Sarah Hegazi was an Egyptian writer, LGBTQ activist, and socialist.
25 Facts About Sarah Hegazi
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Sarah Hegazi was arrested, imprisoned and tortured in Egypt for three months after flying a rainbow flag at a Mashrou' Leila concert in 2017 in Cairo.
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Sarah Hegazi was born on 1 October 1989 to an Egyptian conservative middle-class family; she was the eldest of four siblings.
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Sarah Hegazi helped her mother take care of her siblings after her father, a high school science teacher, died.
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Sarah Hegazi wore the hijab until she came out as a lesbian in 2016.
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In 2010, Sarah Hegazi graduated from Thebas Academy with a bachelor's degree in information systems and the American University in Cairo Continuing Education Center in 2016.
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Sarah Hegazi identified as a communist and supported the Bread and Freedom Party while living in Egypt, and became involved with the Spring Socialist Network once in Canada.
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Sarah Hegazi reported being fired from her job for opposing the Sisi regime in Egypt.
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On September 22,2017, Sarah Hegazi attended a concert in Cairo for the Lebanese band Mashrou' Leila whose lead singer, Hamed Sinno, is openly gay.
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Sarah Hegazi was among a group of others arrested for waving a rainbow flag in support of LGBT rights.
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Sarah Hegazi was charged with joining an organization whose intent was to contravene the law by inciting acts of immorality or debauchery.
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Sarah Hegazi's arrest coincided with Egypt's zero-tolerance crackdown response to end public support for LGBT rights in the country.
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Sarah Hegazi wrote that she was arrested at home in front of her family, and that, during the process, the officer questioned her about her religion, why she removed her hijab, and whether she was a virgin or not.
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Sarah Hegazi sat in a chair gagged with a cloth with her hands cuffed.
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Sarah Hegazi was subject to electric shock and she lost consciousness.
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Sarah Hegazi was threatened that her mother would be harmed if she told anyone.
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Sarah Hegazi lost her mother to cancer one month after leaving Egypt.
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On 15 June 2020, Sarah Hegazi's lawyer Khaled Al-Masry confirmed her death as suicide.
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Hamed Sinno, the frontman of the Lebanese band Mashrou' Leila shared a tribute on their Facebook profile to Sarah Hegazi which read "", or "Freedom for your soul".
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Visual art memorializing Sarah Hegazi has circulated widely since her death.
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Sarah Hegazi was laid to rest in a rainbow coloured casket following a public funeral at St John's Dixie Cemetery on 22 June 2020.
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The Arab Network for Knowledge about Human Rights released a statement on behalf of 42 regional and international queer rights organizations commemorating Sarah Hegazi by announcing a Pride Day for Lesbian and Queer Women from the Middle East and North Africa.
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Sarah Hegazi's death has been met with homophobic responses in the MENA region whether through government actions, media coverage, or public discourse, An article on Raseef22 which discussed the LGBT+ community in Jordan and the Sarah Hegazi mural in Amman was quickly deleted after the Jordanian journalist received a flood of threats online.
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On 23 June 2020, two Egyptian lawyers filed a lawsuit against Selim for defending Sarah Hegazi, and accused him of trying to "spread homosexuality" in Egypt.
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The band Mashrou' Leila, whose concert Sarah Hegazi attended, declared that it was disbanding in September 2022.