Abdellah Taïa is Morocco’s first gay writer in history living in Paris who reimagines being muslim, queer and African. Abdellah Taïa was born in 1973 in Rabat, Morocco. He currently lives in Paris. He is the first writer from north Africa – and in fact the Arab world – to openly declare that he is gay. In 2006, he came out in a highly publicised article in the Moroccan magazine Tel Quel. This was considered scandalous by conservative Muslims. Being queer is often seen as conflicting with being religious.