The Arab trans woman who helps to escape from countries that persecute and kill LGBT | World

Iman Le Caire smiles as she reviews the list of names of transgender people she helped flee persecution during the coronavirus pandemic.

The first was Ritaj, a young trans woman in Yemen who was “mentally and physically destroyed” after being sentenced to 100 lashes for homosexuality and jailed.

Under Yemeni law, if Ritaj had been married at the time and found guilty of homosexual acts, she could have been stoned to death.

As a trans woman, who escaped her dire situation in Egypt, Iman says she could no longer stand by while this suffering continued behind closed doors.

“I've been there, gone through the same pain. Our families spit at us with the same saliva,” says Iman.

For months, Ritaj and Iman spoke on the phone as they prepared documents for Ritaj's escape. They also created a GoFundMe page to raise money for legal fees, with the help of Aliyah, another trans woman activist.

Ritaj knew she had, in Iman's words, to appear masculine so that no one would question her during the first leg of her daring escape - a 36-hour drive and flight to Cairo.

From there, an immigration lawyer flew in to help present her case to the French consulate, which meant she could be sent on a humanitarian visa to France, where she started a new life.

“Many LGBT people in Arab countries are currently trapped with no one to help them,” says Ritaj.

“Many are abandoned by their families, unable to find work and homeless just because they are LGBT. Governments need to create laws to protect these people.”

Isolation with hostile family

There are still many countries where being trans – when a person's gender identity is different from the sex they were registered at birth – is heavily stigmatized.

Amnesty International has warned that the climate has become particularly bad during the pandemic, with many transgender people “isolated with hostile family members” and without access to healthcare or wider support.

“The crisis has always been bad, but the pandemic has made it even worse. There are crimes committed against trans people,” says Iman. “How can you live in a country when your family and the government don't want you there?”

It's a feeling she knows all too well. Iman grew up as a young boy in a rural village in Egypt, but inside he always knew she was a woman. She says she was insulted for behaving in a feminine manner, accused of having a “female demon” inside her.

She describes her childhood as brutal and unforgiving. At age eight, she was raped for two years by someone close to her family, she says, an open secret that led to more sexual assault at the hands of others.

The shame and dishonor felt by the family was so great, she says, that it culminated in her being stabbed in the chest before her sister intervened and rushed her to the hospital.

Later, when she transitioned, it was her sister's name – Iman – that she chose out of gratitude for saving her life.

Dancing became a way to combat anxiety, and a job at the Cairo Opera House initially seemed like a chance to start over.

Despite failing to acknowledge that she was transgender, Iman had a boyfriend and says that as a prominent LGBTQ person, she was relentlessly pursued by police on trumped-up charges.

In fear for her life, she left on a tourist visa for New York, where she applied to be granted asylum.

Alone in a new city, she fell into depression and started using drugs before meeting her future husband, Jean-Manuel, and physically transitioning to become a woman in her thirties.

After going through so much, Iman decided to keep a low profile and focus on her work as a performance artist.

But a political awakening came with the death of George Floyd in May 2020 and the Black Lives Matter protests. Iman says the "toxic masculinity" that fueled the issues reminded her of the way she had been treated in Egypt.

“And then suddenly the pandemic happened. I was really scared. I went out to protest and found my cure, they were fighting for black lives and trans lives.”

A few weeks later, Iman was further mobilized by the suicide of Sarah Hegazy, a 30-year-old lesbian who had been arrested for raising a rainbow flag at a concert – part of Egypt's relentless crackdown on LGBT rights.

Sarah Hegazy was living in Canada after being granted asylum, but had experienced post-traumatic stress and depression after being tortured in prison, according to Amnesty International reports.

“She couldn't take it. And I identified with her. Having been in prison in Egypt, I know what they do to people,” said Iman.

Trans life in the Middle East

By Nada Menzalji – BBC Arabic reporter

In the Middle East, LGBTQ+ people are often stigmatized and subject to harassment and violence based on their sexuality and gender identity, often at the hands of their own families.

For trans people, life can be particularly dangerous. Being trans is often considered "immoral", and trans people are often considered "criminals or blasphemers".

According to a 2020 Human Rights Watch report, transgender women in the region are often perceived as gay men, and are targeted for the same reasons and prosecuted under the same broad accusations of "engaging in carnal relations against the order of nature" or " imitating women ” Punishment for gay sex ranges from imprisonment in countries such as Syria to the death penalty in some cases in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Transitioning can be challenging for transgender people too. Under most Arab legislation, approval from a committee made up of doctors and clerics must be obtained, but surgery is only considered to correct a birth defect in one's reproductive organs.

Some choose to transition secretly, putting their lives on the line at local clinics that fail to meet medical standards. But even after transition, obtaining an identity document that reflects the proper name and gender of a trans man or woman will be impossible in most of the Arab world.

During the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, Iman went to protest at the Brooklyn Liberation March, which saw 15,000 people gather outside the Brooklyn museum to demand safety for black trans people.

Photos of her at the march led Ritaj to contact her and it became her first case. Since then, many others have emerged, mainly from the Middle East, but also from other countries where there is a risk, such as Jamaica.

Iman eventually joined an organization called TransEmigrate, which provides logistical support for those trying to move to safer countries, before founding a sister organization, Trans Asylias, which helps persecuted trans people apply for asylum.

She gives advice, helps check their asylum applications, keeps their spirits up with regular video calls and raises money for their move.

Sadly, says Iman, for every trans or non-binary person who has managed to leave their country, many more still live in fear of persecution and death.

Her biggest dream is to build a community “with beautiful homes, green spaces and doctors, where all the trans and gender non-conforming people who have faced all these horrible things can get treatment and get better, like when people took care of me.”

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