Egypt: Designing for the Crackdown

A few blocks into the ride, Firas saw the checkpoint, a rare occurrence in a quiet, residential area like Mesaha. When the car stopped, the officer working the checkpoint talked to Firas’ date with deference, almost as if he were a fellow cop. Firas opened the door and ran. “Seven or eight people chased me,” he later told the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a local LGBT rights group. “They caught me and beat me up, insulting me with the worst words possible. They tied my left hand and tried to tie my right. I resisted. At that moment, I saw a person coming from a police microbus with a baton. I was scared to be hit on my face so I gave in.”