Kuwaiti parliamentarians propose amendments to the “imitation of the opposite sex” rule

Kuwait: MPs Osama Al-Shaheen and Abdulaziz Al-Saqaabi have proposed amendments to the criminal code punishing “mimicking the opposite sex” in Kuwait. He further proposed to define a person who imitates the opposite sex as “a man dressed in a woman who looks like a woman, or a woman dressed in a man who looks like a man”. For “people who undergo cosmetic surgery or take medicine with the intention of changing their appearance against their personality.” Lawmakers have proposed up to three years’ imprisonment and / or a fine of 7,000 KD for the offender.

Last week, the Constitutional Court withdrew an article on the criminal law banning imitation of the opposite sex. The article has been used for many years against transgender people and people dressed like the opposite sex, and was unconstitutionally ruled by the Supreme Court. Many lawmakers later said they had submitted a bill to criminalize such imitations.

Amnesty International called the court’s ruling “a breakthrough in transgender rights in the region.” Kuwaiti lawyer Ali Al Arian, who filed a proceeding to overturn Article 198 of the Criminal Code two years ago, confirmed that the law had been overturned for violating the constitutional liberty of individuals. “The law is so vague and widespread that we have hormonal and psychological contributors, so we defended on the existence of a medical and constitutional foundation,” he said at a press conference. ..

“Article 198 was very discriminatory, overly vague and should not have been accepted by law in the first place,” Amnesty International’s Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa, Lin Marroof, said in a statement. rice field. “They must also immediately stop the arbitrary arrest of transgender people and withdraw all accusations and convictions filed against them under this Transphobia Act.”