海角大神

When Egypt鈥檚 police raided a Cairo hammam, or bath house, on Monday, arresting 26 men they deemed to be gay, news traveled fast. A pro-regime journalist was conveniently on hand to document the men鈥檚 humiliation, and her footage spread through Facebook pages nationwide.
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Mona Iraqi, who works for an investigative journalism television program called 鈥淎l-Mestakhabi鈥� (The Hidden), now promises to air an expos茅 on the popular hammam.

鈥淎l-Mestakhabi managed to shut down a den of group sex for men, and they were all arrested red-handed,鈥� she wrote on her Facebook page.

Early footage shows the men being herded, naked, into the back of a police truck.
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The dramatic spectacle was the latest development in Egypt鈥檚 very public crackdown against its gay community. Rights advocates say this is part of the state鈥檚 attempt to portray itself as the guardian of national morality, as the military-backed regime reconfigures its power after the fall of a Muslim Brotherhood-led government.
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It also underlined the role of Egypt鈥檚 loyalist media in whipping up popular support for the state鈥檚 morality crusade. Ms. Iraqi鈥檚 presence at the arrest was no coincidence 鈥� according to reports, she had actually reported the existence of what she called a 鈥渄en of perversion,鈥� and then waited to film the raid.

Homosexuality is not illegal in Egypt, but it is a social taboo, and allegedly gay men have often been arrested on charges of debauchery. Rights advocates say these arrests provide the government of the day with a convenient distraction from the many social and economic problems it has yet to solve.

鈥淓gypt鈥檚 powers that be treat homosexuality and gender dissidence as political, and 鈥� like any kind of politics under an ever-more constricting dictatorship 鈥� conspiratorial and sinister,鈥� wrote Scott Long, a Cairo-based academic and LGBT-rights activist Monday evening.
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During a similar crackdown in 2001, Human Rights Watch documented more than 170 鈥渄ebauchery鈥� cases that were brought before prosecutors. Since the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July of last year, police have detained around 150 people on the same charges.

For its part, the Brotherhood has tried to turn the crackdown to its advantage, highlighting the arrests as a sign of the moral weakness of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi鈥檚 听government.

Last month, an Egyptian court sentenced eight men to three years in prison for apparently taking part in a gay wedding ceremony. Footage of two men embracing, exchanging rings, and celebrating with their friends had surfaced online in mysterious circumstances. Members of Egypt鈥檚 gay community suggest it was strategically leaked to whip up support for Egypt鈥檚 ascendant security services.

A former Brotherhood parliamentarian later warned that Mr. Sisi鈥檚 government was to blame for the so-called wedding ceremony 鈥� he slammed the new president for converting Egypt into a 鈥渂rothel.鈥�
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Photographs of the accused in so-called debauchery cases are regularly plastered across Egyptian media outlets, with eyes blanked out in a token effort to hide their identity.

According to Dalia Abdel Hamid, a gender researcher at the Cairo-based Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the lurid coverage reflects a symbiotic relationship between an Egyptian media wanting to draw in its readership, and security services that want to bolster their popularity.

鈥淭hey publish their names, their ages, even where they live 鈥� and all before they are sentenced,鈥� says Ms. Abdel Hamid. 鈥淭hey try to make it look like a disease or a mental illness that must be fought.鈥�

In a rare piece of public criticism of Iraqi鈥檚 coverage of Monday night鈥檚 raid, Egyptian journalist Hossam Bahgat wrote on her Facebook page: 鈥淵ou see the picture of you filming with your phone? Your picture will be spread for years to come with every article, investigation, or book on the collapse of Egyptian media ethics.鈥�

In socially conservative Egypt, criticizing a person鈥檚 sexuality is a powerful slight. Such criticism is often leveled at opponents of the regime. When a popular actor, Khaled Abol Naga, recently spoke out against the security record of the current government, he was slapped with a lawsuit for insulting the president.
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鈥淎nyone who slanders his president, state institutions, and security is not a man 鈥� he is a homosexual,鈥� said the lawyer in charge.

Mohamed Ezz contributed to this report.