Israeli transgender couple said refused entry to Egypt at border crossing

An Israeli transgender couple was apparently denied entry to Egypt at the Taba gateway to Sinai on Thursday, as Egyptian security officers confiscated their passports for inspection, according to a television report.

Or Mizan and Titi Katan, two trans men from Haifa who had planned a five-day trip at the Ras a-Satan resort in the Sinai peninsula were stopped on the Egyptian side of the Taba crossing, Channel 12 news reported on Thursday.

“Every now and then an officer comes by, talks to someone on the phone, looks at us, laughs and walks away,” they told Channel 12.

They told the network that since their passports still list them as female, the border guards apparently did not believe it matched their external appearances.

“They say we do not look female and because of that, they are not willing to let us in. We were shocked, we tried to explain that there is no problem with it all over the world, but they took the passports for inspection and looked at the pictures as if we were wanted. It is a terrible feeling, we just wanted a holiday,” they told Channel 12.

There was no further update if the two had managed to enter the peninsula or not.