The country's presidential election, originally slated for November, has now been pushed up to September after the death of incumbent president Beji Caid Essebsi, CNN noted.

The candidate made an English-language video in which he noted that there was a substantial amount of support for his campaign. Even so, Baatour noted in the video, which was posted at Ava 360 News in July, some Tunisians have not been supportive. Baatour indicated that he regarded this as part and parcel of democracy.

"I respect all the opinions and I respect democracy," Baatour said, "and as a candidate I have to listen to all Tunisian people and all opinions."

There is some measure of hope for Baatour's campaign, even though social stigma against gay people is unusually high there even for an Arab nation; CNN recalled that Tunisia was ground zero for the pro-democracy Arab Spring movement in 2011. Since then, Tunisia has had greater success than other Arab countries in making democratic reforms.

Watch Baatour's video below.

Meet Mounir Baatour, the gay lawyer running to be Tunisia's next president