In January 2001 the Ministry of Culture, in a move reminiscent of the Nazis, burned six thousand volumes of poetry by the eighth century Abassid poet Abu Nuwas famous for his homoerotic verse. In terms of the sheer number of books the burning seems to have been the second largest in history, after the infamous bonfire of 70,000 works in Berlin's Opernplatz on the night of 10 May 1933 which also included works by gay writers Thomas Mann and Magnus Hirschfeld. The reasons behind the capitulation of the Ministry of Culture to the forces of islamic fundamentalism goes back to the student riots at Al-Azhar university, Egypt's historic islamic university, against the supposedly blasphomous "Banquet for Seaweed" in May 2000. The confrontation, followed by successes by the Islamic Brotherhood in subsequent elections, scared the government. It appears that Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni (see photo), labelled "Al-Fannan" (The Artist) in the press, may also have been embarassed when the weekly Sout El Omma published copies of the his abstract paintings ouzing phallic symbolism. When newly elected Muslim Brotherhood MP Gamal Heshmat demanded the withdrawal of three books published by the General Organization for Cultural Palaces (GOCP), a bizarely named pubishing offshoot of the Culture Ministry, the Minister took action. Sensing it was either going to be his head or his censors' he chose the less painful option. Summoning Ali Abu Shadi of GOCP to the ministry buildings in Zamalek (the buildings themselves embarassingly close to Marriot's Harry's Bar, the Queen Boat and the heart of Cairo's more upper class gay scene), Farouk Hosni had metamorphosed into the very model of a puritanical Soviet Commissar. He fired Abu Shadi both from his role as censor at GOCP and also from his post as head of the National Film Festival. Remarking on the content of the three books, "Before and After" by Tufiq Abdel-Rahman, "The Children of the Romantic Era" by Yasser Shaaban and "Forbidden Dreams" by Mahmud Hamed, Hosni dared "any of the editors who support the publication of these novels to give them to their wives." Those who had actually read the book yawned. "Anyone excited by the prospect of reading these three novels in order to get a porgnographic kick" warned one literary critic, "will be very disappointed." It seems that the Islamic Brotherhood, elated at their new powers of incluence, then pressured the Government and State Security Police to act to crush Cairo's gay community first by atrition through internet entrapment but ultimately by launching what they hoped would be a fatal blow through a the raid against Cairo's only "gay night" at the Queen Boat discotheque. Fifty two men artibitrarily arrested at the floating discotheque face trial on the 15th August and the likelihood of long prison sentences. It is possible international pressure could force Mubarak to intervene but in the short term the Government might decide to bow to the Muslim Brotherhood. That is not good news for the Queen Boat detainees even if as the Essayist Alfred Whitney once noted "Ideas won't go to jail. In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor has always lost." Many sources including Al Hayat 13 January 2001 and Middle East Report 219 Summer 2001. Latest news 22 May 2012: Cairo psychiatrist claims he can "cure" 70 to 75 per cent of gay teenagers.