We’ve researched the most popular online dating platforms and found the best dating sites out there for you to try in 2023. OkCupid lets you answer personality-based questions about how you’re coping with the pandemic. For Dia Kayyali, a Witness program manager, the problem is built into the apps themselves — developed in cultures without the threat of being jailed or tortured for one’s sexual orientation. What happens when police and government are using these apps to seek out normal citizens who might be breaking laws, just by being themselves? Egyptian police have started disguising themselves on dating apps to find and arrest citizens who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community.
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Human rights organizations and news agencies have recently reported that members of the Egyptian queer community are being increasingly targeted by the police via fake Facebook accounts or fake profiles on dating apps. Police then unlawfully search through the content of their phones to justify keeping them in detention and bring charges against them. As a result, channels for private communications like dating apps Grindr and Hornet are particularly important here.
ABOITIZ Construction has shifted to digitalization, following its closure of a partnership deal with visionary consultants Fragile to Agile to help design the firm’s digital transformation roadmap. Start a thread Start a new thread to share your experiences with like-minded people. Even if you’re hardcore religious and believe that being gay is a sin or immoral… It would not be too far off to compare the police in Egypt to other secret police forces like the NKVD of the Soviet Union.
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In some of the transcripts, the police appear to be trying to pressure people who seem to be simply seeking dates or new friendships into agreeing to sex for money. Legal experts in Egypt tell us that proving there has been an exchange of money, or an offer of one, can give the authorities the ammunition they need to take a case to court. Since 2014, Grindr has warned Egyptian users about blackmailers and recommended keeping their account as anonymous as possible.
Investigation has revealed that Egyptian police are using dating apps such as Grindr and WhosHere to meet LGTBQ+ people and then arbitrarily arresting them. Police then conduct an unauthorized search on their phones and use the information on their phones to maintain their custody and file charges against them. Though Egypt doesn’t technically outlaw homosexual relations, authorities have been accused of blindly using “public morality” or “debauchery” laws to arrest members of the LGBTQ+ community in the country. In a 2021 report, the US State Department acknowledged violence targeting the LGBTQ community in Egypt. A popular social networking app for gays, Grindr, has issued a warning to its users in Egypt after reports emerged that police are using fake accounts to persecute the LGBTQ+ community.
Laith was accused of “habitual debauchery” but was fortunately let out of jail after only one month due to a successful appeal. He also claimed that the authorities asked him to snitch on other gay men he knew. Human Rights Watch also reports that “once in jail the victims are subjected to systematic torture and abuse, including forced “virginity tests”. The attacks come amid a fierce anti-LGBT crackdown in the country following the 2017 Mashrou’ Leila concert, when a picture of Sarah Hegazy raising a rainbow flag among the crowd was widely circulated. She was quickly detained by police, who tortured her for months and incited fellow detainees to beat and sexually assault her. Hegazy killed herself three years later, sending waves of shock and solidarity worldwide.
One such victim, whom we found through the transcripts, was a gay man we are calling Laith. In April 2018, the contemporary dancer was contacted from a friend’s phone number. They reveal how the police initiate text conversations with their targets. President Biden issued a proclamation today in honor of trans people on Transgender Day go to this website of Visibility. CEO at The Marketing ScopeEric Vidal, an industry expert with over 25 years of marketing and technology experience is passionate about providing insight and education on the latest martech trends and techniques. Eric speaks and writes for various publications like The Marketing Scope and Future Of Work to name a couple.
The warnings from Grindr follow reports from Human Rights Watch that authorities in multiple countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Egypt, have used fake accounts to trap and arrest LGBTQ people. We saw at least four videos in which Bakar and Yahia either appeared, or could be heard, extorting and abusing LGBT people before they uploaded the videos to Whatsapp, YouTube and Facebook. In one of these videos, an 18-year-old gay man we are calling Saeed is forced to, falsely, say he is a sex worker. He told me that he considered legal action but says his lawyer advised against this, telling him his sexuality would be perceived as more of a crime than the attack he suffered. Transcripts submitted in police arrest reports show how officers are posing online to seek out – and in some cases allegedly fabricate evidence against – LGBT people looking for dates online. Badoo has an emphasis on dating honestly, and encourages users to show their real selves through their profiles and interactions.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2023, as Transgender Day of Visibility. I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination against all transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary people. I continue to call on the Congress to finally pass the Equality Act and extend long-overdue civil rights protections to all LGBTQI+ Americans to ensure they can live with safety and dignity. Meanwhile, we are also working to ease the tremendous strain that discrimination, bullying, and harassment can put on transgender children — more than half of whom seriously considered suicide in the last year.
We spoke with people about their experiences with dating apps, and solved some mysteries about which ones are inclusive or not so you don’t have to. Check out the symbolism of the LGBTQ flags and give them a history lesson. The end result was a list of recommendations, some of which are already showing up in Grindr. Since October, Grindr users in 130 countries have been able to change the way the app appears on the home screen, replacing the Grindr icon and name with an inconspicuous calculator app or other utility. Grindr also now features an option for a PIN, too, so that even if the phone is unlocked, the app won’t open without an additional passcode. If you’re stopped at a checkpoint , police won’t be able to spot Grindr by flipping through your phone.
But even simply using these apps has been grounds for arrest based on morality laws in Egypt. It shocked me to learn, in the course of investigation that one gang leader, Yahia, is gay and actively posting online about his own sex work. “I have been suffering from depression after what happened, with the videos circulating to all my friends in Egypt.
His friends have seen people’s Grindr profiles and social media accounts become ‘ghosts’ in recent days – he fears the worst. “ pushing international organizations and governments to demand justice and safety for the Egyptian LGBTQ community,” Lenihan said. As the research indicates, there are a number of successful places and ways to meet people. Therefore, how and where to meet women or men may depend on your own relationship goals, needs, and preferences. About 20% more meet a partner in bars or restaurants, with the rest primarily meeting through friends or coworkers.