By James Dale From The Advocate, July 23, 2002 To connect to the advocate please click on www.advocate.com We didn’t know what to expect as my boyfriend, Adam, and I crossed the gangway to the Queen Boat on the Nile River in Cairo. Over the past year I’d read countless stories about the raid on the boat that resulted in the arrests of 52 men for “immoral behavior and contempt of religion.” Stepping through a dimly lit lobby, we climbed a grand circular staircase—only to be greeted by an empty banquet room with a soccer match playing on a big-screen TV. I would have assumed we were in the wrong place, but the sign was unmistakable, the location as we’d been told. After a meal of chicken and fries, I asked the waiter, in my pidgin Arabic, “Where is the disco?” obliquely attempting to find the gay community. After a few beers, earning a bit of trust, we learned it was two flights below. I thought hopefully, Perhaps a defiant community has reemerged, staring down an oppressive government. But no evidence of a Middle Eastern Stonewall was to be found here, just a handful of people in a small, dark disco. Could this innocuous space be a hub of immoral acts? In a country where a man’s bare legs get more attention than a same-sex kiss, it would be hard to imagine any open display of sexuality here, let alone the sex party reported in the press. This was my introduction to the Egyptian gay community. Traveling to Egypt in May was never my idea of the ideal vacation. With a war raging against a backdrop of terror and nuclear threats, I would have been happy to stay a bit closer to home. And even before September 11, I was horrified that Egypt was waging its own war on its gay citizens while gladly accepting $2 billion a year in U.S. aid. But when Adam took a four-month consulting contract in Cairo, my heart trumped my politics and I was soon planning a trip down the Nile. Adam had arrived a month earlier and told me, “It’s safe; it’s not like what you’re seeing in the news.” Indeed, many Egyptians were delighted to meet an American from New York City, often expressing their sympathies over the attacks last fall. One cab driver excitedly told me, in very broken English, how he much loved America, and specifically Michael Jackson. So for the next 30 minutes we listened to “Beat It” and other highlights from Thriller. My safety fears, like the size of the Sphinx, were greatly exaggerated. As in other Arab countries where same-sex affection is accepted, it was easy to walk through town holding Adam’s hand without raising a brow. But how happy could I be in this country whose government plays guardian of public virtue, sacrificing democracy and civil rights to keep the fundamentalist Islamic political opposition at bay? It’s a political trade-off that bears a striking similarity to how our elected officials are willing to oppose our equal rights, like the right to marry, to score points with small-minded constituents. After a failed show of solidarity at the Queen Boat, we learned about the new gay spots across the river. The bars are conveniently located in the Nile Hilton, next door to the headquarters of the Arab League—an ironic juxtaposition, since homosexuality is frowned upon in all Arab countries. The bars are safe—accessible only after passing through metal detectors and a baggage check—but out of reach for the average gay Egyptian, who lives in poverty. In the 1950s Egypt broke from colonial control with a vision of democracy, promising to build a bridge from the Middle East to the Western world. Yet as American civil rights progress, the Egyptian gay community is still trapped in its own McCarthy era. While our gay youth use the Internet to find community, Internet-surfing Egyptian police are actively entrapping gays. As President Bush continues to court Egypt’s president Mubarak, he must also hold Egypt accountable for violating the human rights of its own citizens, to allow for a future for the countless gays and lesbians among more than 140 million Arab youth. Dale is vice president of Smart and Strong, publisher of Poz magazine. Latest news 22 May 2012: Cairo psychiatrist claims he can "cure" 70 to 75 per cent of gay teenagers.