CAIRO — “To my siblings: I have tried to find salvation and I failed, forgive me. To my friends: The journey was cruel and I am too weak to resist, forgive me. To the world: You were horrifically cruel, but I forgive.”
These are the last words that Egyptian queer activist Sarah Hegazy wrote down before she died by suicide on June 13. In September 2017, she was at a concert in Cairo where the Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila — whose lead singer is openly gay — was performing. With a big smile on her face, she raised a rainbow flag.