Editor in Chief
Youssef Sidhom
Watani
عربى English French
  • News
    • Accidents
    • Crime
    • Diplomatic briefcase
    • NewsLine
    • Outside Cairo
    • Special Occasions
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • International media
    • Reader`s Corner
    • Opinion
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • International Politics
    • Islamisation Politics
    • National Affairs
    • Parliament
    • Politics
    • Protests
    • Rights
    • Terrorism
  • Culture
    • Antiquity
    • Art
    • Books
    • Culture
    • Drama
    • Egyptology
    • Festivals
    • Films
    • Heritage
    • Islamisation Culture
    • Media
    • Museums
    • Music
    • TV
  • Coptic
    • Church Affairs
    • Coptic Affairs
    • Coptic Culture
    • Copts in the Media
    • Coptology
    • Copts Abroad
    • Religious
      • P. Shenouda: Bible Study
    • Sectarian
    • Inter-religious
    • Holy Family
  • Features
    • Counselling Corner
    • features
    • Economy
      • Business
    • Education
    • Social Issues
      • Behaviour
      • Mothers Day
    • Health
    • Environment
    • Humour
    • In memorial
    • Interviews
    • Nile
    • Profile
    • Special needs
    • Sports
    • Technology
    • Tourism
    • Wars
    • Women
    • Youth
  • Watani Special Features
    • Egypt – Arab Spring
      • 25 January Revolution
      • 25 Jan revolution, one year on
      • Egypt post-30 June
    • Watani Milestones
      • 20 years Watani International
      • 10 years Watani International
      • Watani Jubilee
    • Pope Shenouda
    • Pope Tawadros
    • Watani Forum
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Accidents
    • Crime
    • Diplomatic briefcase
    • NewsLine
    • Outside Cairo
    • Special Occasions
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • International media
    • Reader`s Corner
    • Opinion
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • International Politics
    • Islamisation Politics
    • National Affairs
    • Parliament
    • Politics
    • Protests
    • Rights
    • Terrorism
  • Culture
    • Antiquity
    • Art
    • Books
    • Culture
    • Drama
    • Egyptology
    • Festivals
    • Films
    • Heritage
    • Islamisation Culture
    • Media
    • Museums
    • Music
    • TV
  • Coptic
    • Church Affairs
    • Coptic Affairs
    • Coptic Culture
    • Copts in the Media
    • Coptology
    • Copts Abroad
    • Religious
      • P. Shenouda: Bible Study
    • Sectarian
    • Inter-religious
    • Holy Family
  • Features
    • Counselling Corner
    • features
    • Economy
      • Business
    • Education
    • Social Issues
      • Behaviour
      • Mothers Day
    • Health
    • Environment
    • Humour
    • In memorial
    • Interviews
    • Nile
    • Profile
    • Special needs
    • Sports
    • Technology
    • Tourism
    • Wars
    • Women
    • Youth
  • Watani Special Features
    • Egypt – Arab Spring
      • 25 January Revolution
      • 25 Jan revolution, one year on
      • Egypt post-30 June
    • Watani Milestones
      • 20 years Watani International
      • 10 years Watani International
      • Watani Jubilee
    • Pope Shenouda
    • Pope Tawadros
    • Watani Forum
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
Watani
ع Fr

Transgender persons in Egypt say they face a “Society with no mercy”

15 September, 2021 - (11:15 AM)
0 0

Amany Ayed

Transgender persons in Egypt say they face a “Society with no mercy”
106
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

“Society has no mercy!” was the cry of transgender woman L.G who asked Watani not to print her full name.

“I never felt I belonged to the gender I was supposed to belong to,” L.G said. “I was not even aware of what was wrong with me, or what I should do about it. To be gender dysphoric makes you feel all the time you’re imprisoned in a body alien to you, a body that suppresses your feelings and dreams. It obscures your view of what your future life can be like.”

