Poignant tributes for Sara Hegazy, the Egyptian activist tortured for flying a Pride flag, one year after her tragic death

The Arab LGBT+ community is dedicating this year’s Pride month to Sara Hegazy, an Egyptian activist who died by suicide after she was tortured for flying the Pride flag.

Hegazy took her own life in June 2020, having struggled with PTSD and depression following her imprisonment, torture and psychological abuse at the hands of Egyptian authorities.

Her tragic death galvanised LGBT+ people around the world, with activists from Beirut to Berlin holding candlelit vigils outside Egyptian embassies to highlight her struggle.

A year later Hegazy’s memory lives on as a group of lesbian and queer feminists in Egypt and Tunisia launch their first MENA Lesbian and Queer Women’s Pride Day in her name.

“On this day, let us remember Sarah Hegazy and all the women fighters we have lost on this path,” read a joint statement signed by 39 movements and organisations.

“Let us stand in solidarity with the millions of lesbians, queer, transgender, sex workers, women of colour, migrants, refugees, precarious workers, unpaid housewives who are deprived of equal opportunities, queer mothers who provide for their children, and all those who are forced into heterosexual marriages due to societal pressure.

‎”To you, we say ‘This is your day.'”

Going forward, the groups will mark 13 June, the anniversary of Hegazy’s death, as an annual day of pride for lesbian and queer women in the Arab world.