Dear friends,
At least 43 people have been detained here in Egypt just because someone waved a rainbow flag.
The hunt started two weeks ago, when images of a concert in Cairo were posted on social media, showing someone dancing with the rainbow flag. The police claimed that the people arrested were "homosexuals who raised the LGBT flag and encouraged the practice of immoral acts."
Most of those detained have been put through a speedy trial and sentenced to six years in prison. They are appealing these sentences and we need all the support we can get to show Egyptian authorities that colours are not shame. That's why activists from Egypt, the Middle East, and North Africa have started this petition with All Out.
Victims have been arrested under charges of "habitual debauchery" and "inciting immorality." Some of them have been targeted through dating apps; lured into dates that turned out to be an entrapment. These people are being targeted just for being perceived as LGBT.
Authorities are charging those detained with "debauchery", but the reality is that the police is deliberately targeting people who they think are LGBT in this hunt.
Politicians, religious leaders, and the media are supporting the hunt, fueling hate, and publicly insulting the people detained.
Egypt is a very conservative country and being LGBT is an everyday challenge. Some people had never even seen a rainbow flag flown in Cairo before the concert. What looked like a heartwarming step towards equality and tolerance turned out to be the start of a horrible nightmare.
Thank you for going All Out,
Activists from Egypt, the Middle East, and North Africa
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