Sarah Hegazi

Sarah Hegazi was an Egyptian socialist, writer, and lesbian activist. She was arrested, imprisoned and tortured in Egypt for three months after flying a rainbow flag at a Mashrou’ Leila concert in 2017 in Cairo. She was charged with joining an organization whose intent was to contravene the law by inciting acts of immorality or debauchery. Her arrest coincided with Egypt’s zero-tolerance crackdown response to end public support for LGBT rights in the country. Hegazi, who lived with PTSD resulting from the prison torture she had experienced in Egypt, was granted asylum in Canada, living there until her suicide. 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. Hegazi reported being fired from her job for opposing the Sisi regime in Egypt. She wrote that in consequence of the revolution being left incomplete, “most of us are now in the grave, in prison or exile.” Hegazi described a life in Canada marked not by relief or a sense of sanctuary, but of nightmares, depression and panic attacks. She was also debilitated by severe loneliness after being separated from her beloved mother and younger siblings, who remained in Egypt. Hegazi’s mother died of cancer a month after she landed in Canada. Hegazi died on 14 June 2020 in Toronto, Canada. A short letter written by Hegazi, in Arabic, circulated on social media following her death.