LGBT rights in Bahrain
LGBT rights in Bahrain  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Same-sex sexual activity legal? | Legal since 1976 |
| Gender identity/expression | No |
| Military service | No |
| Discrimination protections | – |
| Family rights | |
| Recognition of relationships | No |
| Adoption | – |
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people living in Bahrain may face discrimination not faced by non-LGBT persons. The country legalized homosexuality in 1976.[1] Law enforcement agents and the courts have the authority to issue fines and/or jail time for any activities in violation of laws such as under-age same-sex acts, as only adults aged twenty-one and above are legally allowed to engage in homosexuality.[2][3]
Penal Code
Bahrain was given its first criminal ban on homosexuality, defined as by the United Kingdom, which imposed a similar law throughout each of its colonies.
A new Penal Code was enacted in March 1976, repealing the Penal Code of the Persian Gulf that was imposed by the United Kingdom.[1] The new penal code does not prohibit private, non-commericial acts of homosexuality between consenting adults in private. It does have a higher age of consent for such behavior, both adults must be 21 years of age or older and there are several other parts of the penal code that can be used against LGBT people.
Related Penal Code Concerns
Article 324 of the penal code prohibits enticing another person to commit prostitution or any other act that may be considered immoral. This particular law has increasingly been used to crackdown on men who wear women's clothing, as well as gay and bisexual men.[4] There have been recent reports of a possible comprehensive crackdown against same-sex sexual acts and cross-dressing in Bahrain.
Article 328 of the penal code prohibits anyone operating or being employed at an business where prostitution or any sort of immorality is taking place or being promoted.
Article 329 of the penal code prohibits people from public solicitation involving prostitution or any sort of immoral activity. This applies even if sexual behavior is going to occur in a private place.
Article 330 of the penal code states that anyone who is charged with an act of prostitution or immorality is to be taken to a hospital and tested for sexually transmitted diseases. If they have such diseases, the law stipulates that they be relocated to a medical facility for treatment.
Article 334 of the penal code prohibits the practice of "honor killings", where the person being killed, for bringing dishonor to the family, was guilty of adultery.
Article 350 of the penal code prohibits any sort of public indecency, with an additional ban on any person from committing an indecent act with a woman, even if the act is in private and with her consent.
Article 354 of the penal code prohibits cruising or using words or signs on a street or other public place for the purposes of indulging in immoral behavior.
Article 355 of the penal code prohibits owning, importing, or exporting any form of artwork, publication, film or other media that violates public morality.
Government Statements
The Al-Menbar Islamic Society is one of the more successful political factions within the Parliament. As a lawful Islamist political group it has pushed for more conservative social policies, including a crackdown on LGBT people.
In response to questions from parliament about lesbianism in schools, the Assistant Under-Secretary for Educational Services Khalid Al Alawi has said that the Education Ministry is not responsible for addressing issues of sexuality, and instead it is the responsibility of parents to take care of their children's emotional development: "Any emotional problems should be dealt with by their parents – it is not up to the school to take actions on this problem. The public shouldn't make a big deal out of this problem because it does not exist." Speaking about the government's attitude, Mr Al Alawi said that "As for the question that has been raised in the Press about the so-called problem of lesbianism, as a ministry we cannot talk about a widespread phenomenon and we can't call them lesbians. The problems that the students are facing are put into the category of educational problems, not immoral acts. If a student's appearance is contrary to custom and the schools values, then the only thing we can say is that those violating the school's rules should be disciplined."[5]
In 2008, a harsher crackdown on same-sex sexual acts was called for by members of the Al Menbar parliamentary bloc. The government is being asked to conduct an official study into the problem of same-sex sexual acts and how to best combat them. The initial response from the government was as follows;
- The Interior Minister says that "suspected" (effeminate) homosexuals are banned from entering Bahrain by checks at the airport.[6]
- The Interior Minister says that many homosexuals choose a profession in hairdressing salons and beauty and massage spas, which the Minister says are often inspected.[6]
The government crackdown against cross-dressing appears to have begun a year later. In 2009, two Asian foreigners were sentenced to six months in jail, with hard labor, and later deportation for offering to have sex with undercover police offices in exchange for money at a Male Barbershop [14 January 2009 – Bahraini Newspaper, *Alwaqht,*]
In February 2009, a thirty-nine-year-old man was sentenced to a month in jail for wearing women's clothing in public, namely an abaya and purse. [13 February 2009 – PinkNews]
Other pending bills would expressly ban LGBT foreigners from entering the kingdom or receiving residency permits as well as plans to instruct children's teachers in apparent warning signs of homosexuality or cross-dressing, so that the children can be punished.[7]
Some of the more lawful liberal and leftist political groups within Bahrain have expressed opposition to introducing Sharia law into the Bahraini penal code, but none of them have expresses support for LGBT rights.
