LGBT rights in Kuwait
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) persons in Kuwait face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBT Kuwaitis. Same-sex sexual activity between men is specifically outlawed and LGBT individuals may also be targeted under the public morality laws. LGBT persons are regularly prosecuted by the government and additionally face discrimination and stigmatization by officials and among the broader population.
LGBT rights in Kuwait | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Status | Homosexuality illegal for males, legal for females |
Penalty | Up to 7 years in prison |
Gender identity | No; crossdressing decriminalised |
Military | No |
Discrimination protections | None |
Family rights | |
Recognition of relationships | No recognition of same-sex unions |
Adoption | No |
Law
Consensual sexual activity between men is illegal. No laws specifically criminalise same-sex sexual activity between women.[1][2]
- Article 193 of the Penal Code punishes "consensual intercourse between men of full age (from the age of 21)" with a term of imprisonment of up to seven years.[1][3]
- Article 198 prohibits public immorality:[1]
Whoever makes a lewd signal or act in a public place or such that one may see it or hear it from public place shall be punished for a period not exceeding one year and a fine not exceeding 1000 Dinar or one either of these punishments.
In 2007, the law was expanded to include "... or appears like the opposite sex in any way", infractions of which were subject to the same penalties.[1][4] This was ruled unconstitutional in February 2022.[5] By the close of the year, several members of the National Assembly had submitted various draft bills intended as replacements for the overturned article of the law.[2]
Living conditions
In September 2013, it was announced that all countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council had agreed to discuss a proposal to establish some form of, as yet unknown, "testing" to detect homosexuality in order to deny entry to gay foreigners.[6][7] However, it has been suggested that concern for hosting 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and fears of controversy over the possible screening of football fans, made officials backtrack on the plans and insist that it was a mere proposal.[8]
In 2017 Instagram star King Luxy was arrested in Kuwait for allegedly looking too feminine. He spent two weeks in custody before he was released.[9]
Discrimination
HIV/AIDS issues
In 1988, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Public Health supported a study investigating the prevalence of unrecognised HIV infection in Kuwait, which found no infections in a sample of Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti men. A similar sentinel surveillance study was performed in 1997–1998, again detecting no HIV infection in its sample group.[lower-alpha 1] The incidence of HIV/AIDS has remained very low within Kuwait, under 0.1 percent over the entire period up to the latest reported figures in 2021. The segment of the population that forms the majority of those with HIV in Kuwait, is males aged between 25 and 49 years, at 47 percent of the total.[10]
Foreigners found to be infected with AIDS/HIV are deported,[11][12] but Kuwaiti citizens who are infected are entitled to outpatient medical care, organised by a specialized infectious disease hospital.[13]
In 2004 a United Nations report on HIV in Kuwait found that about six percent of known transmission cases were the result of unprotected sexual contact between men.[14]
In 1992, the National Assembly criminalised the knowing transmission of HIV to another person.
LGBT rights movement in Kuwait
No known association or charity exists in Kuwait to campaign for LGBT rights or to organize educational and social events for the LGBT community.[2]
In 2007, the Al Arabiya news service reported that a group of Kuwaitis had applied for a permit to form a new association that would stand up for the rights of LGBT Kuwaitis.[15] All such interest groups or clubs have to be approved by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, which never formally replied.
