Gays in Egypt
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I have been putting together a list of countries that have laws against gays. It is shocking to see how prevelent this is. Here is just one example.
Escaping abuse overseas: gay men from conservative countries are winning the right to asylum in the United States
Advocate, The, May 24, 2005 by Mike Hudson
In January 2003, Wissam Abyad, an openly gay man in Egypt, arranged an in-person meeting at a Cairo McDonald's with a gay man he'd met via the Internet. The man claimed that he'd just moved to the area and wanted to meet other gay men.
At 1 P.M. Abyad was standing in front of the fast-food chain when his cell phone rang. "I'm here, where are you?" the man asked. "Why don't you wave to show me where you are."
As Abyad complied, a group of policemen and vice cops descended on him. They arrested him on charges of "public morality offenses."
Abyad was interrogated, threatened by police officials, and thrown into jail. During his trial he was displayed in a cage and was not allowed to testify in his defense. The judge gave him a sentence of one year and three months. "Egyptian jail cells do not have running water, bathrooms, or a place to sleep," Abyad says. "Inmates depend on their families to bring them basic necessities."
Yet in the end Abyad was one of the lucky openly gay men and lesbians trapped in such a culture. His case got worldwide attention, prison officials bowed to the pressure, and he was released in January 2004. He arrived in the United States in April with the help of human rights groups and his American partner. And he successfully got asylum.
Such cases are becoming increasingly common as gay Muslim men from the Middle East–and other conservative regions--have won the right to stay in the United States based on the threat of persecution in their home countries due to their sexual orientation.
Since 1994, based on a clarification of the law from then--attorney general Janet Reno, fear of persecution for sexual orientation has been grounds for being granted asylum in the United States. The burden of proof for such cases is also low, with a judge only needing to determine a person is subject to a 10% chance of enduring persecution if they were to return to their country of origin.
The law remains a murky middle ground, and unfamiliarity with GLBT issues has sunk many of the asylum claims filed since Reno's actions. But lately, a few cases were able to work their way through the system, as lawyers say the plight of gay men in the Middle East is starting to resonate within the courts and immigration system.
Perhaps the groundbreaking case for gay Middle Eastern asylum seekers is that of a 29-year-old Iranian who had battled for his asylum since November 2001 after realizing his life would be in danger if he returned to his native land.
Mohammad, the name his lawyers have given him to protect his identity, came to the United States from Iran in June 2001 after meeting a man in Maryland online. His first interview with federal authorities for asylum didn't go well, however, as an agent was seemingly more interested in the amount of time he'd spent in the United States than in his safety if he were deported.
In fact, his first claim was denied on the grounds that he may have been in the States for more than 12 months--the deadline for filing for asylum after arrival. After another attempt in 2002, the government demanded proof that he was indeed gay.
"Immigration officials wanted to confirm that he met his burden of proof for eligibility," says Chris Nugent, community services team senior counsel with Holland and Knight in Washington, D.C. "Winning asylum is a rare thing to get, because you have to prove the credibility of the person and the threat they face."
In the case of people from the Middle East, however, the threat is plain. Religious leaders often issue overt threats of arrest or death to homosexuals. And these threats are backed up by state laws, either legislated or simply de facto enforced, that punish homosexuality. In Iran, for instance, the punishment for sodomy between two men is known to be death. For lesbian conduct the penalty is 100 lashes from a whip.
Mohammad also had the testimony of friends and his lover to back up his claims. Eventually the government had no other choice than to enforce its own guidelines and in December 2004 awarded him asylum in the U.S.
Adding to the momentum of this case, Nassier Karouni, a gay, HIV-positive Lebanese man set for deportation, was awarded temporary visitor status in March by the ninth U.S. circuit court of appeals on the basis of his homosexuality and the threats he faced at home because of it. The decision overruled that of a federal immigration board that would have sent the man to Lebanon while his asylum case was pending in the United States.
"The attorney general appears content with saddling Karouni with the Hobson's choice of either returning to Lebanon and facing persecution for future homosexual acts or living a life of celibacy," wrote Judge Harry Pregerson in the Karouni decision. "In our opinion, neither option is acceptable."
Nugent says he has found success with other cases with people from Egypt, Africa, and even South and Central America as the plights of gays and lesbians abroad starts to hit home with the American judicial system. But the situation in the Middle East, with so much media attention focused on the everyday violence of life and the power of religious leaders within those countries, lends credibility to claims that aliens from those countries make. -
Do you mind sharing the list?
