Publication Date
Fall 2025
Abstract
A law criminalizing homosexuality in Tunisia first appeared during the French occupation: Article 230. This paper aims to investigate the Orientalist and Western perception of homosexuality and sexuality in Northern Africa and seeks to understand the reasons behind this newfound criminalization. Lacking a basis in traditional Tunisian culture — which historically displayed relative permissiveness toward same-sex contacts — the law attempted to control Tunisians and subdue what France saw as dangerous sexual promiscuity in the region. Using scholars and theoretical frameworks like Fanon and Said, this paper analyzes the impact of the West and Orientalism on Tunisian perception of sexuality and queer activism both in the colonial and modern era. The analysis applies Fanon’s concept of “total colonization” and the “twice-colonized mind” to queer individuals enduring both white supremacy and heterosexual dominance under occupation. From the “Homoseuxal Orientalist” writing of Richard Burton to critiques of the “Gay International’s” universalization of sexual identity, there remains a complex relationship between the liberalist “global north” and Tunisia.
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Recommended Citation
Rudge, Elizabeth, "Queer Colonialism: Tunisia and the West" (2025). Tunisia and Italy: Politics and Religious Integration in the Mediterranean. 10.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/tnc3/10