As you all must have noticed, homosexual rights have been broadened and strengthened with the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in numerous countries such as France, the US and so on. It got me thinking, what about Egypt? Is homosexuality even legal? will it ever be legal? I mean, we don't completely abide by the Sharia law.. So, I started researching and researching to learn more about their place in our society; and after facing an internal debate about whether homosexuality is wrong or right or what, I discovered that there was a more urgent issue that needed to be taken care of, and it is of homophobic hate crimes. So read on, and share your thoughts!
With a net rise
in homophobic behavior fostered by 21st century Egypt, hate crimes
and violence directed at homosexuals are becoming less shocking and more
popular. An apparent belief has been established in Egyptian society and
culture, that violence directed at gays was not only justifiable and completely
normal, but was also encouraged. Although Egypt does not condemn
homosexual behavior, it allows violence against homosexuals to go unpunished;
however, violence of any sort under the pretext of unorthodox
sexual orientation is unjustifiable, whether it is
administered by the government or by the people.
Though not characterized as illegal by the Egyptian penal
code, homosexuality is frowned upon by religious texts; and seeing as how the
majority of the Egyptian population is believed to be religious, being gay is
viewed as something immoral and perverted as it opposes shared values and
beliefs. To the majority of the population, they are “deviant people who deserve to be punished or even executed[1]” In
a culture rooted in ancient values, beliefs and traditions, it is unusual to
find an acceptance of gays among the heterosexual community, which predominates
the social stage. Unfortunately, this intolerance has fed and has been the
leverage aggressors rely on when engaging in homophobic acts. These homophobic
acts on the other hand have gone unsanctioned for decades now and this type of
violence is normally accepted by the society and even encouraged to an extent.
According to Adam Amin, an Egyptian homosexual who discussed the issue in an
online periodical “To straight Egyptians, we’re wrong and
therefore anything done against us is right.” The
victims are left shattered, unprotected and unable to respond to these threats
and abuses because of a shared belief that they are sinners and are ‘in the
wrong’ (Amin). They are therefore obliged to face the whole community on their
own, without even the law backing them up.
Homosexuals endure all kinds of humiliation
and violence, it varies from regular verbal abuse that undermines them and
threatens their wellbeing to physical violence that encompasses severe beating
to torture. Because of the idea that anything done against gays is ‘right’ because
‘they deserve it’ (Amin), many heterosexual citizens embody the role of
vigilantes and take it upon themselves to harass and pursue other citizens that
look ‘different’ (Amin); this situation reflects the events that happened to
Kareem, a 16 year old who was walking in Downtown Cairo; hounded by a group of
older and much stronger men under the eyes of indifferent policemen. Kareem got
arrested in the end, was subjected to rectal examinations that held no
scientific back up to determine whether he was gay or not, while remaining
powerless the entire time (Awadalla); which clearly violated his fundamental
human rights. Stories like these became more and more common in the late 90s
till this day, and it shows the injustice and lack of respect given to gays in
Egypt.
It is important to understand that average Egyptian citizens
are not the only ones inflicting mental and physical pain upon homosexuals;
authority figures are also highly responsible because of a legal framework that
allows their prosecution (Long 10). In a
report written by the Human Rights Watch on Egypt in 2003 entitled “In a Time
of Torture: The Assault on Justice in Egypt’s Crackdown on Homosexual Conduct”,
the investigators expose a hidden façade of Egypt’s judiciary system and the
ways in which prosecutors abuse the laws to their benefits in order to condemn
whomever pleases them to sanctioning under the pretext of ‘public morality’ and
‘debauchery’ (Long11). Taha Embaby, a powerful authority figure and head of
Vice Squad in Cairo, has been linked to hundreds of torture cases in which
detainees would get severely beaten, burned, suspended by their limbs, whipped
(Long11) and subjected to rectal examinations that were based on false medical
knowledge. These testimonies reflect the behavior and mentality of an
intolerant and abusive society and not one that is truly driven by morality and
educated values; it exposes the rotten core of a community that has nurtured
and promoted cruelty and savagery as treatment given to anti-conformists who
lead unorthodox lifestyles.
Homophobia fosters the same kind of
violence as racism and sexism do; however, these issues have been addressed
much more often and much more openly than homophobia has ever been. It is
evident that such violence goes against the fundamental human rights of the
individual because according to article 1 of
the United Nations Human Rights charter “All human beings are born
free and equal in dignity and rights.”
therefore a segregation that is based solely on the sexual orientation of a
person is in the end a threat to civilization as a whole because if any kind
violence is acceptable, human value and dignity is ultimately ridiculed. Furthermore,
aggressors should be reminded that other people might share different values
and beliefs; though, this does not grant them the right to harass them.
Secondly, it is absurd to use religion to support any kind of
violence as the latter promotes contrary values such as tolerance of diversity and
respect. If an act is considered punishable by the ancient texts that the
Egyptian population believe in, it is not the responsibility or a right given
to any Egyptian citizen, regardless of the position of power he possesses to
engage in inhumane and violent behavior in order to correct or sanction’ that ‘wrong’; Man has not been given such a divine
right in this case. Moreover, many things some people engage in is considered
‘haram’, such as drinking for instance; however, does this mean that we should
accept violence against anybody who sins?
Additionally, it is interesting to see how, given that Egypt
is not driven by the sharia law, the state still manages to intervene in the
personal lives of its inhabitants such as ‘intervening in what happens inside
the bedroom’ which is a clear “offensive against privacy” (Long1) and corrupts
the principles of public life; it is believed that “Every Egyptian’s dignity
and integrity are under threat in a time of torture”. (Long 1)
Finally, the ‘Two wrongs don’t make a right’ proverb supports
the idea that the use of violence to ‘remedy’ homosexual conduct is in itself a
wrongful action; and considering that two wrongful acts do not cancel each
other, it is absolutely needless and unnecessary to persist condemning helpless
people to a life time of fear and abuse.
Now more than ever, homophobic hate crimes
should be addressed and resolved because as Egypt is advancing in a new era
under the reign of a more conservative political party, society may forget this
unjustly treated minority since their misery has no effect on the rest of the
community and can therefore be easily disregarded. There is no wrong time to
address any kind of violence, and the Egyptian community should start
considering this taboo topic as an imminent and imperative issue affecting
society as a whole.
Cited Work
Article 1 of “The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights”. The United Nations General Assembly. December
1948.
Amin, Adam. “While Americans Fight For Marriage Equality,
Gays in Egypt and the Arab World Fight For Survival” The Homo Life. Alex Hughes. December 11, 2012.
Ahmed Awadalla « Homophobic Crimes in
Egypt » Rebel with a cause. October 4, 2010. http://rwac-egypt.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html.
Long,
Scott. “In a time of Torture: The Assault on Justice in Egypt’s crackdown on
homosexual conduct” Human Rights Watch. May 2013. Published in 2004.
“The
return of the devil-worshippers: The arrest of 55 suspects in a shameless party
for the engagement of two men,” Al-Wafd, May 13, 2001.
