Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • NPR

    After Crackdown, Egypt's LGBT Community Contemplates 'Dark Future'

    Homosexuality isn't illegal in Egypt but human rights groups say other laws have been used to target LGBT Egyptians. "Prison killed me. It destroyed me," says an Egyptian woman jailed after a concert.
    by Jane Arraf Jun 18, 2018 7 minutes
    Ahmed Alaa, shown here in Cairo, spent three months in prison for raising a rainbow flag at the concert of a Lebanese band in Cairo last year.

    Ahmed Alaa describes raising a rainbow flag at a crowded concert in Cairo last September as "the best moment" of his life. In photos from the event, he looks ecstatic as he waves the flag in the spotlights of the outdoor stage hosting the Lebanese indie rock band Mashrou' Leila.

    He posted the photos on Facebook, and others did too. The next morning, he woke up to death threats.

    A few days later, he was arrested in Egypt's biggest crackdown on the LGBT community in years. He says his sexuality is a private matter, but his hands on the rainbow flag — a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride — became evidence of what the Egyptian government considers dangerously deviant behavior.

    "I was shocked at the number of comments threatening to kill me and drag me in the street," Alaa told NPR in Cairo in March, after he was out on bail.

    Alaa is 22. Wearing a black hoodie and a denim vest over his slight frame, he looks even younger. Hunched over on a sofa in

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from NPR

    NPR3 min readAmerican Government
    Bid To Oust Speaker Johnson Fails But GOP Turmoil Remains
    The House voted overwhelmingly to set aside a motion by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to remove Johnson as speaker
    NPR4 min read
    The Dos And Don'ts Of Lending Money
    What do you do if a loved one asks to borrow a big sum of money from you? Experts weigh in on when it's OK to fork over the cash — and when you should probably say no.
    NPR3 min read
    FTX Says It Will Return Money To Most Of Its Customers
    FTX says that nearly all of its customers will receive the money back that they are owed, two years after the cryptocurrency exchange imploded, and some will get more than that.

    Related