r/Egypt user posts a video of a group of students beating two gay individuals, and the Egyptans comment

In this post, I’ll show you how Egyptians view LGBTQ+ people, not in real life ofc, but in a more progressive online community. All comments are in Egyptian Arabic, so I translated them directly.

The video: "A group of gay individuals beaten up at the Maritime Academy." **Note: If you have any issues watching the video, like the modteam decided to remove the post or smth, you can watch it here.**

User A commented: Supporting democracy and a state based on civil rights does not give you the right to strip a group of society of their rights. The Egyptians are culturally authoritarian and inherently totalitarian. Our president is not an exception to this society, as is evident from the Facebook reactions and comments. **(They mean that Reddit has now become similar to Facebook in terms of the amount of hate.)**

>User B replied: El Sisi come from the Egyptian society. **(El Sisi is the president of Egypt)**

>>User A replied: El Sisi is the essence of the Egyptian society.

A user commented: Barbarism and rudeness. Anyway, this video could be added to the immigration file.

User A commented: The people who are beating them don’t seem to care if they get expelled from the college because of the violence, or if the families of those involved file lawsuits, and that would cause a lot of problems. So I don’t understand what the benefit of beating them is, other than trying to look cool. Dude, even if you're against them and don’t support them, aren't you concerned about your reputation, coming off as a thug, and attacking others like that?

>User B replied: Beating is not the solution. On the contrary, they're only confirming to the other side that they have a cause. They’re not trying to fix their condition as it should be, but they’re just trying to erase their opinion. they haven’t changed anything, but when I took five seconds to think, according to my religion, I don't know your religion or opinion, but in general, we live in an Arab Muslim country that applies Islamic laws, not a secular one. If you want to raise something, nobody opened your house's door to punish you, but in public, you're officially provoking people and not respecting the laws or religion of the country. I won’t go to church and raise the Quran, nor will a Christian or anyone from their religion go to the mosque to raise their book, even though we are all convinced that we are right. You are carrying a flag for the deviants **(When they said "the deviant/شواذ" they meant the LGBTQ+ individuals. unfortunately, it is an arabic linguistic culture)**, knowing that you are in a Muslim country. You are annoying everyone and want them to stay quiet. So, sometimes the best thing to do is let these mindsets deal with each other. I believe what happened is equal on both sides.

>>User C replied: Egypt is a soft secular state. For example, sexual relations outside of marriage are not criminalized. The sale of alcoholic drinks is allowed regardless of your religion. The state itself produces alcohol. Homosexuality is not criminalized under Egyptian law. The official banking system is not Islamic, and there are many other examples. Either way, no one has the right to attack another person. The people who are assaulting gay individuals in the video are no different from El Sisi and his regime.

User A commented: Those are the same people who come here and start lecturing about freedom, and how the interior ministry is bad, and how Sisi is bad, and all that. The truth is, if they were in positions of power, 100% they would torture and imprison people. The idea is that they’re not in power, so they’re just making noise. If the society were respectable and had real values and morals, it wouldn’t be terrified of individuals, minorities, or anyone different, whether visibly or not, because you would be confident in yourself and your beliefs, whatever they may be. But internal confusion, hatred, and violence are signs of half-humans who don’t think or reason, tearing into the weaker ones. And "weaker" here means in the broadest sense, whether personally, socially, or in terms of rights, etc.

>User B replied: I swear, I’m genuinely happy to have read your words. Even if there are just a few rational people in this nation, I’m grateful for them. I swear to God, if these kids were in any country with proper institutions, they’d be sentenced to over ten years in prison. An ignorant, sick, and cowardly population, dreaming of travel and immigration, while most of them are like sheep, incapable of living outside the pen.

>User C replied: Yes, but by the same logic, putting aside those who attacked them, what’s the point of them going out and raising the flag of the deviants? Are we supposed to accept them by force?

>>User A replied: So why is it okay for a Muslim to protest in the streets of Europe about something related to Muslims? Is it by force? If a Muslim is against homosexuality or drinking alcohol, his colleagues should beat the hell out of him, record it, and then the one filming says, “Yeah, the Mohammedans”? **(He means like the guy filming in the original video in the thread and said "yeah, the deviants.. yeah, the deviaaaants.")**

>>>User C replied: As a deviant person, do you think advocating for sexual freedom, which you’re already practicing, is equivalent to people protesting for children, women, and the elderly being massacred? And you want me to sympathize with you? Besides, it wasn’t just Muslims who protested, people from those countries themselves joined because it’s a humanitarian cause, not someone trying to force us to accept them.

