Lawmakers in the Gulf state of Kuwait have assailed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as “delinquents” who want to “destroy humanity.” The Kuwaiti Ministry of Health earlier made a proposal for administering “medical tests” to “detect” LGBT people trying to enter Kuwait. When the proposal was criticized by Amnesty International, which asked Kuwaiti authorities to “ensure people are not harassed and abused because of who they are”, Kuwaiti lawmakers assailed the organization for advocating “un-Islamic” values and interfering in internal matters.
Kuwaiti MP Mohammad Al Jabri said: “I was surprised like all Kuwaitis by the interference in the affairs of an Islamic country where its people are committed to the values of Islam. I condemn the brazen requests by an organization that introduces itself as a protector of freedoms and human rights. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should respond urgently to the so-called Amnesty International to highlight the noble Islamic principles, values and teachings in which the people of Kuwait believe and which reject the propagation of vice and debauchery in the community.”
Kuwaiti lawmakers are also seeking these as-yet unspecified “medical tests” to extend to all the member states of the regional Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, to prevent LGBT people from being amongst the substantial expatriate populations from Western countries, Asia and Africa who live and work in these states. Amnesty International had called on authorities in Kuwait to “ensure people are not harassed and abused because of who they are” and called for ending laws that criminalized homosexual acts.
In response, Kuwaiti politician Mohammad Al Hayef said “It [Amnesty] should have reinforced the slogan of human rights and the defense of the oppressed, not confuse issues and interlace honey with poison so that one of its officials dares to encourage behavior that is against the human nature and clashes with the teachings of all apostles. Deviant behavior and attitudes undermine and destroy humanity.”
MP Abdul Rahman Al Jiran told daily paper Al Rai that "Amnesty International should take care of lofty and noble goals for which it was established, leave aside homosexuality and deviations and stop defending delinquents. The organization should heed the annual rates of births outside the institution of marriage in Europe and abortions as well as the high rates of underage mothers and other moral crimes forbidden by all divine religions.”
People under 21 years of age who are charged for committing homosexual acts can be sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. Homosexuality is a criminal offense and punishable by long prison terms and even death in most Islamic countries.
The anti-gay rhetoric and measures are part of a rising political crusade amongst Kuwaiti politicians to clamp down what they describe as “immoral” behavior to appeal to religious and socially conservative voters. Lawmakers recently threatened to “interrogate” the ministers of interior, commerce and municipality if they do not shut down coffee shops where men and women are permitted to socialize together.
MP Askar al-Enezi has claimed that such coffee shops “violate our very traditions and customs” and said “there is a deep corruption of morals at these suspicious places.”
Opinions
Nirav Mehta
These happenings, if nothing else, should be sufficient to showcase how much relish and pleasure the religious take in the demonization of human beings.. Do not laugh at the Kuwaiti suggestion of "medical tests" - these minds are no different than the Nazis, and in steady stages, they are proposing to legitimize the Dr. Mengele school of medicine.. Once a proposed way of "detecting" gays is "found," they will try to "cure" them, or worse.. That lawmakers of a sovereign state are able to act on this is a shame for all humanity, which still does not see it. It is also a challenge to the Obama administration's policy of taking countries with anti-gay policies to task. Should US military guarantees to Kuwait continue then?
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Casper Rigsby
This truly epitomizes religion to me. It is the act of embracing idiocy and triumphantly putting it on display. It reminds me of when one of my dogs brings me an animal they've killed. I know they THINK they've done me a kindness by bringing me what they think is food... but I can't eat that and in the end it's just a mess I have to clean up.
The truly funny thing here is that even if they could develop a test to determine a person's sexual orientation, that would only serve to prove that their orientation is not a choice... and if it's not a choice then it begs the question why if their God hates gays so much... why does he keep making so many of them?
Ain't logic a bitch...?
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