In July 2019 the group announced that they would again apply for a permit from the ministry in response to a crackdown by the Ministry of Commerce on symbols representing homosexuality such as rainbows in shops.[15]
Summary table
Same-sex sexual activity legal | ![]() |
Equal age of consent | ![]() |
Anti-discrimination laws in employment only | ![]() |
Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services | ![]() |
Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech) | ![]() |
Same-sex marriages | ![]() |
Recognition of same-sex couples | ![]() |
Step-child adoption by same-sex couples | ![]() |
Joint adoption by same-sex couples | ![]() |
Gays and lesbians allowed to serve openly in the military | ![]() |
Right to change legal gender | ![]() |
Access to IVF for lesbians | ![]() |
Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples | ![]() |
MSMs allowed to donate blood | ![]() |
Notes
- In the study, participant data recorded included: nationality, marital status and sexual history (heterosexual and homosexual activity; premarital and extramarital sex). Of the 3,123 patients who sought normal (non-HIV) sexually transmitted disease (STD) testing (therefore had been exposed to STD risk) and those undergoing standard premarital examinations, 305 were randomly selected for HIV testing. Travel to 27 different countries in the six months prior to testing was reported amongst the sample. No HIV infection was detected, despite the sample group being considered high-risk. The authors of the second study in 1997–1998, concluded that the country's mandatory HIV screening of foreign nationals applying for residency permits accounted for the absence of infections in the non-Kuwaiti sub-group. The researchers stated they could not be certain if their results were an accurate reflection of the true HIV prevalence in the Kuwaiti community.[lower-alpha 2]
-
- Al-Owaish, R.A.; Behbehani, K. (June 1989). A survey for unrecognized HIV infection in a special STD clinic in Kuwait. 5th International Conference on AIDS, 1989. Montreal. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2011 – via Gateway.nlm.nih.gov [Abstract].
- Al-Owaish, R. A.; Anwar, S.; Sharma, P.; Shah, S. F. (September 2000). "HIV/AIDS prevalence among male patients in Kuwait". Saudi Medical Journal. 21 (9): 852–859. ISSN 0379-5284. PMID 11376363.
References
- ILGA World; Lucas Ramón Mendos (2019). State-Sponsored Homophobia (PDF) (Report) (13th ed.). International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. pp. 201, 444–446. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (2022). "Section 6. Discrimination and Societal Abuses". 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Kuwait (Report). United States Department of State.
- ILGA World; Lucas Ramon Mendos; Kellyn Botha; Rafael Carrano Lelis; Enrique López de la Peña; Ilia Savelev; Daron Tan (14 December 2020). State-Sponsored Homophobia report: 2020 global legislation overview update (PDF) (Report) (14th ed.). Geneva: ILGA. p. 133. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2020.
- "Cross-dressers' heads shaved in Kuwait". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 2019-06-26.
- "Kuwait Overturns Law Used to Prosecute Transgender People". The New York Times. 16 February 2022.
The country's constitutional court said the law, which criminalized 'imitation of the opposite sex,' violated Kuwaitis' rights to personal freedom
- "Gulf Cooperation Countries to test, detect then ban gays from entering their countries". LGBTWeekly.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
- Cavan Sieczkowski (10 September 2013). "Gulf Countries Propose Test To 'Detect' Gays, Ban Them From Entering". Huffington Post. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
- "Kuwaiti authorities arrest 23 'cross-dressers and homosexuals'". Middle East Eye. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- "This controversial Instagram star was arrested and abused for being 'too feminine' in Kuwait". The New Arab. 15 September 2017. Retrieved 2019-06-26 – via Alaraby.
- Awaidy, Salah Al; Ghazy, Ramy Mohamed; Mahomed, Ozayr (20 April 2023). "Progress of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries Towards Achieving the 95-95-95 UNAIDS Targets: A Review". Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health. 13 (3): 397–406. doi:10.1007/s44197-023-00097-1. PMC 1011647. PMID 37079171.
- Al-Shoumer, Hind (March 31, 2010). State of Kuwait – UNGASS 2010 UNGASS Country Progress Report: 2010 Narrative Report (PDF) (Report). Kuwait: National AIDS Program, Kuwait. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2022.
- Trenwith, Courtney (15 August 2013). "Kuwait to deport expats with infectious diseases". Arabian Business. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023.
- UNAIDS (2017), "Country progress report – Kuwait" (PDF), Global AIDS Monitoring 2017, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, p. 13, archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2022, retrieved 19 July 2023
- UNAIDS, "Kuwait: 2004 update" (PDF), Epidemiological Fact Sheets on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Disease, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, archived from the original (PDF) on July 3, 2007, retrieved August 21, 2007
- "Kuwait's gay community wants official recognition for LGBT rights". The New Arab. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 2021-03-31 – via Alaraby.
Further reading
- Gonçalves, Pedro (28 September 2018). "Kuwait deports 13,000 foreigners in just nine months". International Investment. Retrieved 14 November 2020.