'You n't be out': Gay Egyptians ntue to fear persecutn

Contents:

• GAY DATG EGYPT
• EGYPT GAY TRAVEL
• GAY CAIRO
• 'YOU N'T BE OUT': GAY EGYPTIANS NTUE TO FEAR PERSECUTN
• GAY DATG APPS ARE PROTECTG USERS AMID EGYPT'S LGBTQ CRACKDOWN
• GAY DATG APPS GRDR AND HOR HELP LGBT EGYPTIANS STAY SAFE AMID CRACKDOWN
• GAY EGYPT TRAVEL GUI

GAY DATG EGYPT

They had met onle, part of a growg muny of gay Egyptians g servic like Grdr, Hor, and Growler, but this was their first time meetg person.

Targets meet a iendly stranger on a gay datg se, sometim talkg for weeks before meetg person, only to fd out they’re beg targeted for a bchery se. The most recent wave of arrts started last September after an dience member unfurled a gay pri flag at a rock ncert, somethg the regime took as a personal sult. Homosexualy isn’t illegal Egypt, but the LGBTQ muny has bee a eful spegoat for the el-Sisi regime, and the General Directorate for Protectg Public Moraly is beg ed to jail and prosecute anyone perceived as mtg a transgrsn.

EGYPT GAY TRAVEL

Raids on bars, hoe parti, and other gay spac have bee mon. Both apps were built amid a thrivg, sex-posive gay culture.

In plac where the gay muny has been driven unrground, datg apps are often the only way to reach them — somethg that’s led a number of nonprofs to seek out Grdr as a rearch tool. “So many guys will get on Grdr who have never told anyone they’re gay, ” says Jack Harrison-Qutana, the director of Grdr’s social-good divisn, Grdr For Equaly.

Lebanon is seen as one of the bt plac to be gay the regn, even though homosexualy is still illegal there. “It’s much more difficult to create an app that functns well for gay men the Middle East, ” Kayyali told me.

GAY CAIRO

“In untri where ’s unsafe to be gay, where there are no gay bars, no clive sports teams, and no queer performance spac, the Grdr app provis our ers wh an opportuny to fd their muni, ” Qutana-Harrison told me. “Gay men will not go back to the closet.

Last active 3 hours agoMigz, 27From HurghadaDaboan, 28From CairoМакс, 23From Sharm el-SheikhЭрик, 31From Shubra Al KhaymahAlexei, 32From GizaKhoir, 23From CairoMeme, 22From AlexandriaTaha, 26From CairoEduard, 32From HurghadaAhmed, 28From CairoMhmoud Do, 23From AlexandriaAllGayLbianSearch settgs[154 359] people om are lookg for iendship and munitn on MambaSign upStart chattg right now! The ultimate 10 day Egypt erary for gay travellers (Nile river cise clud)Stori > Iterari > The ultimate 10 day Egypt erary for gay travellers (Nile river cise clud)Sand swept wh ancient trigue and shaped by human civilisatn’s most fantastic archectural feats, Egypt as no stranger to worldly travellers.

Though homosexualy is technilly not a crime Egypt, prosecutn unr bchery and public morals laws is a realy for some. Even as recently as 2017, there was a ernment crackdown on the gay Egypt muny wh a number of queer spac beg raid which rulted 57 arrts.

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

For this reason, the suatn for LGBTQ+ travellers and lols remas tense and Egypt gay tourism velopment is stifled. While there is an unrground scene for the gay muny gay Cairo and Alexandria, tappg to wh a risk.

