In a perplexing move, Egypt has told the United Nations Human Rights Council that queer people do not exist.
Representatives of the country made the statement earlier this month in response to a new push from the UN to end discrimination against LGBTQ people worldwide. Egypt rejected the new guidelines for protecting sexual orientation and gender identity saying the nation “does not recognize the terms mentioned in this recommendation.”
Activists wasted no time in condemning the rhetoric. “This outrageous statement from Egyptian officials comes at a time when the COVID-19 health crisis is threatening already vulnerable groups, including LGBT people detained in Egypt’s prisons on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Rasha Younes, a spokesperson for Human Rights Watch.
Related: Egyptian court sentences reporter to prison for interviewing a gay man
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Egypt punishes homosexual behavior under public decency laws. Those convicted of infractions are often given harsh sentences by Egyptian courts. The nation began a harsh crackdown on queer people following a 2017 incident where a group of young people waved Pride flags at a Mashrou’ Leila concert in Cairo. The incident led to the arrests of 84 people, many of whom were subjected to rectal exams as part of their interrogations. Several Egyptian television hosts also leaked the names of several of the young people who waved the Pride flag at the concert.
As a result, Rainbow Railroad, an underground network aimed at helping queer people find refuge in more tolerant nations, has begun aiding queer Egyptians in escaping the nation.
chase_boston
angry RA …. must be a homophobe … we all know what that means ….
reclaim the Scapegoat or be lost in fake is.Real & love is not pretending.
johncp56
yes with you It is still hard for me to understand these religious backward countries with there hate
Mister P
Egypt the queen of denial. The Nile
johncp56
LOL sad some of those Egypten men are truly hot
jayceecook
Logic is something that doesn’t exist in Egypt either. If there are no queer people how can you have laws that criminalize queer identity and behavior?
johncp56
LOL they hide that as that justifies them killing our gay people
Chrisk
Wasn’t it like ahmadinejad in Iran that said the same thing five or so years ago?
Of course while he said that there was executions of gay men going on at the same time.
Hussain-TheCanadian
The Egyptian government, which really is a military government, lorded over by General Abdulfatah Al-Sisi, is one of the worst governments on the planet, with mass arrests, executions, theft of public assets, torture and rape of political opponents and journalists.
It’s the same government, up until 2 weeks ago, said that egypt has no Covid-19 cases, problems, or issues, has just witnessed a massive explosion of the virus, with close to 60k suspected Covid-19 infected.
So this is the government that is denying that Gay people exist, a ludicrous government, supported and funded by the Sheikhdoms of the Persian gulf, and ofcourse the United States government.
Creamsicle
Yup. Egypt is the second largest recipient of American Foreign Aid money after Israel. Everything that the repressive regimes have done is also partially on us. We benefit from a strong regime there, because we prioritize Israel’s security over human rights, LGBTQ or otherwise.
Kangol2
Drumpf has repeatedly praised his homophobic dictator pal General Al-Sisi, but hey, right-wingers just look the other way!
Hussain-TheCanadian
You guys are absolutely correct, the right wingers here want to do to us what General Al-Sisi and the rest of Arab dictators are doing to our gay brothers and sisters in the Arab world.
RickHeathen
It’s not perplexing at all. I know why they deny we exist. Just like the right wingers in the U.S. do. If they deny our intrinsic nature, they can relegate it to a chosen behavior, and therefore they can more easily justify our persecution.
Tempus
Holy Horus that’s ridiculous. Denying the existence of the LGBT+ community or denying the labels doesn’t negate their existence. I mean you can’t imprison people for being gay and then say oh we don’t believe in the words as there’s a major contradiction in there. Egypt used to be a place I wanted to visit but while part of me still does on some level it’s definitely not to meet people.