This post deals with suicide and might be triggering for some readers.

Yesterday morning, I woke up to the usual 10-minute morning cuddle session with my girlfriend who seemed uber content to be on the receiving end of my stream of kisses. Of course, I complained about how Im not working from home anymore, I worried about a bunch of things I cant change, and then I dropped my girlfriends five and eight year old kids to school on my way to work.

A quick Instagram scroll sent me into a spiral of shock, worry, and grief.

Sara Hegazy, 30, was found dead in her apartment in Canada by suicide.

Image: Twitter.

If youre not an Arab, news about Sara wouldnt have been in your feed. But my algorithms work differently. So I already knew that Sara is an Egyptian LGBT+ activist who rose to prominence after raising the LGBT rainbow flag at a concert in Egypt in October 2017.

What I didnt know was that Sara was charged with promoting sexual deviancy and debauchery, and was jailed for three months following that October 2017 incident. I also had no idea that she then suffered horrific beatings and abuse at the hands of other inmates, while prison officials would violently assault and torture her with electrocutions.

I cant help but think, this couldve been me.

Despite being warned by some friends, I decided to take a look at some of the comments and reactions to the post about Sara.

Ill do the honour of translating some for you.

Hell and misery is awaiting her.

Its not okay to have any form of empathy towards her.

Dont you know how to hide your sexuality? Do you think its okay to be public about your queerness while youre living in a conservative society? Whats next to come? Maybe someday, someone will come along and tell me its alright to have sex with children and animals too. Would you then consider this some sort of freedom of expression?

This couldve been written about me.

Im in conflict while writing this. I want to tell you that the Arab world is full of the warmest people Ive ever had the experience of knowing, food to die for, and a rich culture and heritage to be proud of.

But I also have to tell you that Im ashamed of the ignorance that is infiltrating my community. Ashamed of the debilitating inflexibility in the mindset of so many in that community.

Read more:
'Sara Hegazy was jailed and tortured for a photo. It could have been me.' - Mamamia

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