Yet for most people gender dysphoria is unfathomable. “Once it was known I would change my birth sex,” L.G said, “the phrase I most frequently heard was an unbelieving ‘How can you?!’ For the large majority of people, it was: ‘You’re man or woman, that’s all. What exactly are you?’”

The fact that Egyptian Society is steeped in masculinity and macho values compounded L.G’s problem. “The mere thought of a man converting into a woman is unthinkable;” she said, “it implies a free fall to an inferior status. People close to me were aghast. To say nothing of the demeaning, abusive remarks I heard about women, in attempts to dissuade me from converting into one.”

 

ID documents

Egyptian society is still miles away from understanding transgender issues. It deals with the gender dysphoric as morally corrupt, sinful persons who rebel against what God created. “We are rejected,” L.G said, “and deprived of our rights. The societal and family rejection is so painful that most of us transgenders prefer to isolate ourselves away from our unkind communities, or migrate to another country where we are accepted. Sadly, for not a few of those who remain, the pressure, pain, and bullying get so intolerable that they might take their own lives.”

L.G said she had to consult al-Azhar, the topmost Sunni Islamic authority, on her gender dysphoria. Her case was thoroughly investigated physically, mentally, and from the religious viewpoint, and she was granted approval to convert from male to female. She underwent several surgeries, and now lives in a female body but is taking hormones to reach full female maturity.

Transgender persons in Egypt say they face a “Society with no mercy”

L.G’s family, however, absolutely rejected her as a transgender woman. Their verbal and physical abuse became too much for her to bear, that she left home and now lives separately. But those who know of her conversion treat her with wariness and keep their children away from her, which leads her to change her residence very frequently. Even her Facebook page is full of abusive, bullying comments.

Worst, however, is the problem of official identity documents. The process of proving L.G is female, contrary to her original birth certificate, is an arduous, time consuming one that requires numerous, sometimes redundant documents. In the meantime, it is difficult to deal with banks, government offices, and many other authorities.

 

Officially: a mere 200

Transgender is a thorny issue that generally arouses heated controversy and severe societal disapproval in Egypt. The issue publicly surfaced when Egyptian actor Hisham Selim came out in 2020 about his transgender son. They were both met with unabashed disapprobation, despite little, insignificant support.

Transgender persons in Egypt say they face a “Society with no mercy”

According to Walid Abul-Seoud, professor at al-Azhar University’s Faculty of Medicine, gender dysphoria is in the major part a physical problem, but in some cases owes to psychological factors; in all cases it makes a person uncomfortable with his or her gender identity assigned at birth.

Gender dysphoric persons invariably undergo conflict between their physical gender and the gender with which they identify, the outcome being a compulsive need to change their sex. The process is no simple one; it involves various types of surgery and, without extensive hormonal treatment a transgender person generally is not able to have a baby.

In Egypt, Dr Abdul-Seoud said, the documented number of transgender persons is a mere 200. Most of them are transgender men. Changing a person’s sex is a crime and is religiously frowned upon, unless medically called for. When the male and female hormones are too close in level, the process of changing sex is approved by a special committee of medical and religious staff, and can then be implemented. Otherwise, he said, the process is religiously unaccepted.

Transgender persons in Egypt say they face a “Society with no mercy”

Many transgender persons, Dr Abdul-Seoul said, originally suffer mental problems which make them suicidal. They normally undergo therapy for two or more years to help them accept their original [healthy] bodies. If they still feel they are in wrong bodies, they are given permission to change their sex by the relevant committee. “But it must be said,” he explained, that the process involves momentous physical and mental pains.”

 

Societal attitudes

Gamal Farwiz, Professor of Psychiatry at Cairo University, agrees with Dr Abdul-Seoud on the pains involved in the lead-up to and in the process of changing a person’s sex. “Transgender persons need to be accepted and integrated in the community,” he told Watani. Denial of their existence, ignoring or bullying them leads to dire outcomes for all.”