Freedom of speech
The press in Bahrain has, since the 1990s, generally been allowed to discuss the subject of homosexuality, without being punished by the government. Initially, the discussion was focused on people and events happening outside of Bahrain, especially in the field of entertainment or the AIDS-HIV pandemic. In the early part of the twenty-first century, the Bahraini press has begun to address sexual orientation, gender identity, and the AIDS-HIV pandemic as they apply to the island.
In 2001 the Arabic language newspaper, Al-Meethaq, created a national controversy when it became the first newspaper to discuss homosexuality in Bahrain.[8]
On 21 December 2005, the Bahrain-based newspaper, Gulf Daily News' British columnist Les Horton wrote a commentary, 'Gay weddings are no threat to family values'. This is probably the first time that a column expressing support for LGBT rights was published in a Bahrani newspaper, albeit an English language publication.
The Gulf Daily News has continued to write articles that touch upon homosexuality and gender identity. For example, it has published several articles on Bahraini female homosexuality in girls' high schools and Bahraini women who claim to have become lesbians based on abusive relationships with men.
LGBT community
Bahrain's population is a culturally diverse mixture of citizens, and a foreign workers from many different countries. This impacts how the LGBT community tends to function within the island.
LGBT foreign workers tend to socialize with other foreign workers that share the same language, if not nationality. As non-citizens, they cannot really influence Bahrani policy and generally feel the need to be publicly discrete about their sexual or gender identity, to be able to continue working on the island.
Among Bahariani citizens, how open they can be about their sexual orientation or gender identity, has a lot to do with how traditionalist or modern their family is.
Among the more traditionalist families, being LGBT is shameful and something that needs to be "cured" through medical therapy, an arranged marriage or physical violence. More modern families can be more tolerant, but also concerned about their son or daughter facing harassment or discrimination.
Transgender Concerns
Some progress has been made in terms of the rights of transgender people. A Bahraini lawyer named Fowzia Mohammed Janahi has had some progress in helping transsexuals obtain no legal documents after their gender reassignment surgery. In 2006 the Gulf Daily News published a story about a Bahraini person assigned female at birth who, having undergone a sex change operation, is going to court in a bid to have his new status as a man recognised in law. The lawyer had won a landmark case in 2005 where a Bahraini person assigned female at birth, aged 30, had the operation and was legally recognized as a man. The legal case was still going through the Bahraini legal system for years, until 2008 when the court granted the motion to allow the transsexual to change his legal documents and be recognized in his new gender.[9]
Summary table
| Same-sex sexual activity legal |  (Since 1976) |
| Equal age of consent (Age of consent discrepancy 15 straight years and 21 years for homosexuals) |  |
| Anti-discrimination laws in employment | |
| 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 | |
| MSM allowed to donate blood | |
See also
Notes
- 1 2 "2013 State Sponsored Homophobia Report" (PDF). International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. p. 20. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
- ↑ "Age of consent". Avert.org. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ↑ Lake, Adam (23 April 2008). "Government of Bahrain seeks to punish 'homosexual children'". Pink News. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ↑ "Bahrain jails young man for crossdressing in public". BNO News. 5 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
- ↑ "Gulf Daily News". Gulf Daily News. 9 March 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- 1 2 "Local News » Gays to face new clamp". Gulf Daily News. 14 February 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ↑ http://www.asylumlaw.org/docs/sexualminorities/Bahrain042308.pdf
- ↑ "Bahrain". State.gov. 28 February 2005. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ↑ "Gulf Daily News". Gulf Daily News. 9 March 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2011.