The grandson of actor Omar Sharif has come out, partly as a political act to highlight his fear for the future of Egypt after the Arab spring. With the Muslim Brotherhood’s power increasing in the country, his fears are particularly personal as he’s a half-jewish, gay man – neither of which are very popular with the Brotherhood.

Sharif Jr. came out in an article he wrote for The Advocate entitled ‘We’re Not in Cairo Anymore’, says he’s writing “in fear. Fear for my country, fear for my family, and fear for myself.

“My parents will be shocked to read it, surely preferring I stay in the shadows and keep silent, at least for the time being. But I can’t.”

Sharif Jr., who like his grandfather is also an actor, left Egypt before the revolution and is now afraid to return. “The vision for a freer, more equal Egypt — a vision that many young patriots gave their lives to see realized in Tahrir Square — has been hijacked. The full spectrum of equal and human rights are now wedge issues used by both the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces and the Islamist parties, when they should be regarded as universal truths.”

He adds, “I hesitantly confess: I am Egyptian, I am half Jewish, and I am gay… While to many in Europe and North America mine might seem like trivial admissions, I am afraid this is not so in Egypt. I anticipate that I will be chastised, scorned, and most certainly threatened. From the vaunted class of Egyptian actor and personality, I might just become an Egyptian public enemy.”

He then asks the political powers to speak out in favour of equal rights for Egyptians regardless of gender or sexual orientation, saying “I want to know that we are not sliding downward on a slippery slope from secular(ish) society toward Islamic fundamentalist state […] After all of this, if we pursue a national agenda that does not respect basic human rights, we are no better than the architects of tyranny, contempt, and oppression toppled throughout the Arab Spring.”

Omar Sharif senior became one of the most famous actors of his era starring in movies like Lawrence Of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, and is one of only a handful of African born actors to make it to the top in Hollywood. It isn’t known what he thinks of his grandson coming out.