Transgender persons in Egypt say they face a “Society with no mercy”

Numerous factors could lead a person to reject his or her birth-assigned sex and demand to change it, Dr Farwiz said. Yet the community at large generally finds it difficult or impossible to accept transgender persons. “It is hard to change societal attitudes,” he said, “but we should bear in mind that persistence in rejecting transgender persons may drive them into self-isolation or suicide.”

According to Dr Farwiz, transgender persons are in dire need of moral support. Gender dysphoria, he insisted, is not some form of deficient faith or infidelity to God as many perceive it, but is a condition that requires sympathy and support. Instead of rejecting them, their families ought to accept, comfort, and sustain them especially during the hard times following their gender change.

 

Church accepts all

Seeing that many in Egypt condemn transgender persons for having “gone against the will of God”, Watani took the matter to a number of priests for their opinion. In case of Muslim scholars, they follow al-Azhar which accepts that only cases of obvious physical gender dysphoria may have their sex changed.

Father Abanoub Fawzy, priest of the church of Mar-Morcos (St Mark) in al-Fashn in Beni Sweif some 100km south of Cairo, asserted that the Church, in true Christian spirit, accepts everyone; it neither rejects nor throws anyone out. “Yet the Church does not encourage sex change,” he said. “The natural role of the Church is to teach men and women to accept themselves as God accepts and loves them, no matter their physical, psychological, or social flaws. God created us in His image and likeness, and we are always accepted by Him.” But, Fr Abanoub said, the matter of gender dysphoria has not been officially tackled by the Church.

Fr Psanti Henry of the church of Mar-Girgis (St George) in al-Muneeb, Giza, confirmed that the Coptic Church had declared no official view vis-à-vis transgenders. “We have the medical viewpoint, however, which is what really matters since they are the experts,” he said. But the Coptic Orthodox Holy Synod has said nothing yet regarding the matter.

 

Unconditional

“It is imperative to accept transgender persons in the Church,” Rev. Samuel Zaky, pastor of the Evangelical church in Ezbet al-Nakhl in northern Cairo said. “Their rejection by the community is wrong and unkind, and makes matters worse for people who need our care, support, and sympathy. The Bible says that Christ gave sight to the man born blind, meaning that it is right to correct physical flaws one is born with.”

Transgender persons in Egypt say they face a “Society with no mercy” Transgender persons in Egypt say they face a “Society with no mercy”

For his part, Rev. Mohsen Naim of the Evangelical church in Shubra, Cairo, told Watani that no matter what gender a person is, what problems or disorders he or she suffers from, they must be treated with dignity. “If a person suffers physical or mental problems regarding self-acceptance, this does not in any way make him or her less accepted by God. The Church should be well aware of this, and should thus accept everyone regardless of what their gender was or is.”

Watani International

15 September 2021

 

 

Comments

comments

Tags: Amany AyedEgypt transgender personsTransgender Egypt

Related Posts

Conserving an age-old craft
Art

Fawakhir village: Conserving age-old craft of pottery

July 6, 2022
Al-Arish Copts’ predicament resolved
Coptic Affairs

Al-Arish Copts’ predicament resolved

June 30, 2022
Ephraim and Patrick: icons of honesty in Minya
Coptic Affairs

Ephraim and Patrick: icons of honesty in Minya

June 27, 2022
Saving Mar-Mina’s splendid place
Antiquity

Saving Mar-Mina’s splendid place

June 22, 2022
50 medical convoys to remote and underprivileged areas in Egypt
features

50 medical convoys to remote and underprivileged areas in Egypt

June 21, 2022
Killer of Sohag Copt referred to criminal court
Crime

Killer of Sohag Copt referred to criminal court

June 21, 2022

Discussion about this post

Editorial

International North Coastal Road: Gilding the Lily

More

MOST READ

For 28 years in Port Said: Holy Virgin icon still drips miraculous oil
Coptic Affairs

For 28 years in Port Said: Holy Virgin icon still drips miraculous oil

February 26, 2018
0

This February 2018 marks the 28th year in succession since miraculous oil started dripping from a large modern paper icon...