We’d remend agast g gay datg apps while Egypt wh extra utn beg taken if approached by a lol due to the possibily of set-ups and extortn. To be safe, rea om PDA and mata discretn public.When bookg acmodatn, rt assured that midrange and top-end hotels will likely have no problem wh acceptg gay upl and those requtg a double bed, but the budget range hotels, particularly more ral spots, may not be que so ed to acmodatg gay guts. If stayg the night Abu Simbel, head back to the temple se for sunset and the Light Show after dark.Abu Simbel Templ | Photo: AsieactiveRi a dimentary feluc or splurge on a stay-aboard luxury cise ship; whatever you n afford, the tradnal Nile cise is a fe mt on your gay Egypt travel eraryDay 5 - 7: Nile ciseRi a dimentary feluc or splurge on a stay-aboard luxury cise ship; whatever you n afford, the tradnal Nile cise is a fe mt on your gay Egypt travel erary.

GAY DATG APPS ARE PROTECTG USERS AMID EGYPT'S LGBTQ CRACKDOWN

Meet like-md members wh terts Gay Arabs, Gay Mlim Datg, Gay Mlims, Gay Arabic, Gay Iranians, Gay Egyptians, Gay Persians, Gay Armenians, Gay Afghans, Gay Iraqis. Media ptn, Watch: Ahmed Shihab-Eld meets a member of the LGBT muny who has been targetedIn Egypt, homosexualy is highly stigmatised, and there have long been allegatns that police are huntg LGBT people onle. Now BBC News has seen evince of how the thori are g datg and social apps to do victims' nam have been changed Havg grown up Egypt, I am aware of the pervasive homophobia that permeat every part of s society.

There is no explic law agast homosexualy Egypt, but our vtigatn has found that the crime of "bchery" - a sex work law - is beg ed to crimalise the LGBT muny. In one transcript, police scribe intifyg a foreigner, who we are llg Matt, on the popular gay datg app Grdr.

GAY DATG APPS GRDR AND HOR HELP LGBT EGYPTIANS STAY SAFE AMID CRACKDOWN

One such victim, whom we found through the transcripts, was a gay man we are llg Lah. Lah says the police also tried to get him to rm on other gay people he knew ptn, Lah (right) - the inti of all our ntributors need to be disguisedHow we disguised ntributors' intiFor the BBC documentary Queer Egypt Unr Attack we ed novative face-trackg 3-D maskg to ensure inti remaed protected - the aim was to give the film a more attractive athetic than the ual blobbg technique of disguise allows. '" The Egyptian ernment has spoken publicly about s e of onle surveillance to target what scribed as "homosexual gathergs" 2020, Ahmed Taher, former assistant to the Mister of Interr for Inter Crim and Human Traffickg, told the newspaper Ahl Masr: "We reced police the virtual world to unver the mass of group sex parti, homosexual gathergs.

They are forced at knife pot to give their full nam and adm they are gay. In one of the vios, an 18-year-old gay man we are llg Saeed is forced to, falsely, say he is a sex worker.

It shocked me to learn, the urse of vtigatn that one gang lear, Yahia, is gay and actively postg onle about his own sex perhaps giv him a crimal edge - he knows jt how vulnerable his targets are. And arguably his own posn, as a gay man wh ltle opportuny, fuels his crimaly.

GAY EGYPT TRAVEL GUI

Wtern cha hotels are where gay travelers will want to stay Cairo. Most likely you already know that homosexualy is unofficially illegal Egypt.

You've probably heard of the "Cairo 52" se om 2001, when a group of 52 men were arrted at a gay party the "Queen Boat" moored on the Nile. Dpe terventn by ternatnal human rights anizatns, the suatn for homosexuals remas que alarmg the untry, wh arrt and torture beg mon practice.

As a gay traveler, don't e lol chat rooms to meet lol men, and be ut cisg areas. Wh mon sense you'll be able to enjoy Egypt and still fd your gaydar peakg plac.

Simply hang out where the trendit straight crowds do, and you'll see plenty of gay lols and expats. Other apparently gay-iendly plac are:.

Remendatns for Gay Travelers Cairo. Everyone ss people-watchg om the sofas as they enjoy specialty cktails, and this is where you're most likely to fd a discreet mix of straight and gay. Fashnable gay men playg straight head to the Marrtt for the expensive drks at s Harry's Pub.