TV News Anchor Gets One Year In Jail for Interviewing Gay Man

GIZA, EGYPT — (01-21-19) — Egyptian TV News anchor Mohamed al-Ghiety has been jailed for one year after interviewing a gay man on his privately owned LTC TV channel in the Muslim conservative country.

The Giza court also fined Mohamed al-Ghiety, 3,000 Egyptian pounds ($167; £130) for allegedly promoting homosexuality on his show. Even though we are in the 21st Century, homosexuality is still demonized in Egypt. In fact Egyptian authorities have been increasingly cracking down on LGBT activists.

The BBC Reported:

“The TV host, who has voiced homophobic views on a number of occasions, spoke to a gay man who expressed regret over his sexuality and described life as a prostitute. The man’s face had been blurred to conceal his identity.

Egypt’s top media body, the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, immediately took the channel off air for two weeks, citing “professional violations”.

Giz Prosecutor Mr Sabry, accused TV host Mohamed al-Ghiety, of revealing that there are financial gains of “practicing homosexuality”.

According to Egyptian law, Mohamed al-Ghiety can appeal the conviction.

Egypt’s conservative media council has banned homosexuals from appearing on any media outlet in the country following a display of the LGBTQ rainbow flag that was raised at a concert in Cairo in 2017 in the conservative Muslim country.

Article by: Paul Goldberg, Staff Writer