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Being gay in Egypt is not an
easy thing to leave with, since this is country with 90%
Muslims, where the religious intolerance regarding the gay
people is well known. The homosexual relations are called
‘practice of debauchery’ and are punishable although in the
penal code of Egypt is not an explicitly stated law about
it.
According to the Human Rights
Watch, in Egypt were cases of men tortured and forced by the
police to sing that they are homosexuals. The same source
shows that two men were forced to be anal examined to prove
that they had anal sex. These men were arrested, chained and
even beaten; they were forced to go to the hospital to have
the HIV test. There are many cases like this one in Egypt,
cases that violets the human rights.
The number of men arrested under the
suspicion of being HIV infected is about 12. it seems that
everything started in 2007, October; this type of actions
violates not only the rights of the people infected with HIV
and the human rights but also is a threat for the public
health because the people will find it dangerous to search
information about the prevention and the treatment of HIV.
Considering the huge crackdown of the Egyptian police
against the gay people, is no wonder why being gay in this
country is a very difficult thing.
The gay community of Egypt is simply
terrified and the human rights groups from America and
Europe criticized this intolerance and behavior against the
sexual minorities. There are no certain numbers about the
gays that are jailed but probably are hundreds of them. The
taboos of the Egyptian society against the homosexuals made
the human rights groups from Egypt to avoid their
interventions. The few local gay activists try to raise some
legal fees and to offer some support, which is a dangerous
work since they can be arrested, ostracized and even beaten.
But the gay minority still fights for
their rights and hope for better days, ignoring their own
personal safety. There are no protections based on gender
identity or sexual orientation in Egypt. The organizations
of human rights from this country are afraid to defend the
sexual minorities who are considered an unpopular category
of people. As regarding the politicians, they ask for the
hays` executions or their relocations in mental institutions
or prisons in order to reform them! There were some efforts
to registry one homosexuals` organization in order to stop
the spreading of HIV – AIDS but with no effects.
The government of Egypt refused the
recognition of the homosexuality existence till 2001, when
they admit it only to get ride of the criticisms coming from
the foreign politicians and human rights organizations. The
most of the Egypt` s people see the homosexuality as a
forbidden thing and as an act who has to be detestable, so,
it is a problem of mentality. The LGBT community lives
hidden and gathers underground only.
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