A National Kissing Day in Cairo?
Can you believe it ? Egypt will have a National Kissing Day on Friday 30th August. Cairo and Alexandria each have several hundred confirmed as attending as does the small Delta town of Zagazig !
If this event continues to gather momentum and publicity, it will be hugely revolutionary in Egypt’s deeply conservative society.
The Facebook page which dreamt up this event can be found at
I don’t know who created the page but it is quickly becoming a self-fulfilling rumour and in the last hours the story has gone viral.
I have little doubt how Egypt’s Ancien Regime, including the military and its’ white haired technocrat government, will react to this. While public displays of affection might be tolerated between foreigners on a quiet beach in Dahab or El Gouna, they will be regarded as hugely subversive in Egypt’s cities.
The Muslim Brotherhood bigots might have fallen from power but Egypt’s establishment is not ready to indulge such a provocative display of sexual freedom.
If this movement really takes off it will be denounced by the major political factions (certainly by the Muslim Brotherhood) and also the government and there is a danger some participants might become the victims of violence or even face the courts and severe prison sentences.
However it is nevertheless a radical, commendable and brave initiative to spread peace and love in a fun and revolutionary way and I just hope enough people participate to ensure their own safety.
I think it would be premature and irresponsible for anyone to call on lesbians and gays to openly join such a demonstration due to the risk of possible attack – unless there’s a sufficiently large crowd of very broad-minded kissers to guarantee their safety. This could really only be determined on the day.
One thing is for sure though – looking at those going to attend on the Facebook page – there are about nineteen men for every woman signed up which means eighteen of the nineteen men will either have to give it a go or go without !
But I would still recommend extreme caution even if the prospect of a crowd of handsome young men desperately short of available women and out to kiss their immediate neighbour is wildly arousing.
But if you are a gay man why not hang around and if you see there is a sufficiently large crowd of young guys you might end up “forced” to kiss some Romeo. And it will be a day to go down in history. The more passionate part of me (political and romantic) is asking “Can anyone afford to miss it ?”
Picture: Here’s one we did earlier !
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