Homosexuality in Egypt

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Geographical location of Egypt

Homosexuality is prosecuted in Egypt and is strongly taboo in society.

history

Until the 1940s, there were marriage-like alliances between men and young men in the Siwa Oasis . They were banned by Fu'ad I in 1928 .

Legal position

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According to the Criminal Code, homosexuality is not explicitly illegal in Egypt , but other more general criminal laws are used to punish homosexual acts. In particular, anal intercourse is forbidden according to a conservative, majority interpretation in the Koran, while there are no statements about other types of sexuality and this therefore - at least in theory - gives a certain leeway.

Social situation

Socially, homosexual acts in Egypt are viewed as immoral and treated as a taboo subject. Here, however, a clear distinction is made between the active and the passive role; Homosexuality is usually only associated with the passive sexual partner, the penetrated person, whereas the active person is not necessarily viewed as homosexual. While homosexual acts were common in the past, but rarely discussed, in recent years they have met with increasing rejection because they are associated with the decadent West. Relationships between same-sex couples are not shown in public in Egypt due to state persecution. Because of social ostracism, there are no laws protecting homosexual people or their relationships.

Although there are no criminal laws against homosexual love acts, people are arrested and sentenced. Sometimes penalties are revised later or the range of penalties reduced. In May 2001, police arrested several gay men in Cairo at a boat party on the Nile. 23 of the 52 defendants were sentenced to prison terms at the end of the trial. The sentence was reduced from three years to one year in most cases. Spurred on by international protests, 11 defendants were acquitted of procedural errors on appeal on July 19, 2003 . Among other things, German politicians and the French president called on Egypt to observe the rights of homosexuals in this incident.

On August 28, 2003, a meeting point for gay men on the Qasr el-Nil bridge was searched by the police by cordoning off both sides of the bridge, and 63 men were arrested.

In 2004, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch reported several hundred homosexual arrests in Egypt within two years. The number of unreported cases of arrests without charge is high and several hundred people have been tortured in this way, the organization suspects.

On December 7, 2014, at least 26 gays were arrested in a raid on a bathhouse in the capital Cairo. The men were charged with "homosexual debauchery" but acquitted in January 2015 by a court.

In September 2017, after a concert by the Lebanese indie rock band Mashrou 'Leila , whose singer Hamed Sinno is openly gay, there was a wave of persecution of homosexual men. Some spectators waved rainbow flags at the concert. Activist Sarah Hegazi was the only woman to be arrested.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Barry D. Adam, Age, Structure, and Sexuality: Reflections on the Anthropological Evidence on Homosexual Relations. In: Evelyn Blackwood (Ed.): Anthropology and Homosexual Behavior. Routledge, 1986, ISBN 0-86656-328-8 , p. 24.
  2. ^ Dan Richardson: The Rough Guide to Egypt. Rough Guides, 2003, ISBN 1-84353-050-3 , p. 562.
  3. ↑ Gay Cultures in Cairo ( Memento of October 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), Gay and Lesbian Studies at the University of Amsterdam (English)
  4. ↑ Tom Musbach: Egypt Sentences 23 of 52 Suspected Gays ( Memento from February 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Sodomylaws.org, November 14, 2001 (English).
  5. ↑ Thomas Kolb: Glimmer of Hope for Egypt?  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Queeramnesty.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.queeramnesty.de  
  6. ↑ Reuters: German MPs Want Egypt to End Trial of Homosexuals ( Memento from February 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Sodomylaws.org, September 5, 2001 (English).
  7. ↑ Gay.com: French President Worried About Fate Of Egyptian Gays ( Memento of February 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Sodomylaws.org, February 11, 2002 (English).
  8. ↑ Planetout News & Politics
  9. ↑ Human Rights Watch: Egypt: Crackdown on Homosexual Conduct Exposes Torture Crisis , February 29, 2004 (English)
  10. ↑ Queer.de: Egypt tortures gays , March 2, 2004
  11. ↑ BBC News : Egypt crackdown on homosexuals , March 6, 2002 (English).
  12. ↑ Homophobic raid in Egypt: "homosexuals" are acquitted. In: taz.de . January 12, 2015, accessed January 18, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Hamed Sinno, on Süddeutsche.de; October 5, 2017 LGBT people in Egypt targeted in wave of arrests and violence, Guardian
  14. ^ Mourning the loss of the Egyptian LGBTQ activist Sarah Hijazi. In: RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland. June 15, 2020, accessed June 16, 2020.