In the article “Honey, I’m homosexual which was published by Daily News Egypt on Dec. 5, I was shocked at how the article steered the subject of gay husbands in the direction of them being infected or diseased beings.
You end for example with this sentence: Other specialists explain that homosexuality is not necessarily a sexual disorder but could just be a whim.
By the time a wife is involved, the crisis is certainly compounded.
You ve also sourced an expert with the fitting title of “Ministry of Justice s Medical Consultant for Sexual Disorders .
To me, this is nonsense and out of focus. Sure, the wife is a victim and it s awful that she had to waste those years of her life with being married to a gay man. But do not forget that there are two victims to this story: the wife and the gay husband.
Why do you think that there are so many gay men married to women in Egypt? There are many religious-sociopolitical explanations to this but one of the most pressing reasons is that gay men/homosexuals in Egypt are persecuted for their sexual orientation.
They do not dare to live out their lives and the only option that remains for many of them is to marry a woman and see men “on the side . With incidents such as the Queen Boat raid and the recent crackdown on HIV men in Cairo (most of whom were gay), not many gay men choose to live their lives with partners that they really love, simply out of fear.
This is a really important angle that is not addressed anywhere in the piece.
To me, this article was sensationalist, biased and out of focus and needs a follow up from the other side about Egypt s gay men and how the country s intolerance of homosexuality forces them into married life. They have no other choice than to get married or leave the country.
Living out their true identity is a direct threat on their life. So no wonder these kind of unfortunate marriages are happening left and right in Egypt.
Out of Cairo s 20 million people, a portion of them are homosexual whether we like it or not.
Again I must emphasize that there are two victims to this story. You only gave voice to one of them, the wife, while the gay man was treated as a sick object.
Via email.
Go to this link for full article: http://thedailynewsegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=18271.