Read more
Egypt: 6.9 pct rise in COVID infections

Egypt: 6.9 pct rise in COVID infections

July 4, 2022
Old houses at new prices?

Old houses at new prices?

February 1, 2017
Youssef Sidhom

International North Coastal Road: Gilding the Lily

July 1, 2022
Police contain attack against Luxor church granted legality

Police contain attack against Luxor church granted legality

June 25, 2022

Features

Conserving an age-old craft
Art

Fawakhir village: Conserving age-old craft of pottery

July 6, 2022
0

A news item circulated the first week of July 2022 ran to the effect that Cairo Governor Khaled Abdel-Aal handed...

Read more
Watani started as an Egyptian weekly Sunday newspaper published in Cairo. The word Watani is Arabic for “My Homeland”. The paper was founded in 1958 by the prominent Copt Antoun Sidhom (1915 – 1995), who strove for the establishment of a civil, democratic society in Egypt, where all Egyptians would enjoy full citizenship rights regardless of their religious denomination. To this day when Watani is published as a weekly paper and an online news site, the objective remains the same. Those in charge of Watani view this role as a patriotic all-Egyptian vocation. Special attention is given to shedding light on Coptic culture and tradition as authentically Egyptian, this being a topic largely disregarded or little-understood by Egypt’s media. Watani is deeply dedicated to offer its readers high quality, extensive, objective, credible and well-researched media coverage, with special focus on Coptic issues, culture, heritage, and contribution to Egyptian society.
-----------------------------------------------------------

27 Abdel Khalek Tharwat st, Downtown, Abdeen,Cairo

00202-23927201

00202-23935946

 [email protected]

      

categories

  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Culture
  • Egypt – Arab Spring
  • Coptic Affairs
  • Features
  • Watani Special Features

Recent Posts

  • Fawakhir village: Conserving age-old craft of pottery
  • Egyptian athletes win total 49 medals in Oran’s Mediterranean Games 2022
  • Egypt: 6.9 pct rise in COVID infections
  • International North Coastal Road: Gilding the Lily
  • Pope Tawadros on 30 June 2013 Revolution: Rescuing Egypt from
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Culture
  • Egypt – Arab Spring
  • Coptic Affairs
  • Features
  • Watani Special Features

Powered BY 3A Digital.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Accidents
    • Crime
    • Diplomatic briefcase
    • NewsLine
    • Outside Cairo
    • Special Occasions
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • International media
    • Reader`s Corner
    • Opinion
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • International Politics
    • Islamisation Politics
    • National Affairs
    • Parliament
    • Politics
    • Protests
    • Rights
    • Terrorism
  • Culture
    • Antiquity
    • Art
    • Books
    • Culture
    • Drama
    • Egyptology
    • Festivals
    • Films
    • Heritage
    • Islamisation Culture
    • Media
    • Museums
    • Music
    • TV
  • Coptic
    • Church Affairs
    • Coptic Affairs
    • Coptic Culture
    • Copts in the Media
    • Coptology
    • Copts Abroad
    • Religious
      • P. Shenouda: Bible Study
    • Sectarian
    • Inter-religious
    • Holy Family
  • Features
    • Counselling Corner
    • features
    • Economy
      • Business
    • Education
    • Social Issues
      • Behaviour
      • Mothers Day
    • Health
    • Environment
    • Humour
    • In memorial
    • Interviews
    • Nile
    • Profile
    • Special needs
    • Sports
    • Technology
    • Tourism
    • Wars
    • Women
    • Youth
  • Watani Special Features
    • Egypt – Arab Spring
      • 25 January Revolution
      • 25 Jan revolution, one year on
      • Egypt post-30 June
    • Watani Milestones
      • 20 years Watani International
      • 10 years Watani International
      • Watani Jubilee
    • Pope Shenouda
    • Pope Tawadros
    • Watani Forum

Powered BY 3A Digital.

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Posting....