A video circulated on social media shows a violent group assault targeting individuals who displayed the rainbow flag, a symbol of LGBTQ+ pride. The incident reportedly occurred at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport. However, a source from the academy denied the claims, stating the individuals involved were not students there.
Following the video’s release, posts inciting hate and violence against LGBTQ+ individuals appeared on Platform X, with some users praising the attacks.
Egyptian MP Mahmoud Salah from the Reform and Development Party wrote on his Facebook page: “The last thing I expected was for students at a prestigious academic institution in Alexandria to raise the ‘pervert’ flag and hold a protest for the rights of this group inside the academy.” Notably, the Reform and Development Party is considered a liberal party in Egypt. Instead of calling for a safe environment for university students and LGBTQ+ individuals or condemning the group assault, MP Mahmoud Salah chose to blame those who peacefully displayed the rainbow flag.
In 2017, Egypt witnessed a similar incident when attendees at a “Mashrou’ Leila” concert raised the rainbow flag. Egyptian security forces arrested seven individuals on charges of “promoting homosexuality and inciting debauchery and immorality,” including the late activist Sarah Hegazy. She was detained by the Supreme State Security Prosecution on charges of “joining an illegal group, promoting its beliefs, and inciting debauchery in public.”
Following her release, Hegazy moved to Canada, but after enduring a harrowing experience in Egyptian prisons, she took her own life in 2020, leaving behind a poignant message—To the world: “You were cruel beyond measure, but I forgive.”
Anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and actions in Egypt represent systemic targeting, often unchallenged by authorities. In some cases, authorities themselves instigate or lead security campaigns to entrap LGBTQ+ individuals, violating citizens’ privacy and freedoms. These campaigns often target consensual relationships and impose severe infringements on personal autonomy.
According to Human Rights Watch, at least 43 LGBTQ+ individuals were arrested within two weeks of the 2017 concert, many without involvement in the flag display. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) reported in its November 22, 2017 publication, “The Trap: Punishing Sexual Difference in Egypt,” a fivefold increase in the annual average number of arrests and trials involving LGBTQ+ individuals since late 2013. Between July 2013—following the military coup—and March 2017, 232 individuals were arrested, averaging about 66 arrests annually, compared to an average of 14 arrests per year from 2000 to 2013.
A March 20, 2020 report by Human Rights Watch cited documentation from an LGBTQ+ rights organization based in Cairo, revealing the arrest of 92 individuals for alleged same-sex conduct in 2019. Many of these arrests were arbitrary and occurred in public spaces.
Victim testimonies and human rights documentation reveal that detainees often suffer physical abuse, sexual harassment, and forced anal examinations in detention. Reports also indicate that Egyptian authorities use possession of makeup or condoms as evidence of crimes such as “commercial sex” or “debauchery.”
