Gays in Egypt, Tunisia worry about post-revolt era

CAIRO – While many of their compatriots savor a new political era, gays in Egypt and Tunisia aren't sharing the joy, according to activists who wonder if the two revolutions could in fact make things worse for an already marginalized community. In both countries, gays and their allies worry that conservative Islamists, whose credo includes firm condemnation of homosexuality, could increase their influence in elections later this year. "Our struggle goes on — it gets more and more difficult," Tunisian gays-rights and HIV-AIDS activist Hassen Hanini wrote to The Associated Press in an email. "The Tunisian gay community is still seeking its place in society in this new political environment." In much of the world, the push for gay rights has advanced inexorably in recent years. Countries which now allow same-sex marriage range from Portugal to South Africa to Argentina. Throughout the Arab world, however, homosexual conduct remains taboo — it is punishable by floggings, long prison terms and in some cases execution in religiously conservative Saudi Arabia, and by up to three years imprisonment in relatively secular Tunisia. Iraq and Yemen each experienced a surge of killings of gays two years ago. In Egypt, consensual same-sex relations are not prohibited as such, but other laws — those prohibiting "debauchery" or "shameless public acts" — have been used to imprison gay men in recent years. Ten years ago, Egypt attracted worldwide attention — including criticism from international human rights groups — when 52 men were arrested in a police raid on a Nile boat restaurant/disco and accused of taking part in a gay sex party. After a highly publicized trial in an emergency state security court, 23 of the men were convicted and sentenced to prison terms of one to five years for immoral behavior and contempt of religion. Full Story>>