Gay Egypt In the Dock.

Harassment of homosexuals is hardly a new problem in Egypt. But in recent months an unprecedented vilification campaign against gay men has drawn international opprobrium--and cast new light on the often violent collision between traditional and Western values that is convulsing the developing world. The crackdown began last spring, when 52 allegedly gay men were arrested at a Cairo discotheque and in nearby apartments and hauled before Cairo's State Security Court, normally reserved for trying terrorist suspects. There they were accused of crimes ranging from contempt of religion to false interpretation of the Qur'an. After a highly publicized trial, 23 were sentenced in November to prison terms of up to five years; the rest were acquitted. Then, two weeks ago, security forces arrested eight men in the Nile Delta town of Damanhur on similar charges. Described in the local media as a "network of perverts," the men are being held without bail. The crackdown has been a severe embarrassment for the government of President Hosni Mubarak, which has sought to present itself to the West as a bastion of moderation in a region fraught with radicalism.

It also appears to be a calculated gamble by an insecure regime. The crackdown on gays, as diplomats and political analysts see it, reflects government concern about growing freedom of expression in Egypt--fueled by the proliferation of Internet chat rooms and Web sites beyond the regime's control. The government may also have contrived the prosecutions to bolster its Islamic credentials at a time when Egyptians are angered by an imploding economy and the arrests of fundamentalists. The strategy may be working. Although condemned abroad, the trial of the "Cairo 52" has met with nearly universal approval at home. "Being gay is not a fundamental right in Egypt," says a Western diplomat in Cairo. "It's seen as a perversion."

Until recently, it was also buried deeply in the Egyptian closet. The media and the government pretended that homosexuality was a Western "disease" that hardly existed in Egypt. As a result, many gays grew up in self-loathing and isolation, desperately searching for soulmates. "When I first had these feelings, I believed I was the only one," says Ramzi, a 24-year-old Cairo lawyer. "Then I met someone, and we thought we were the only two. Slowly we found our way into the community." That community has maintained a vibrant yet fragile existence in urban centers such as Alexandria and Cairo. The capital's affluent neighborhoods offer a handful of nightclubs, discos and bars where gay men can fraternize, although police harassment occurs regularly. Last summer Ramzi was picked up with 150 other gay men in a sweep of hangouts in central Cairo; he says he was punched, tortured with electric shocks and held in a cell, without charges, for three nights.

In the last two years, activists say, gays in Egypt have become more assertive. Dozens of Internet chat rooms have started up, allowing gay men to establish support networks, organize parties and arrange dates. (Online dating can be perilous: last year, gay activists and diplomats say, one man was lured to a Cairo rendezvous by a date who turned out to be a security agent; he was arrested and spent time in prison.) Overseas-based Web sites such as Gayegypt.com poke fun at Egypt's autocratic regime with an irreverence no domestic site would dare express. One photograph on the site shows Mubarak pinning a medal on the uniform of a young soldier; the caption reads that the president is "choosing the prettiest gay cadet."

Then came last year's bust. The target was the Queen Boat--a three-deck floating discotheque and nightclub moored on the Nile whose Thursday- night parties attracted a sizable gay clientele. Police had raided the boat several times, usually releasing suspected gay men in a matter of hours or days. This time it was different. In the early hours of Friday ...