Should i go to egypt if i gay

Is it safe for gay travelers to visit Egypt? What are the risks involved and how can these be minimized? For years we've both wanted to visit the pyramids of Giza and immerse ourselves in the remnants of what was once an incredible Kingdom. For Seby in particular, visiting Eygpt has always been a lifelong ambition.

He's even decorated his entire left arm and torso with beautiful intricate tattoos of Ancient Egyptian symbols. However, Egypt is not the most welcoming destination for gay travelers by a long shot. Following our experience traveling as a gay couple in Egypt, we can confidently say it's actually fine… BUT!

In this article, we explain precisely how we visited Egypt as a gay couple and take you through all the practical safety tips that you should also bear in mind so you can enjoy this magnificent country. Heads up: We just wanted to let you know that this post contains affiliate links.

That means if you book something through one of those links, we'll get a small should i go to egypt if i gay, at no extra cost to you. It helps us keep our blog going — so thank you in advance for your support! Well for starters, the allure of Ancient Egypt is strong for many.

The Pyramids of Giza are quite rightly! Remember, this is a structure that dates back to 2, BC for crying out loud! Oh, and to throw in a bit of gay herstory into the mix, did you hear the story about the gay tomb? Their tomb is also reported to have contained several paintings of the two men embracing and touching their faces nose-on-nose — a form of kissing in Ancient Egypt.

This also makes them the first ever recorded same-sex couple in ancient history. Go figure! HOWEVER: it's under the morality laws they get you, with a sobering punishment of up to 17 years of jail time coupled with hard labor, fines, and deportation! And on that note, we've got an interesting article about what we think are the most gay friendly countries in the Arab worldwhich we recommend checking out.

If you come here with painted nails wearing a cute crop top with short shorts waving a rainbow flag, you'll inevitably run into a few problems. Not that we do that in any place we travel overtly gay events like Maspalomas Pride an exception of coursebut the point here is that in a place like Egypt, you need to accept that you need to go back in the closet, for your own safety.

Put it this way, touchdown at Cairo Airport, you'll open up Grindr to browse, but before you can explore all the headless torso profiles! On the one hand, the police actively target and arrest gay men on Grindr, yet on the other, gay cruises and gay tour companies openly market Egypt!

We agreed that for this trip we would be nuns: our only foray into the local culture would be the pyramids and nothing else! We had no practical problems going in or leaving the country. We had an amazing time discovering Ancient Egyptian culture and were glad we went.

Is Egypt safe for gay travelers?

Here is a rundown of all the practical safety tips to bear in mind for your trip to Egypt based on our firsthand experience traveling here as a gay couple but please also check out our detailed Gay Travel page for more vital info. We hired a guide to hold our hand throughout the entire trip.

After our Lebanon trip, we were terrified of being stopped and harassed by the Immigration police at the airport so we wanted someone there to hold our hand and guide us through the process. Our guide met us as we got off the plane at Cairo Airport and guided us through immigration, to our car and to the pyramids and back!

Having a local with us helped to alleviate all our safety concerns and also helped us navigate all the many scams that Egypt is so notorious for. It was money well spent! If you don't want to incur the cost of a tour guide for the duration of your trip, you can simply hire one to meet you as you get off the plane and guide you through the airport experience.

Whilst our guide requested to be kept anonymous, we can confirm we found him by reaching out to gay tour companies like Detours and Out Adventures and asking them for their recommendation for a good gay friendly guide.