German LGBT Group Lobby Egyptian Travel Companies Over Gay Persecution
Gay.com U.K.,
March 29, 2002
The LGBT arm of Amnesty International in Germany have lobbied the Egyptian
travel industry over the country’s persecution of gays.
The group gave out leaflets at a gala event given by Egyptair and the
Egyptian Tourist Board in Berlin to promote the country, explaining how gays
are being wrongly arrested, imprisoned and tortured.
"On every face a smile" is the new caption for the Egyptian
Tourist Board. Amnesty International used the same caption on its pamphlets,
only the photo showed the fear in the eyes of young defendants behind the bars
of the cage in the Cairo courtroom over the "Queen Boat" case where
23 gay men were sentenced to prison last year for being homosexual.
A representative of Egyptair, who asked not to be named, told the human
rights group that it had three homosexuals working in its office in Germany.
He admitted if they were in Cairo they would probably lose their jobs and go
to jail.
Another spokesman of the airline, who also asked not to be named, told a
German journalist from gay-press.de: "We want no gay tourists in Egypt,
and we are happy when they don’t come!"
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