As Egyptian authorities crack down on the nation's LGBTQ community, they are doing so while represented by an openly pro-LGBTQ public relations and lobbying firm.

Egypt's General Intelligence Directorate, a branch of the country's mukhabarat, initiated a $1.2 million contract with the global PR giant APCO in July, according to The Intercept.

The deal was inked less than a month after the U.S. based firm took a strong stand in support of LGBTQ rights, with several of the company's executive writing essays to commemorate pride and discuss global discrimination facing the LGBTQ community.



"The corporate world is taking a stand," APCO Chief Executive Brad Staples wrote at the time.



"The next generation of young global citizens will ask a simple but difficult question: ‘Why did it take so long?’"



With the executives' comments, the firm released a video and hashtag – #WhyPrideMatters – specifically celebrating its queer employees.