Tag Archives: Egypt

The First Woman To Come Out Publicly In Egypt Faces Death Threats – But Says She Has No Regrets

A two minutes video circulated on social media a few days ago with the opening statement ‘Hi…I’m most hated lesbian in Egypt’.

The message came from a young Egyptian woman named Dalia Al-Faghal, who recently publicly came out as a lesbian on Facebook.

Last month, Al-Faghal – who was born and raised in Saudi Arabia to Egyptian parent – posted to Facebook about coming out to her father as a lesbian, providing screen shots of his supportive comments, and a picture of her with her girlfriend.

Al-Faghal wanted to show the public how proud she was of his acceptance, however her loving post was met with an unprecedented wave of attacks and hate comments.

She has received violent backlash from some social media users who saw her sexual orientation as a violation of the conservative Egyptian society and its Islamic ideals.

She was verbally attacked, compared to animals and told she was causing the apocalypse and should be stoned.

Her dad was sent death threats, her privacy was invaded and details of her personal life were disseminated.

While homosexuality is not illegal in Egypt, according to The Guardian, police routinely arrest individuals based on decades-old prostitution and debauchery laws.

According to media reports from earlier this year, Egyptian police have even been targeting gay men through hookup apps like Grindr.

Despite the hate, the trailblazer, who lives in San Francisco, is trying to focus on the positives.

I used to be a kid who was raised in Saudi Arabia. Now that I am all queer, head to toe, in f***en SF – that is a hell damn miracle to me”.

Egyptian Actress Mona Hala: ‘People Are Free to Be Homosexuals; It Is Not My Place to Judge Them’

Mona Hala is one of Egypt’s leading young actresses. In a recent interview, she called for the rights of sexual minorities in her homeland to be respected.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Dh6cFonht0

Hala, who has appeared in films including Cairo Time, Zaky Chan and The Baby Doll Night, gave the interview on 19 April to Egyptian television channel ON TV but the footage has only appeared online this month. The footage was uncovered by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) who shared the video on their YouTube channel.

In it she asks why it is necessary that the government includes her gender on her identity cards.

I have never classified myself as a “woman.” Quite the opposite. As far as I’m concerned they should delete that field from our ID cards … Why shouldn’t I be treated as a human being? Why does my sex have to be recorded? Why does the government have to know it? Why is it so important whether you are male or female?”

In response her interviewer asks what she would think would happen if a man went about dressed as a woman if gender was not recorded on ID cards.

He is free to be one. It is not my place to pass moral judgement on people. It’s none of my business. Homosexuality has existed since ancient times. Many people throughout history have been like that, so who are we to judge them? Alexander the Great who built Alexandria was homosexual. Is that a reason to destroy Alexandria or to change its name?’

Hala also touched on the suggestion that gay and lesbian tourists should be prevented from visiting Egypt or should be deported if they were discovered in the country.

I am opposed to discrimination against any human being, whether on the basis of skin color, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. Anything. It is the same as if, after the [Charlie Hebdo attack] in France by Muslim terrorists, they had prevented all Muslims from entering France. It’s not fair … It’s the same as preventing all homosexuals from entering Egypt. Let’s say that someone [is in a same-sex relationship] in his country and he wants to come to Egypt to see the antiquities and so on – what right to you have to prevent him from doing so? I don’t get it.”