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Egypt is known for its intolerance towards LGBTQIA people: in the North African country, being a foreigner is not enough to avoid this intolerance.

The arrest

Tina, a Cypriot transgender woman, was in Egypt last January: probably a police officer or a whistleblower set a trap through a dating app that many people use to find partners when they travel. Unfortunately, the mere presence of these dating apps on her cell phone led to Tina’s arrest and indictment for inciting and promoting debauchery online and for committing debauchery. Although the second charge fell during the trial, the sentence nevertheless arrived: three years in prison, as confirmed in the appeal process that took place in March.

Tina has so far avoided imprisonment in a male prison, even if Egypt doesn’t recognize any rights to transgender people, and her documents still identify her as a male person. The police locked up Tina in a small cell in the police station in El-Nozha (Cairo) and denied her the right to continue hormone therapy.

arcobaleno prigione carcere sbarreThe petition

The Cairo 52 Legal Research Institute and Accept LGBTI Cyprus launched a petition for Tina, with the support of ILGA World, Pan Africa ILGA, ILGA Europe, The Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality, and the Greek Transgender Support Association.

The petition calls for the woman to serve her sentence in her country, applying the extradition agreement to repatriate citizens signed between Egypt and Cyprus. Tina’s mental health and physical well-being are in fact seriously at risk if she stays in the small cell where she is confined and from which she cannot interact with anyone, even because she doesn’t speak Arabic.

Michele Benini
translation by Pier Cesare Notaro
©2020 Il Grande Colibrì
images: elaboration from Matthew Henry (CC0) / Il Grande Colibrì

Read also:
Control, Bans and Homophobia: This Is How Arab Culture Dies
LGBT Persecution in Egypt: 3 Charges Against Cairo and Rome

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