Even if Egypt's laws do not technically consider homosexuality illegal in the Middle Eastern country, its police force continue to crack down on gay men, similar to what is happening in homophobic Russia.

Reports from Associated Press said that Egyptian police arrested 25 men at a bathhouse in the Azbakeya neighborhood in downtown Cairo on Sunday. However, BBC placed their number at 33, including the owner of the establishment. The men were forced out of the edifice with no clothes on.

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According to General Ali al-Demerdash, chief of the Cairo Security Directorate, the 33 were detained for "practicing debauchery."

"The bathhouse owner is accused of turning the facility into a site of immoral and indecent conduct and group homosexuality," BBC quotes Mohamed Hetta, chief of the local prosecution office.

Even a non-sexual act such as being seen attending a same-sex wedding reception on a boat in the Nile could be used against males suspected of being gay as eight men discovered in November after they were slapped three-year jail terms on charges of "inciting debauchery."

Men suspected of being gay are charged for "shameless public acts" or spreading AIDS in the country. To test if males are homosexuals, they are made to undergo anal testing, a practice that human rights groups have condemned and criticized.

In 2001, 52 men were arrested while attending a party on a Nile boat restaurant. They were accused of participating in gay sex. Of the 52, 23 were convicted and given various sentences, ranging from one to five years prison terms due to "immoral behavior" and "contempt of religion."

Heba Kotb, an Egyptian sexologist, estimates the number of homosexuals in the country to 10 to 12 percent of the population. But a 2013 study by the Pew Research Center found that 95 percent of Egyptians are intolerant of gays and believe that homosexuality isn't acceptable to their society. 

Tagsgays, homosexuality, Egypt, debauchery