Egypt’s crackdown on the LGBT community is back in the spotlight this week after a prominent queer Egyptian activist died by suicide in Toronto, Canada, where she had sought asylum. Sarah Hegazy was 30 years old. Three years ago, Egyptian authorities detained her after she was photographed waving a rainbow flag at a rock concert. Authorities charged her with “promoting sexual deviancy and debauchery.” In detention, she was tortured with electric shocks and held in solitary confinement. She was released after three months but continued to face death threats in Egypt. She then fled to Canada. This is Mostafa Fouad, her lawyer and friend.

Mostafa Fouad: “In her letters from jail and the diary entries she wrote in prison, she used to say, 'The world will only change through love. No matter how much they hate me or hate people like me, no matter how much they hate anyone who's different, still the only thing that will change the world is love and coexistence.’ This was her true faith in life, that humanity is what will save the world.”