A group on Facebook has declared January 1 next year to be 
National Gay Day in Egypt and already the move is generating controversy – not just from the usual suspects but also among gay Egyptians.

In many countries the struggle for LGBT rights began with a few brave souls making a stand, but is Egypt really ready for a National Gay Day? A blogger called Nilesby ("a sapphist living on the Nile") raises some concerns:

"I do not want to be naive, thinking that we will be recognised as equals, accepted and given rights without a fight. There will be a fight, and this will start by us coming out, demanding our recognition as humans. The fight for our rights will be bloody, and lives will be lost. It does not require any extrasensory perception to arrive at this conclusion. I hope that as we enter this battle, we are prepared.

"And I voice my concern, is this national day of gays in Egypt a good idea? Is shocking people this way going to support our cause, or harm it? Is the time ever 'right'? I think that there is never a good time for anything, so do not respond to me saying it is not the time for it. But I do think there are times that are more appropriate than others. There are also ways more appropriate than others. How to measure this 'appropriateness'? I have no idea.

"One of my dearest tweeps drew a very suitable comparison. Remember the march in Tahrir square for International Women’s Day last March? Women, who are mothers, sisters, daughters, breadwinners and much much more, were harassed mercilesslyduring this march. If women received that kind of harassment, I do not want to imagine what a National Day for Homosexuals will be like. But I do know that, just because the women and women rights supporters were harassed, does not mean one should stop protesting or fighting for their rights."

A more robust view comes from Leil-Zahra Mortada. In a blog postwritten last May, he argued that gay rights should be seen as part of the broader movement for change, though gay people are constantly urged to hold back on the grounds that the time isn't right:

"Over and over we have waited, and put the 'greater' cause ahead, only to find ourselves pushed back once things are settled. We have learned to fight and watch our own backs. We have learned that yes the time is not right simply because the time for us to speak out was yesterday.

"Our demands do not break the 'movement', it is the 'movement' that breaks itself by not including us. Our demands are only ours because the 'greater' cause only rarely embraces them ...

"The inspiring uprisings and revolutions taking place in many Arab-speaking states are taking the world to a whole new level. Many of us, queers and women, are part of the struggle for this 'greater' cause, we are at the front-line, behind the barricade ... We are there fighting as we face patriarchal and heteronormative rules like everywhere else in the world. We are there despite the 'greater movement' failing us sometimes, and we continue to be there."

Leil-Zahra's impatience is understandable and his arguments are quite persuasive. On the other hand, though it's not yet clear what the National Gay Day will entail, there is a serious risk that without careful planning it could do more harm than good.

It's worth noting that before Helem (the Lebanese LGBT organisation) came fully into the open it made a point of building alliances with other civil society groups in the country. Without non-LGBT support there's a danger of being isolated and crushed – and it's doubtful whether such support exists in Egypt.

Also, it isn't necessarily a choice between holding a Gay Day and doing nothing. There are other, less risky, ways of campaigning. For instance, organising events around IDAHO, the International Day Against Homophobia, can be an effective way of raising gay rights issues in countries where more in-your-face activities (such as pride parades) are likely to be seen as too provocative.

A few years ago, when working on Unspeakable Love, my book about gay and lesbian life in the Middle East, I asked an Egyptian activist: "If the was one thing you could do that would make the biggest difference for gay people in Egypt, what would it be?"

His answer surprised me: "I would sort out the psychiatrists."

He went on to explain that there is no psychiatrist in Egypt who is willing to stand up and say in public that homosexuality is not an illness. Many of them also treat it as such and even claim to "cure" it.

It does seem to me that tackling practical issues such as this this could be one of the keys. If a few respected medical professionals in Egypt can be persuaded to refute the "illness" idea, then attitudes among the public will begin to change and we shall start to see some progress.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 17 November 2011.