LGBT rights in Kuwait

LGBT rights in Kuwait
LGBT rights in Kuwait
	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
	No recognition of same-sex unions
Adoption	No

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Kuwait face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. 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.

Law

Consensual sexual activity between men is illegal. No laws specifically criminalise same-sex sexual activity between women.

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.
Article 198 prohibits public immorality:

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. This was ruled unconstitutional in February 2022. 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.

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. 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.

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.

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. 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.

Foreigners found to be infected with AIDS/HIV are deported, but Kuwaiti citizens who are infected are entitled to outpatient medical care, organised by a specialized infectious disease hospital.

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.

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.

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. 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.

Summary table

Same-sex sexual activity legal	Up to 7 years in prison for males. Legal for females.
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	Adoption is not legal in Kuwait.
Joint adoption by same-sex couples	Adoption is not legal in Kuwait.
Gays and lesbians allowed to serve openly in the military	Technically not illegal, but no law explicitly allows this.
Right to change legal gender	Gender change is not legal, but crossdressing is decriminalised.
Access to IVF for lesbians	Being a lesbian is not illegal, and IVF treatment is available for all women in Kuwait.
Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples	Surrogacy is not allowed for anyone in Kuwait.
MSMs allowed to donate blood	Not specifically outlawed.