The men arrested last December in a bathhouse raid in Cairo were paraded in front of cameras and dragged naked to waiting police cars. But the real torture did not start then. A judge acquitted the men of “debauchery” but the ruling hardly set them free. Not in that society.

In Syria, accusations of homosexuality have been used as a tactic by the government to tarnish the reputation of popular opposition figures since the start of the Syrian crisis in 2011.

In areas controlled by the terrorist group known as the Islamic State across Syria and Iraq, gay men are thrown off buildings as punishment. The local communities gather to watch the executions. When throwing one man from the seventh floor failed to end his life, his community stoned him to death.

In Egypt, following a year of constant and increasing arrests and entrapment of gay men, the Egyptian government reintroduced the anal test. A torturous and invasive medical practice, it’s supposed to determinate the sexual orientation of a person based on the shape, flexibility and size of his anus. As if. Read More