Current Version
| Region | Kuwait |
| Issue | Right to change legal gender |
| Status | Illegal |
| Start Date | (unknown) |
| End Date | (none) |
| Description | There are no known legal paths to change gender markers and there likely are none due to the Kuwaiti government's attitude towards transgender people. Transgender people are still deported after the Constitutional Court ruled that penal code Article 198, which prohibited “imitating the opposite sex." is unconstitutional. HRW reported in 2022 that the Kuwait Times published an article stating the police deported 3,000 transgender and gay people because they "imitated" the opposite sex. |
| Sources | https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/16/world/middleeast/kuwait-overturns-transgender-law.amp.html https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/kuwait#:~:text=The%20penal%20code%20criminalizes%20adultery,to%20seven%20years%20in%20prison. https://timeskuwait.com/news/kuwait-deports-3000-cross-dressers-transgender-expats-in-11-months/ https://queerintheworld.com/lgbt-rights-in-kuwait/ |
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Revision History (2)
edited by jadeywadey. wording, detail and sources
Helpful?
0 | Old Value (Original) | New Value (Current) | |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Transgender people are still deported after removal of a penal code in 2007, that states article 198, which prohibited “imitating the opposite sex." is unconstitutional. HRW reported in 2022 that the Kuwait times published an article stating the police deported 3,000 transgender and gay people because they "imitated" the opposite sex | There are no known legal paths to change gender markers and there likely are none due to the Kuwaiti government's attitude towards transgender people. Transgender people are still deported after the Constitutional Court ruled that penal code Article 198, which prohibited “imitating the opposite sex." is unconstitutional. HRW reported in 2022 that the Kuwait Times published an article stating the police deported 3,000 transgender and gay people because they "imitated" the opposite sex. |
Show Difference | ||
| Sources | https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/16/world/middleeast/kuwait-overturns-transgender-law.amp.html https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/kuwait#:~:text=The%20penal%20code%20criminalizes%20adultery,to%20seven%20years%20in%20prison. https://timeskuwait.com/news/kuwait-deports-3000-cross-dressers-transgender-expats-in-11-months/ | https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/16/world/middleeast/kuwait-overturns-transgender-law.amp.html https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/kuwait#:~:text=The%20penal%20code%20criminalizes%20adultery,to%20seven%20years%20in%20prison. https://timeskuwait.com/news/kuwait-deports-3000-cross-dressers-transgender-expats-in-11-months/ https://queerintheworld.com/lgbt-rights-in-kuwait/ |
Show Difference | ||
| Original entry | |
|---|---|
| Status | Illegal |
| Start Date | (unknown) |
| End Date | (none) |
| Description | Transgender people are still deported after removal of a penal code in 2007, that states article 198, which prohibited “imitating the opposite sex." is unconstitutional. HRW reported in 2022 that the Kuwait times published an article stating the police deported 3,000 transgender and gay people because they "imitated" the opposite sex |
| Sources | https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/16/world/middleeast/kuwait-overturns-transgender-law.amp.html https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/kuwait#:~:text=The%20penal%20code%20criminalizes%20adultery,to%20seven%20years%20in%20prison. https://timeskuwait.com/news/kuwait-deports-3000-cross-dressers-transgender-expats-in-11-months/ |
Reports (1)
- Status is not correct "The constitutional court of Kuwait overturned article 198 which criminalize “imitating the opposite sex” and said it’s unconstitutional. I think the journalist from Kuwait times is uneducated who does not differentiate between feminine gay guys and crossdressing/transgender people. It’s true the deportation of over 3000 people happened but because those people were sex workers in massage places. Sex work is illegal. I’m a gay Kuwaiti guy. Being gay is illegal here but it’s a stupid law. It can’t be enforced. The reason it cannot be enforced because it can’t be proven. The law says “sex between two men is illegal”, so unless you got caught in public having sex, there is no way to get caught. Having sex in public is illegal everywhere doesn’t matter what sexual orientation you have.
https://www.humandignitytrust.org/country-profile/kuwait/#:~:text=In%20February%2C%20Kuwait's%20Constitutional%20Court,sex'%2C%20ruling%20it%20unconstitutional.
"