While there’s so specific law in Egypt that criminalises homosexuality, the country does have several provisions that criminalise any behaviour or the expression of any idea that is deemed to be immoral, scandalous, or offensive to the teachings of a recognised religious leader.
Egypt is a socially conservative country, and these public morality and public order-based laws are being used against LGBTQ people as well as anyone who supports more liberal attitudes.In an increasingly hostile environment, it’s being reported by Human Rights Watch that police in Egypt are using dating apps to identify and persecute gay men.
Men interviewed by Human Rights Watch all told similar stories of being arrested on charges of debauchery, prostitution, selling alcohol, or joining a terrorist group. Once in custody, they were subjected to days and sometimes months of abuse such as anal examinations, beatings, rape, and sexual assault.
How did we get here?
The public decency laws that are used to persecute queer people began to emerge in the early 1960s. The laws were initially intended to tackle prostitution – they refer to ‘debauchery’ and authorities have interpreted that to include a prohibition on homosexuality.
The systematic crackdown on LGBTQ people appears to have begun around 2000, continuing unabated after the revolution in 2011.
The queer history of Ancient Egypt
Obviously, the existence of queer men and women is nothing new in any part of the world. In Egypt, our recorded history can be traced back to ancient times.
One of the most prominent same-sex relationships of Ancient Egypt is that of Nyankh-Khnum and Khnum-hotep.Nyankh-Khnum and Khnum-hotep lived and served under pharaoh Niuserre during the 5th Dynasty (c. 2494–2345 BC). Both men had families of their own with children and wives, but when Nyankh-Khnum and Khnum-hotep died, they were buried together in the same tomb. In the tomb, several paintings depict both men embracing each other and touching their faces nose-on-nose – in Ancient Egypt, this gesture represented a kiss.
There is little evidence surviving that gives any great insight into LGBTQ life in Ancient Egypt. Any sexually orientated stories recorded in documents or literature are never explicit but use abstract references. No record has been found that indicates any negative views towards homosexuality, or any punishments for same-sex encounters.
