[Foundation-l] Reboot on LGBT/Egypt issue (was Re: [Wikimania-l] Wikimania 2008 will happen in Alexandria, Egypt)

[Ray Saintonge]

Oldak Quill wrote:
> The problem is not just with having sex in public places.
> http://www.mask.org.za/index.php?page=egypt - this website lists some
> news items about homosexuality in Egypt.
>
> ...
> What some of us seem to be concerned about is whether non-Egyptians
> visiting Alexandria for the conference are in any danger. From
> everything I've read (imprisonment of non-Egyptian homosexuals, use of
> entrapment by the police, torturing homosexuals in custody and trying
> homosexuals using tribunals set up to combat terrorism), we cannot say
> with certainty that Wikimedians will be safe in Egypt.
>
> It is not a matter of flaunting homosexuality in public or not - the
> Egyptian police seem to have caught most homosexuals by other means
> (posing as gay men on internet meet services, raiding private
> parties). I don't think we can say with certainty that two
> non-Egyptian men (namely, a Wikimedian and his partner) sharing a
> double room in Alexandria will be safe.
Interesting that the linked site above should use Wikipedia as a source. 
The article does say that foreigners are released quickly.  That sounds 
more like a question of taking time to identify people arrested in a 
large raid.

I didn't know that WMF was running an internet meet service for gays or 
that we were planning the kind of wild gay party that would be subject 
to such raids.  We do tend to have a Saturday party; should we be 
inviting the Chief of Police for Alexandria as a guest?

I heard a very long time ago that Egypt required visitors to declare 
their religion when they arrived.  The _only_ options were Muslim, 
Christian and Jewish.  One could not claim to be atheist or buddhist for 
that matter.  Is that still the case?

Ec