澳门六合彩

On June 13, Egyptian LGBTQI+ activist and exiled political prisoner Sara Hegazy committed suicide in Toronto, Canada. Sara, aged 30, addressed the world in , and her death stands as a sobering reminder of how limited freedoms are in the Arab world; how stifling it is to fight for your rights facing overbearing authoritarianism and a society that scorns some lives as unnatural and sinful.

厂补谤补鈥檚 LGBTQI+ activism made headlines worldwide in 2017 when she was arrested by Egyptian authorities for raising the rainbow flag (widely known as the LGBTQI+ pride flag) at a concert in Cairo for the Lebanese band whose lead singer is also openly (and courageously) gay. What was her crime? reported that Sara was arrested and jailed for 鈥渁llegedly joining a banned group aimed at interfering with the constitution.鈥� Many others were also arrested for either being gay or for supporting LGBTQI+ rights. After three months in prison where she was tortured by police, Sara sought asylum in Canada.

However, even in her new 鈥榮anctuary鈥� in Toronto, where she could exercise her full rights as a member of the LGBTQI+ community and a gay activist, Sara continued to struggle. In September 2018, on the Egyptian online site Mada Masr. Sara wrote that an Egyptian policeman asked her to prove that the World Health Organization (WHO) does not designate homosexuality as a disease. She was forced to oblige. The WHO removed homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases in 1992, but that is still, sadly, how many in the Arab world see gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer and transgender people 鈥� diseased. 聽In fact, days after 厂补谤补鈥檚 suicide, the Egyptian Dar al Ifta鈥� (House of Fatwas or religious edicts) issued a fatwa noting that God has forbidden 鈥渟exual deviance or abnormality鈥� (which is how homosexuality is often referred to) and strongly 鈥渁dvising鈥� those with such 鈥渟exually abnormal鈥� leanings to seek a 鈥渕edical specialist.鈥�

However, even in her new 鈥榮anctuary鈥� in Toronto, where she could exercise her full rights as a member of the LGBTQI+ community and a gay activist, Sara continued to struggle.

According to Tarek Zeidan, Executive Director of , a Lebanon based non-profit organization focused on improving the legal and social status of LGBTQI+ people in the country and across the region, 鈥淢ost people in Lebanon, according to a survey we conducted, believe homosexuality is a disease, rather than a sin.鈥� However, Zeidan adds, 鈥渨e do not have ethnographic accounts or enough data on the LGBTQ community in the MENA region鈥o it is difficult to really know where people really stand on the issue.鈥�

Further, a 2018-2019 survey by the , shows that so called 鈥渉onor鈥� killings are considered 鈥渕ore acceptable鈥� than homosexuality in a number of Arab countries. In Morocco, for example, 25 percent consider honor killings acceptable compared to 21 percent of respondents who consider homosexuality to be acceptable. In Jordan, 21 percent consider honor killings acceptable compared to 7 percent who believe homosexuality is acceptable.

厂补谤补鈥檚 painful journey is testament to how risky it is being a member or supporter of the LGBTQI+ community in the Arab world. In many countries including Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qatar, Kuwait, and Iran, homosexuality is punishable by death. In others, such as Jordan and Iraq, homosexuality is not illegal, however, society and authorities are often intolerant of it. In Jordan, for example, Mashrou鈥� Leila鈥檚 concert was banned two years in a row (in 2016 and 2017) for what Amman鈥檚 Mayor at the time claimed was the band鈥檚 songs that .

鈥淭here is a lot of fear in the LGBTQ community in the region,鈥� says Jordan-based human rights activist Madian Al Jazirah. What happened to Sara, he told me, from the arrest, to the imprisonment, to the torture she was subjugated to, and then her tragic death, is every member of this community鈥檚 鈥渘ightmare scenario.鈥�

A Turning Point

Since news broke out about 厂补谤补鈥檚 death, messages of support, grief and solidarity have been pouring in nonstop on social media both in the region and worldwide. There were also incendiary messages and comments that flooded the social media space in response. However, many human rights activists believe 厂补谤补鈥檚 tragic departure represents a 鈥渢urning point.鈥� Al Jazirah notes that there has never been 鈥渢his level of outspokenness鈥� in solidarity with Sara and what she represents, 鈥減articularly from outside of the LGBTQ community in the region.鈥� There is 鈥渕ore awareness,鈥� he adds.

Since news broke out about 厂补谤补鈥檚 death, messages of support, grief and solidarity have been pouring in nonstop on social media both in the region and worldwide.聽

Zeidan agrees. 鈥淚t is a pivotal moment for LGBT rights in the region especially in Egypt as Sara has now become a topic of discussion in every single household in her country...鈥� He adds that her suicide note, particularly her forgiveness of all those who have caused her pain has 鈥渁gitated people and created unprecedented debate.鈥�

Perhaps it is too soon to tell how the LGBTQI+ and other human rights movements demanding equality and justice across the region will go from here. One thing is certain however, 厂补谤补鈥檚 last words will resonate loudly with the hundreds of thousands who marched and protested for justice in recent weeks:

鈥淭o the world, you鈥檝e been cruel to a great extent. But I forgive.鈥�

Her words speak courage and also hope in the darkest of moments.聽