Demonstrators protested the trial of 52 Egyptian men in Cairo accused of homosexuality in a series of rallies around the world Aug. 15. The men were arrested in a May 11 raid on the Queen Boat, a floating discotheque in Cairo with a reputation as a gathering place for homosexuals.
In Washington, D.C., about a hundred people gathered in the evening outside of the Egyptian Embassy cultural office just off Dupont Circle. It was part of an international day of solidarity and mourning organized by Al-Fatiha, an international organization of Muslims who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or questioning.
"Every day gays are tortured, killed, imprisoned" by the Egyptian and other Muslim governments, Al-Fatiha founder M. Faisal Alam told the crowd. They chanted for human rights in Egypt and to "Free the Cairo 52."
About 80 people rallied outside the Egyptian consulate in New York, said Scott Long, program director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Coalition ( ILGHRC ) . Other demonstrations took place in Atlanta and San Francisco and overseas in Manila, London, Stockholm, Antwerp, and Bucharest.
There are reports that those arrested in Cairo were ill-treated and even tortured by the police while in jail. Homosexuality is not explicitly illegal under Egyptian law and the men are being prosecuted under charges ranging from "obscene behavior" to "contempt for religion."
Long sees the prosecution as an attempt by the government to "shore up its right flank" among the conservative Egyptian public. The state-controlled media has played up, even fabricated lurid aspects of the prosecution. Some of the reports have linked the detainees to "Satanism" and Judaism.
The men are being prosecuted under an Emergency Law passed in 1981 after the assassination of President Anwar el-Sadat, where there is no appeal of the verdict. This law has been used to prosecute the Islamic Brotherhood and other religious fundamentalist opposition groups.
In a conversation following the demonstration, Alam said they are realistic about what they hope to accomplish. The Egyptian government is "probably not going to release the men. But we want to send a message that there are members of the community who identify as gay Muslims, as gay Arabs, who are watching what their governments are doing. We can no longer stay silent."
He said they considered calling for a boycott of Egypt but after discussion, Al-Fatiha agreed with IGLHRC and Amnesty International that such action would be interpreted as a form of Western imperialism trying to impose its values on the Arab world.
Alam acknowledged that the Egyptian government has long "cracked down" on fundamentalist Muslim groups and now "those same tactics are being used against the gay community. They see a rising community that is beginning to ask for its rights, and would be a threat to the Egyptian government."
Reps Tom Lantos ( D-Calif. ) and Barney Frank ( D-Mass. ) sent a letter to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak expressing their concern for this violation of human rights. Alam said, "That sends the message that they are not going to stand back and watch oppression happen."
The Congressmen's concern could affect U.S. economic and military aid to Egypt. That nation is second only to Israel in the amount of assistance given by the U.S. IGLHRC's Long called it "basically a client state of the U.S, so the letter will at least be listened to."
Long hopes that international pressure will "embarrass them into dropping the charges" once the Egyptian government has milked the media coverage for domestic purposes. He fears that the legal proceedings will be drawn out, with the hope that "international attention will just go away." That is why it is important to keep the pressure on.
The organizations are asking people to write the Egyptian Embassy expressing their concern over this violation of human rights, and over the facts that the 52 men are being prosecuted because of their alleged sexual orientation and in violation of international legal standards.
Letters of protest should be directed to Ambassador M. Nabil Fahmy, Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt, 3521 International Court, NW, Washington, DC 20008-2023, or faxed to ( 202 ) 244-4319.
EGYPTIAN TRIAL UNDERWAY
The trial of 52 Egyptian men arrested at a gay bar got underway in Cairo Aug. 15 as gay activists around the world staged protests.
The men, nabbed May 11 in and around Cairo's Queen Boat discotheque, have been charged with practicing sexual immorality. Two of the men also were charged with "forming a group which aims to exploit the Islamic religion to propagate extremist ideas."
All of the men pleaded innocent. They have been jailed at Tora Prison for more than three months.
The immorality offense carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison and the religion offense carries a maximum penalty of five years.
Gays protested in several cities as the trial began. In Geneva, 50 people picketed the United Nations offices. In Washington, D.C., 100 people demonstrated at the Egyptian Cultural and Educational Bureau. Filipino gays marched on the Manila Egypt Air office. In Stockholm, activists picketed the Egyptian Embassy. About 50 people picketed the Egyptian consulate in San Francisco and 80 targeted the New York City consulate. Fifteen gays demonstrated at Egypt's London embassy. There were additional protests in Austria, Switzerland and Uganda.