>>>>User A replied: I’m not a deviant; I’m only attracted to women, and men are repulsive to me. But honestly, why do we care? Let them do whatever they want as long as both parties are consenting adults. I’m not telling you to invite them into your home, I’m saying anyone who assaults them should be jailed. They’re not waiting for an invite to your son’s circumcision party. For example, I don’t accept Salafis; I find them backward. But that doesn’t mean I’d go out and beat them. And I don’t see the logic in saying, “People are dying in Palestine, so let’s go beat up the deviant people.” Btw, there are Palestinian Christians too.

>>>>>User C replied: I didn’t say anything that justifies violence, and I’m against beating anyone in general. But what I’m pointing out is that they’re already practicing their sexual freedom, so I don’t understand the point of protests or wanting us to share their orientation. It feels like their entire life revolves around their sexuality, and they want us to support them.? No man, you’re free, and I’m free. practice your freedom away from me.

>>>>>>User A replied: Exactly, as long as that’s the case, you’re free to see them however you want as long as you don’t interfere with them. I’m not telling you to accept them; I’m just saying no one has the right to interfere in their lives.

>>>>>>>User C replied: Yeah, and he shouldn't interfere in our lives too, none of us shares his preferences and sexual life in the street, I mean, what's the point of going out and saying for example: "I attract to women"?

>>>>>>>>User A replied: Because he’ll to be arrested if he raises that flag, and he shouldn't be able to marry legally. If his neighbors find out he’s a deviant, they’ll treat him the way someone marrying a minor should be treated, not two adults who haven’t annoyed anyone. When all of this is resolved, only then will they stop protesting.

>>>>>>>>>User C replied: Why would he even want to get married, dude? Marriage here is governed by religion and laws. Does he want a dowry and a marriage contract or what? I don’t understand. Why doesn't he get fucked and keep it to himself? Why he needs to make it public?

User A commented: They have the courage to beat atheists, LGBTQ+ individuals, women, and Christians, but they don't have the courage to rise up against El Sisi.

>User B replied: I believe that like there is no Muslim goes out to impose his religion... **(sorry, Idk the rest of the comment cuz it has been removed by the mods)**

>>User C replied: replied: "I believe that like there is no Muslim impose his religion"?? What about the video that is the topic of the post?

>>>User D replied: He told you that this person was holding the deviant's flag **(meaning they were the ones who imposed themselves first by raising the flag)**

>>>>User E replied: Uh, so they deserve to be beaten? What kind of backward thinking is that?

>>>>>User D replied: Whether you like it or not, the flag of effeminates should not be raised in Muslim lands.

A user commented: Everyone wants to define freedom according to their own preferences, and they also think that anyone different from them deserves to be treated this way in the street. Yes, most people are against deviance, and most of them are against injustice, oppression, corruption, poverty, etc... but we don't see anyone doing this to a corrupt person. Do you know why? Because we are a cowardly and backward society, we only act against the weak, but when it comes to standing up for our rights or defending our brothers and sisters? No, it’s all about "me, myself, and I... I don’t want to ruin my future."

A user commented: If they were Muslims being beaten by the far-right in Europe, we would have found crying here.

A user commented: I am also against the ideology of deviants, and may God forgive and cure them, but I swear to God, if we had done half of what we did to this guy, to the corrupt people, Egypt would have been in a better place.

A user commented: Barbarism and rudeness. Gays haven't harmed anyone, and they have the right to live their lives normally. All support for LGBTQ+ individuals in Egypt. If everyone just minded their own business, the country would be much better.

A user commented: It reminds me of some friends who used to talk to deviant people as if they were the same as them, wanting to get in relationship, and then they meet, beat them and take their money.

A user commented: I am against homosexuality, but that doesn’t justify hitting someone or insulting them. Either advise them for the sake of God, or pray for their guidance, but this is called backwardness.

A user commented: I can't stand with them, but why all this? I don't like them; I don't even look at their faces and that's it. If you don't like someone just let them burn **(They mean "leave them alone" but in a bad way, it's an Egyptian expression)** as long as they're not affecting you in any way. I don't like the presence of these people in any society, just like Israelis, but they can go to hell as long as they're far away. Either way, Jahannam is their fate, so it doesn't really matter.

A user commented: Every single person in this video is to blame. Homosexuality is wrong and should not be celebrated but beating people up is also wrong and should not be tolerated. From my standpoint the only decent person here is the security guard for trying to do his job and deescalating the situating by getting the guy away.

There were many comments contains hatred, homophobia and celebrations, but the mods removed them.