Sarah Hegazi
She raised a rainbow flag at a concert in Cairo in 2017 – and was imprisoned for it.
Sarah Hegazi grew up in a conservative family in Egypt. She studied in Cairo, worked in information technology and was active in a socialist party. She openly identified as a lesbian and an atheist.
In September 2017, at a concert in Cairo by the Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila, whose singer is openly gay, she held up a rainbow flag. Photos of the moment spread on social media. A few days later she was arrested, together with dozens of other people, in a wave of persecution against LGBTQ people. She spent three months in prison, where she was tortured and abused.
After her release on bail she fled to Canada in 2018, where she received asylum. She wrote about her experiences and about the trauma she suffered, and campaigned for the rights of LGBTQ people in the Arab world.
In June 2020 she took her own life in Toronto, aged 30. Her last note ended with a message of forgiveness to the world. Her death sparked grief and solidarity across the Arab world and beyond. If you are struggling, please reach out to someone you trust or to a crisis line in your country.