Egyptian officials systemilly abe and torture gays, rights group says

Contents:

• HOW ONE GAY EGYPTIAN WOMAN STOOD UP TO HOMOPHOBIA AND PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE
• ARRTED FOR WAVG RABOW FLAG, A GAY EGYPTIAN TAK HER LIFE
• EGYPT EXPANDS CRACKDOWN ON GAY AND TRANSGENR PEOPLE
• EGYPTIAN OFFICIALS SYSTEMILLY ABE AND TORTURE GAYS, RIGHTS GROUP SAYS
• 'YOU N'T BE OUT': GAY EGYPTIANS NTUE TO FEAR PERSECUTN

HOW ONE GAY EGYPTIAN WOMAN STOOD UP TO HOMOPHOBIA AND PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE

(Beit) – Egyptian police and Natnal Secury Agency officers arbrarily arrt lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people and ta them human ndns, systematilly subject them to ill-treatment cludg torture, and often ce fellow mat to abe them, Human Rights Watch said today. Human rights groups have documented wi-sle ab the wake of a September 2017 ncert by the Lebane band Mashrou’ Leila, whose lead sger is openly gay and which performs songs that support sexual and genr diversy. Police randomly picked up five men bee of what the thori scribed as “feme and gay gtur” and one transgenr woman due to her “abnormal appearance.

I was taed a ge unr a stairway [at the prosecutor’s office], wasn’t even a prison cell, [but merely] a 3 by 2-meters ty room, wh 25 gay and transgenr people.

ARRTED FOR WAVG RABOW FLAG, A GAY EGYPTIAN TAK HER LIFE

When Hegazi and her iends raised the rabow flag at the September 2017 ncert by Mashrou’ Leila, a Lebane band wh an openly gay ontman, she was hailed by alli for “breakg many barriers of silence, ” said her iend Tarek Salama. Police ultimately taed at least 75 people the month followg the ncert what one Egyptian rights group lled an “unprecented upsurge  secury crackdown targetg gay and transgenr cizens or those believed to be so.

EGYPT EXPANDS CRACKDOWN ON GAY AND TRANSGENR PEOPLE

“Sarah mted a crime agast relign and society by supportg homosexualy and publicizg her homosexualy and atheism, ” one er wrote on Facebook. In Egypt’s Twtersphere, her name was trendg along wh “People of Lot, ” a reference to a Quranic passage about punishment for homosexualy. March 23 (UPI) -- Grdr, the popular gay datg applitn, has sent an alert to all of s ers Egypt warng that police arrted dozens of s ers over the weekend.

EGYPTIAN OFFICIALS SYSTEMILLY ABE AND TORTURE GAYS, RIGHTS GROUP SAYS

The alert, which was first sent to Egyptian ers on Monday, warned that police were "actively makg arrts of gay, bi, and trans people" on digal platforms cludg Grdr. "The Egyptian Penal Co crimaliz homosexualy unr the term 'habual bchery' Article 9, paragraph (c) of Law 10/1961 for batg adultery and bchery, " the fact sheet reads. Grdr, the world’s most popular gay datg app, sent a warng to all of s ers Egypt this week followg reports that dozens of LGBTQ people had been arrted the untry over the weekend.

“We have been alerted that Egyptian police is actively makg arrts of gay, bi, and trans people on digal platforms, ” the warng msage, first sent on Monday, says. Homosexualy is still crimalized 67 untri and jurisdictns, acrdg to Human Digny Tst, a global advocy group for LGBTQ rights.

'YOU N'T BE OUT': GAY EGYPTIANS NTUE TO FEAR PERSECUTN

Ugandans who have gay sex would be sentenced to life prison if the legislatn be ValleJay Valle reports and produc digal ntent for NBC Out. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTCharged wh “cg bchery, ” Sarah Hegazi was jailed and Schwghammer/Picture Alliance, via Getty ImagCAIRO — When the openly gay ontman of a hugely popular Lebane pop group sttted onto the stage of a Cairo summer ftival 2017, rabow flags lifted the air, and somethg sparked si Sarah a lbian a untry where homosexualy is taboo, and gay people are routely persecuted by the thori, here was a glimmer of eedom.