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Most Muslim/Arab and African countries have anti gay laws.
Many/most of the former USSR countries are anti gay.
China is also not gay friendly, even though they partially legalized homosexuality.
The surprising thing {not really} is that the EU says that in order to join, you have to have basic human rights laws in place, that protect everyone. Yet they still allow countries to join that violate one of their most basic rules. Actually, it's their first rule of membership.
That is good to know. Thanks.
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Yah well I live in Egypt part of the time, so I know how the prosecution is like here. They are also very anti-bi when it comes to that matter, they see it as something very immoral and wrong. The problem with islam is that it takes fanticism to a new level, as where gays in christianity are not accepted, with islam they are being erradicated, so to speak.
The best option in egypt, if your gay, is to just hide it. That realy is the only thing people can do, otherwise they would find themselves in a multitude of insults, beatings and a lot of pain. I have come to realise lately though that the younger generation is a bit more open-minded then the older generation, so we might see a change in the gay opinions in egypt, even so, thats a pretty long way off :P. This mentality against gays seems to be reflected only in the lower class though, people who are living middle to high class don't have this problem
But generaly the rule of thumb is that if your not an egyptian, its alright for you to be gay. I wouldn't have a problem telling people I'm bi in Egypt, since Im half-Greek anyway, plus I know a lot of people who are half-British or half-American who have no problems whatsoever. Its just a very stupid subject tbh because they don't realy have any evidence or real reasons as to WHY they hate gays, they just keep refering back to the koran, and tbh I don't trust a book that doesn't have any facts.
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And now: on the list of COUNTRIES WITH NO SODOMY LAWS (HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVITY IS
LEGAL) there IS NOT even one Arab/Muslim country (exept Turkey and B&H that are in Europe, or at least-partly in Europe)… Facts say by themselfs... -
And now: on the list of COUNTRIES WITH NO SODOMY LAWS (HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVITY IS
LEGAL) there IS NOT even one Arab/Muslim country (exept Turkey and B&H that are in Europe, or at least-partly in Europe)… Facts say by themselfs...But am i wrong in thinking Kazakhstan,Azerbaijan,Kyrgyzstan and Georgia are muslim to the greater extent and Eritrea has two state religions 1 being sunni muslim so no i dont see that the facts do speak for themselfs i just think we should stop being so anti muslim my self and my partner visit Egypt regularly and have NEVER had any problems at all.
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Well - I don't think any of us here is anti-muslim. Me personally - I love muslim culture. We are just saying that islam is definnitely good religion concerning gay topic. U say - the same about catholicism and ortodox - right - I agree - but at least in Greece and in Poland and in most of the other cristian countries there is no any law that tells me what should I do in my bed (and with whom should I do it). We all know that in muslim countries being gay is much more difficult then in Europe or the States. My friends from Egypt and Gulf are offen affrain even to put pictures of themselves into the gay profile, in order not to be recognised there in their anti-gay countries…. Doesn't seem nice for me...
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no actually
Jordan is a muslim country and it is on the list
i live in jordan but i never knew thatwill i dont think it matters at all …coz its how u are treated by other arabs/muslims in the country u live so am not planning to come out any time soon
until i move to canada
after i finish college -
hey i'm from egypt , and after i read the main message of that forum , i ask him , where you hear that story ? indeed , no laws against Gays now in Egypt , it's impossible to find a gay man jailed for gay sex ! here in Egypt ( for more information about that point see www.wikipeida.org & and search for gays laws around the world ) anyway , that's not mean we have gay rights , but we are the must fighting Islamic/Arabic country for that point . but we still the first Arabic ( second Islamic after Turkey ) that we haven't a laws against gays , but we still not that free , still many gays here want to move to gay rights countries
THANKS -
The article details were in the opening post.
Advocate, The, May 24, 2005 by Mike Hudson
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Homophobic countries can and will use any kind of law available to get their way.
A lot of them do have laws on immorality which they use on gays.
I think also in Egypt such laws are used for gays.Also, I'm told that some states within the US still have sodomy laws.
Laws applicable on sodomy / assfucking between straight people as well as gays.
They are almost never used but still in existence and come in handy for police now and then! -
thank you mgr….
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thats a great list
its also quite a frightening list
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