HOMOSEXUALITY IN EGYPT

Homosexuality in Egypt



Homosexuality in Egypt

Introduction

Yet, studying homosexuality in ancient Egypt is a difficult task. Not a single legal text has survived from ancient Egypt and no sure evidence points to cult prostitution taking root there. In fact, sexual intercourse was viewed as ritually defiling in sacred places. Explicitly sexual motifs in art and literature are limited, and coded images and metaphors often confront the investigator.

Analysis

Homosexual activity is not illegal in Egypt, per se, but there are regulations about "offenses against public morals and sensitivities," which are vague enough to have been used against gay men in the past (Parkinson, 1995). The Q'uran forbids anal sex between men (liwat), and in a predominately Islamic country, Q'uranic attitudes underlie Arabic attitudes towards homosexuality. Because of this, men in Egypt are never openly homosexual, and homosexuality is a trait Egyptians associate more with Christian Copts or with tourists than Muslims (Hekma, Gert, 1997).

Because there is no open homosexuality in Egypt, there exist no gay bars, political organizations, or publications. And while the gay subculture is completely underground, it is not as inaccessible as Chinese gay culture, because of some very curious attitudes about sex and sexuality that are held by Arabs, which I shall explain below.

Our interport lecturer, Nadia Atif, stated in pre-port that male Semester at Sea students should avoid wearing earrings, regardless of whether or not they were homosexual, because it would attract attention from Egyptian males in a way that would probably be unwelcome. I decided to test her assertion, and found it was true - by wearing an earring, I received a lot of sexual attention from (presumably) heterosexual males in Egypt. All kinds of sexual advances were made towards me, from winks and whistles, to groping and fondling my breasts, buttocks or genitals, to outright offers of sex. But even when I wasn't wearing the earring, I received such attention, although not to as great a degree. And at least half a dozen other male Semester at Sea students (some gay and some straight) reported to me that they, too, had been the focus of sexual attention from Egyptian males.

Strange as this behavior may be, coming from heterosexuals, and especially in a country where there is no open homosexuality, I believe there is a good explanation for it. First of all, a strong division exists in the Arab mind between private and public behavior, and as long as a shameful behavior, such as homosexual sex, never becomes public, it is not damaging to an Egyptian man's honor. And tourists are not thought to have any honor in the Egyptian mind, and are from outside the Egyptian culture, which makes them suitable targets for sexual advances (Hekma, Gert, 1997). This was certainly true of women from Semester at Sea who were sexually harassed, whereas Islamic women would not have received that kind of attention.

Secondly, in the Islamic world, there is an unwritten rule that any unmarried man can have homosexual sex, and as long ...