Egypt May Lose U.S. Funding After Election
Last week, President Barack Obama ordered officials to consider how countries treat their gay and lesbian populations when making decisions about allocations of foreign aid. This is the strategy that the United States government has chosen to deal with human rights abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens abroad, according to a presidential memorandum issued on December 6, 2011. Gay and lesbian lobby groups have reported an increase in human rights abuses across the Middle East and elsewhere.
Now, as Egypt prepares the second phase of post-revolution elections, Islamic people in Egypt are raising alarms about so-called Western freedoms like gay marriage to bring voters to their sides.
A sheikh in a mosque tells people that democracy means respecting everyone's rights. He says that Democracy would mean allowing same sex marriage and people drinking alcohol on the streets. One female voter, Umm Radwan, says that Egypt will never allow it and she wants no part of that type of Democracy.
Another voter, Saad Darwish, says that, “Islamic people – they can be democratic, but Islamic democratic. Not people drinking and making problems, making some not-good things, do you understand me? Here, a man doesn't marry a man, not a lady marry a lady. We don't like this.”
The leading Islamic political groups, the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party and the Salafis' Nour party have discussed these issues in the campaigns. Moreover, they are winning a majority of the elections in Egypt.
So, if Egypt's new leaders follow through with their campaign rhetoric, then there is only one solution under Obama's directive – a cut to Egypt's foreign aid by the United States government.
Follow Technorati