Egypt
New doco reveals the queer witch hunt happening in Egypt
In a new BBC documentary titled Queer Egypt Under Attack, a reporter explores the underbelly of Egypt’s corrupt police system. Reporter Ahmed Shihab-Eldin explains that while there is no law explicitly criminalising homosexuality, the prosecution of sex work is being used to target the LGBTQI+ community. The documentary details how Egyptian police officers use online dating …
Egypt police’s shirtless graduation ceremony looks like a pride parade
A bizarrely homoerotic video of muscled newly-appointed police officers in Egypt during their graduation ceremony parade has gone viral. Over 1500 of the Egyptian police’s new recruits took part in the procession at their academy outside Cairo last week. The event was reportedly broadcast on a local TV and livestreamed. In the video, the shirtless …
Egypt police ‘arresting and torturing LGBTIQ people’ in horrific crackdown
Police in Egypt are using dating apps to arrest, detain and torture LGBTIQ people to “clean the streets,” a human rights group has warned. Human Rights Watch (HRW) says the officers have used fake social media profiles to target queer people. The police then entrap, arrest, detain and torture them. The watchdog spoke to 15 …
Egyptian activist dies: “To the world – you were cruel…”
Following imprisonment, abuse and torture in Egypt, LGBTIQ+ rights advocate Sara Hegazy sought asylum in Canada. Sadly, she died in her home in Canada Sunday, leaving a note asking her family and friends for forgiveness. In 2017, Sara attended a concert by the Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila in Cairo. The band’s lead singer Hamed Sinno …
Egyptian TV Host Jailed For Interview With Gay Man
An Egyptian court has found a TV host guilty of “promoting” homosexuality and contempt of religion for interviewing a gay man on air last year. Host Mohamed al-Gheiti was sentenced to one year in prison and was also slapped with a 3,000 ($235 AUD) Egyptian pounds fine by the misdemeanours court in Giza, according to …
Egyptian Lawmakers Propose Horrifying Anti-Gay Laws
A group of lawmakers in Egypt have reportedly unveiled legislation that would make it a crime to be gay – or an ally – in the country. A draft of the legislation was announced with the backing of 15 members of the Egyptian parliament and would explicitly make homosexuality punishable by up to three years …
UN Condemns Recent Spate Of Anti-Gay Mass Arrests
UN officials have condemned the recent mass arrests of LGBTI people in Azerbaijan, Egypt and Indonesia, saying that the countries’ authorities violated international law by detaining, mistreating and torturing them. About 80 people in Azerbaijan, 50 in Egypt and 50 in Indonesia countries were arrested, spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Rupert …
