Egypt jails four men for gay acts

[isanbirder]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26934432

These apparently include cross-dressing and using make-up.

The article calls Egypt "a bellwether to the Arab world". I admit, sheep did come to mind.

[onthemoon]

What was the situation of gays in Egypt before the "Arab spring" like?

[Scott]

The situation before the Arab Spring doesn't seem to be a lot different than after. Under Mubarak there was harassment and police actions against gays:

In 2000, police arrested an Egyptian gay couple and charged them with, "violation of honor by threat" and "practising immoral and indecent behavior". Their lawyer asked that the charges be dropped because homosexuality was not a crime, but the judge refused on the grounds that two men had in fact "offended" religious and moral standards [2]. The incident became a media sensation, promoting various public figures to view homosexuality as a product of Western decadence and demand that the government execute homosexuals or send them to mental institutions to be reformed [3].

Within a year, the Egyptian government began a public crackdown on Egyptian gay men by raiding private parties, arresting the guests and charging them with various laws, including violating the "Public Order & Public Morals" code, enacted in the 1990s to combat "Satanic" and "lewd" expressions, as well as engaging in prostitution and "violating the teachings of religion and propagating depraved ideas and moral depravity." [4].

The first of these raids was at a Cairo boat party, where all the Egyptian gay men, fifty-two, were arrested and charged with violating these vague public morality laws. The "Cairo 52" were arrested and tried on vaguely worded laws such as "violating the teachings of religion", "propagating depraved ideas", "contempt of religion" and "moral depravity."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Egypt

[onthemoon]

The situation before the Arab Spring doesn't seem to be a lot different than after. Under Mubarak there was harassment and police actions against gays:

Not surprised. So the "Arab Spring" was no liberation at all, in terms of gay liberties.

[Scott]

I don't think the Arab Spring was ever about gays. Until their is some change in the thinking of the society there is very little chance of change. In that part of the world, the society, the culture and the dominant religion are pretty much united against gays. A few countries are a little more tolerant than others, but it's just not the most welcoming place for gays.