Sarah Hegazi

Through distance learning, Hegazi completed certificates in "Fighting for Equality: 1950–2018", "Feminism and Social Justice", "Research Methods", "Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace", and "Understanding Violence" at Columbia University, University of California Santa Cruz, SOAS University of London, the University of Pittsburgh, and Emory University.

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.

In Egypt, where homosexuality is not outlawed explicitly in jurisprudence, detention and charges are made on the basis of the 1961 "Law on Combating Prostitution" that sanctions debauchery and sex work.

Sarah Hegazi (سارة حجازي; 1 October 1989 – 14 June 2020), also spelled Hegazy or Higazy, was an Egyptian socialist, writer, and lesbian activist.

Hegazi was born on 1 October 1989 to an Egyptian conservative middle-class family; she was the eldest of four siblings.

She helped her mother take care of her siblings after her father, a high school science teacher, died.

Pictures of a young Hegazi in conservative Islamic garb, including a hijab, surfaced after her death.

In 2010, Hegazi graduated from Thebas Academy with a bachelor's degree in information systems and the American University in Cairo Continuing Education Center in 2016.

Nine years after the Egyptian revolution of 2011, Hegazi wrote that "the old regime will try anything, even sacrificing important icons of their regime, in order to stay in power or regain power", describing President el-Sisi as "the most oppressive and violent dictator in our modern history" and writing that "revolutionaries believe the battle is one of class".

Hegazi wrote that in consequence of the revolution being left incomplete, "most of us are now in the grave, in prison or exile."

Hegazi wore the hijab until she came out as a lesbian in 2016.

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.

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.

On September 22, 2017, Sarah Hegazi attended a concert for the Lebanese band Mashrou' Leila whose lead singer, Hamed Sinno, is openly gay.

Hegazi was among a group of others arrested for waving a rainbow flag in support of LGBT rights.

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.

She was jailed for three months at Sayeda Zeinab police station where male agents incited inmates to beat her, and verbally and sexually assault her.

In October 2017, in the aftermath of the Mashrou' Leila's 2017 Cairo concert, a number of Egyptian members of the parliament submitted a law that sanctions homosexual acts with up to three years of prison.

If convicted again, the convicts would face the possibility of being sentenced to imprisonment for five years.

The law update was used to crack down on Egyptian LGBT individuals even though the updated law made no allusion to homosexuality.

The update authorized the police to infiltrate chat rooms and dating apps, to pretend to be gay men and women and ensnare members of the LGBT community.

According to the Egyptian government, the law was updated to address modern developments and to stop the internet and social media users from encouraging vice and the practice of prostitution.

The LGBTQ+ community is posited as a national security threat by the Egyptian government, religious authorities, and political parties; this view is promoted by state-controlled media outlets.

In an article published by Mada Masr on September 24, 2018, Hegazi recounted her arrest.

She wrote that she was arrested at home in front of her family, and that, during the process, the officer questioned her about her religion, why she removed her hijab, and whether she was a virgin or not.

According to her account, the officer blindfolded her and took her by car to a location she did not know.

She sat in a chair gagged with a cloth with her hands cuffed.

She was subject to electric shock and she lost consciousness.

She was also threatened that her mother would be harmed if she told anyone.

Hegazi was released on 2 January 2018 and was fined £E1,000 (US$56); after her release, she struggled with depression, panic attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The media compared the arrest of Hegazi with the arrest of the Cairo 52.

Fearing further prosecution, Hegazi sought asylum in Canada in 2018.

Hegazi lost her mother to cancer one month after leaving Egypt.

Hegazi died on 14 June 2020 in Toronto, Canada.

On 15 June 2020, Hegazi's lawyer Khaled Al-Masry confirmed her death as suicide.

A short letter written by Hegazi, in Arabic, circulated on social media following her death.

The letter read: "To my siblings – I tried to survive and I failed, forgive me. To my friends – the experience was harsh and I am too weak to resist it, forgive me. To the world – you were cruel to a great extent, but I forgive."

Her death was reported across a range of international news outlets, with tributes to her activism a recurring theme.