Hi Chelsea,
With equal respect, I helped in a small way to found the EIPR in 2002,
I've followed their work for a decade, and I have clear memories of
what their original mission was --- as well as of the climate of
indifference they were originally responding to. I don't think it's a
question of attacking them. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with
expressing a disappointment which I think is common among some
communities here in Egypt. It would have been possible to say, in the
context of the article, something on the order of: "LGBT issues are a
priority for us as a question of the right to privacy and freedom from
government interference, which is a priority for all Egyptians." That
would have been perfectly consistent with the EIPR's original vision.
Saying "It's not a priority," as a general defensive dismissal, is
not. It's possible they were misquoted, since I don't think the
article is very accurate in general, but it's of a piece with other
things that have been said in the last few years.
Of course the EIPR is overstretched. Everybody in civil society in
Egypt is overstretched. But they're the best-funded human rights group
in the country, and at the moment one of the least vulnerable. If they
can't express a moderate degree of public support, nobody in the
country can or will.
On Thu, Jan 24, 2013 at 4:29 PM, <chelsea.ricker@gmail.com> wrote:
> With all due respect, I have worked with EIPR for the past year and found them to be a dedicated if over-stretched ally. I'm not sure what good attacking them in this forum will do for any of us.
>
> Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Scott Long <scottlong1980@gmail.com>
> Sender: sogi-list-bounces@arc-international.net
> Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:38:20
> To: Faisal Alam<alam.faisal@gmail.com>
> Cc: <faisalalam.progressivemuslims@blogger.com>; <mpvusa@groups.facebook.com>; Parvez Sharma<parvezsharma@gmail.com>; Sogi List list<sogi-list@arc-international.net>; <faisalalam.queermuslims2192@blogger.com>
> Subject: Re: [sogi] 'Getting worse': Egypt's gays fear government crackdown
> - World News
>
> "The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights is a human rights group
> that will talk about gays but this cause is not a priority for them."
> Oddly enough, the EIPR was founded in 2002 partly as a response to
> other human rights organizations that said exactly the same thing,
> word for word. People change, and as a result things don't.
>
> On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 8:20 AM, Faisal Alam <alam.faisal@gmail.com> wrote:
>> http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/23/16644770-getting-worse-egypts-gays-fear-government-crackdown?lite
>>
>> ---
>>
>> Check out more stories at
>>
>>
>> Sent from iPhone.
>
>
>
> --
> Scott Long
> Visiting Fellow, Human Rights Program
> Pound Hall 401
> Harvard Law School
> Harvard University
> Cambridge, MA 02138
> Website: www.paper-bird.net
> Tel.: (+1) 718-223-0808 (cell)
> E-mail: scottlong1980@gmail.com
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--
Scott Long
Visiting Fellow, Human Rights Program
Pound Hall 401
Harvard Law School
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
Website: www.paper-bird.net
Tel.: (+1) 718-223-0808 (cell)
E-mail: scottlong1980@gmail.com
