Kuwait: Parliamentary panel offers to ‘help gays and cross-dressers end their suffering’
A National Assembly panel in Kuwait has offered to ‘end the suffering’ of gay people and cross-dressers.
According to the Kuwait Times, MP Hamdan Al-Azmi, president of the ‘negative phenomena committee’ made the offer to gay people yesterday.
He said: “Some cross-dressers are going through physiological suffering, and maybe they can be cured if they are seen by specialists.
“If there are homosexuals seeking to discuss what they are suffering from, our doors are open for them.”
Al-Azmi offered to talk to gays “who are looking for a solution to their suffering” starting from next week, though it is unclear what his intention is.
Homosexuality in men is criminalised in the Gulf state, with up to six years’ imprisonment for over-21s, and a maximum of ten years if participants are under 21.
Jail terms can also be received for “imitating the appearance of a member of the opposite sex”, publishing a “publication that violates public morality”, or transmitting HIV to another person, all of which can been used to crack down on the gay community.
Earlier this year, a trans woman was arrested under the ‘cross-dressing’ law.
