Dear ,
The Egyptian government hates rainbows.
In fact, waving a rainbow flag can have very serious consequences in Egypt. In September 2017, 75 people were arrested after someone did just that at a concert in Cairo. And last year, at least 76 people were arrested and taken to court, just because authorities assumed they were LGBT+.
It doesn't have to stay that way. This March, Egypt will be presenting our country at the world's biggest tourism fair, the ITB in Berlin, Germany. Together we can use this opportunity to bring the rainbow back to Egypt.
Our friends at All Out will print the flag, take it to Berlin, and wave it in front of the Egyptian exhibition. Then they'll hand over the flag to the Egyptian staff and ask them to bring the rainbow back to Egypt and to ask our government to respect the rights of LGBT+ citizens.
While being LGBT+ is not illegal by law in Egypt, in practice LGBT+ people are constantly being harassed, discriminated against, and charged with infringing morality laws.
Egyptian authorities have developed new techniques to hunt down people they assume are LGBT+. They use online dating platforms like Grindr and create fake profiles on social media in order to trap and arrest their victims. And many men who get arrested are forced to undergo humiliating "anal tests" to supposedly "prove" they're gay.
Our community is desperate. After the latest round of arrests, many were forced to leave the country. There have been multiple reports of attempted suicides and I know of at least one person who saw no other way out than to take their own life.
This act of solidarity is so important, Luc. By bringing the rainbow back to Egypt and showing that we're not alone, you will help bring back a shimmer of hope to our community.
Thanks for going All Out,
Yasmin,
Activist from Egypt (name changed for safety reasons)
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