Coptic Queer Stories

Link in bio, pls share or donate

Listen closely to that isolating fear and cold logic, who does it serve? Any line can and will be drawn to keep us fighting each other. Fight we must, but not for scraps--for the future.

Poem and caption by Myriam Bestowrous

two artists living in Egypt share their work with us anonymously, and it’s no secret that the feelings they capture are familiar to many q***r copts around the world, but perhaps especially clear for those living under oppressive regimes. a songwriter shares the lyrics to something they’re working on about how certain love exists between 4 walls and never outside, while a photographer captures this liminal space of fleeting moments, connection, and creation

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈
𝘚𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳
𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴
𝘔𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴

𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳
𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨
(𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳)

𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘴
𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦
𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴

𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦
𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦
𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦
𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 9?
𝘜𝘨𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴!

𝘐 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵
𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 & 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺

𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘤 𝘴𝘬𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘰𝘯
𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘺

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨
𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨

Join us for an upcoming talk on Saturday for the inaugural cohort of the SWANA Justice School put on by . A lot of care went into this curriculum, and so many important topics and experts are involved—this is the last week to sign up for the summer session. Here’s a sneak peek at what we’re offering. Registration🔗 in their bio

On this Nakba Day, goddesses of love and victory, favorite artworks by bread and puppet and Zeinab Ahmed, and spending time in the kitchen baking .kassis’ roasted tahini cheesecake

Poem and image by —I took this in 2007 at the White Monastery/Deir al Abyad in Sohag. When I saw it, I said, “That’s the kind of s**t I would pull.” 𓂻🧱 𓂻🧱 𓂻🧱

Saba7 el yasmin

“Voiceless, speechless, have no breath left. Because in what I've found love others found death. Because my existence is either actively fought against or fetishized. People like me are taught to hide. Taught they would be better off to die. Religion to those deemed different is weaponized…”

Link in bio to read the full poem, Emerging from the Shadows, written by our newest contributor Amethyst. “Amethyst is a Coptic q***r young adult who uses writing and singing to embrace themselves and heal from the world.” 🎶✨📝

But why the image of Amun with a huge b***r from the temple at Deir el Medina? Because our history is so gay. Because this month is so, so gay. Ok obvi not in the modern sense, but let me explain my thinking. We’re in the month of Paopi (Ⲡⲁⲟⲡⲓ/Ⲡⲁⲱⲡⲉ/بابه‎/Bāba)—it's the second month of the ancient Egyptian and current Coptic calendar. The month of Paopi is the second month of the Season of Akhet (Inundation), when the Nile floods inundated the land since ancient times until the construction of the high dam in 1970. Paopi is named after the Opet Festival, which was an annual Ancient Egyptian festival celebrated during this time to promote the fertility of Amun, a deity who was seen as a champion of the less fortunate, upholding the rights of justice. Since he upheld Ma'at (truth, justice, and goodness), those who prayed to him were required first to demonstrate that they were worthy, by confessing their sins (sound familiar?). The name Amun means "the hidden one" or "invisible.” This is an image of Amun-Min as Amun-Ra.

And it gets way more gay….continued in comments.

It would be so nice to be something that's like, you know, where I don’t have to think about these issues that are so personal to me all the time. But I don't know if that's really an option. Like, I feel like if I took everything q***r related off my resume, I would have very little. *laughter* Lee (27)

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Lee is the most kind and brilliant advocate for the q***r and trans agenda 🤝 they do indeed have a very q***r resume. Just a few examples: they started a GSA at their publicly-funded Catholic school at 16 before coming out, which helped change the Education Act in Ontario. They were the Co-Grand Marshal at Pride in Toronto, they are involved in the first-ever survey of trans people who work in K to 12 schools in Canada and the US, and they are currently in a PhD program researching ways to make trans people's working conditions in schools and public institutions better.

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Full interview in bio to get to know ***rnerdxo as we discuss their experiences with life in the public eye during high school, controversies around gender/sexuality/sex ed curriculum, intimidation and support, awards from gay churches, being mixed and visibly gender non-conforming as a Copt, the activism>academia continuum, understanding the terms of being invited back into the family WhatsApp group, the q***r Egyptian underground, and fresh beginnings.

What does a Coptic q***r community look like to you? What does it feel like? What does it smell like? /// C: So for me, it means physically holding you all. What I would give to give you all a hug - like a real cuddle - it would just mean, I can't tell you how emotional it makes me feel to know that there are people like me in the world. You know? I have felt so isolated for so long - and I just didn't know that there was anyone who was gay and Egyptian - let alone being gay and Coptic. Like I had no idea that people were even in existence. So for me, my dream would be to see you all in one place and sit with you and talk with you forever- well not forever because you probably need to sleep at some point. But you know, sit and talk and eat and share and connect and just like, almost have a retreat. Literally have a week for a retreat. You know, we're going to be in this random cabin somewhere and we’re all going to talk about being gay for like a whole week. And you can bring- what are those things you guys make? S’mores? We just have marshmallows but you guys do marshmallows and…crunchy thing. What is it? Chris Daniel (32) \\\

~~*~~Link in bio for full convo transcript with and , as they explore British humor, q***r community in diaspora, womanhood, transnational borders, survival in capitalism, softness and androgyny, le***an family dynamics, cow manure in the countryside, race, class, privilege, and so much more.

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What does being q***r and Coptic mean to you? This Saturday, join us for some collaborative storytelling and art making. In partnership with , we will be getting messy and creative together in order to explore our relationships with Coptic & q***r culture. This is an interactive, free event on Zoom—no additional materials needed. Sign up in bio. Graphic by