Egyptian’s Education Ministry Investigating Textbook Containing Images that "Support Homosexuality"

Last Tuesday, Egyptian Education Ministry called for an urgent investigation into what appears to be pictures which “support homosexuality in the educational curricula” after the images made rounds on social media.

The ministry assigned the General Education Sector’s committee to look into the allegation showing pictures of an English-language textbook from an international school in Egypt with cartoon illustrations showing potential formations of a family. A local media reported.

The first and second illustrations show a ‘normal family’ made of a father, a mother and children; and a grandfather, a grandmother and children respectively.

What caused a stir on social media was a representation showing a family could also be made of two mothers or two fathers.

Critics of the images said the cartoons were “promoting homosexuality and establishing a culture of gay marriage [among] a new generation of children,” Egypt Independent reported.

Responding to the issue the spokesperson for the Education Ministry, Ahmed Khairy, said “the ministry formed a committee to ensure the validity of [the] photos, and to know if they belong to an international school’s book, or if they are foreign books, before taking strict measures.”

Although homosexuality is not illegal in Egypt, in the recent past, the police have used two old laws established in a 1950 (anti-prostitution law) and a 1961 (law against ‘debauchery’) to arrest and charge individuals going against these two sets of rules.