LGBT rights in Libya
LGBT rights in  | |
|---|---|
 Libya Red: Council of Deputies and Libyan National Army, Green: Government of National Accord and Libya Shield Force, White: Mujahedeen Councils of Derna, Benghazi, and Adjabiya, Blue: Local forces, Yellow: Tuareg forces | |
| Same-sex sexual activity legal? |
Illegal (Libya) |
Penalty: |
Up to five years imprisonment (Libya) |
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Libya face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents.
Criminal laws
The country's criminal code prohibits all sexual activity outside of a lawful marriage. Private homosexual acts between consenting adults are illegal.
In the 1990s, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi began to enact "purification" laws designed to enforce a harsh view of Islamic law on the population. Libyan courts were given the power to use amputation, flogging and other cruel punishments against persons found to be violating traditional Islamic morality.[1]
In 2010, the Gay Middle East blog, reported that two adult men had been charged with "indecent acts", which meant cross-dressing and homosexual conduct.[2]
Female homosexuality would also appear to be illegal, as is making any sort of public acknowledgment that a person is gay. In 2010 a French asylum case involved a Libyan girl who sought asylum after being jailed, raped and then returned to her family for a forced marriage after she made a public statement online that she was gay.[3]
Summary conditions
The government does not permit the public advocacy of LGBT rights. When they are discussed, it is always in a negative manner, in keeping with traditional Islamic morality.
In 2003, Gaddafi stated that he believed that it was "impossible" to contract AIDS–HIV through unprotected, heterosexual vaginal sex.[4]
In February 2012 a Libyan delegate sparked outrage after telling a United Nations human rights panel that gay people threaten the future of the human race.[5]
Summary table
| Same-sex sexual activity legal |  (Penalty: 1–4 years) |
| 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 | |
| Joint adoption by same-sex couples | |
| Gays and lesbians allowed to serve openly in the military | |
| Right to change legal gender | |
| Access to IVF for lesbians | |
| Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples | |
| MSMs allowed to donate blood | |
See also
References
- ↑ Stokke, Hugo; Suhrke, Astri; Tostensen, Arne; Haanæs, Øystein Rygg (1997). Human Rights in Developing Countries: Yearbook 1997 (via Google Books). The Hague: Kluwer International. ISBN 978-90-411-0537-0.
- ↑ Littauer, Dan (25 December 2010). "Libya: Two Men Arrested for 'Indecent Acts'. gaymiddleeast.com (via globalgayz.com). Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ↑ Staff (25 October 2010). "Libya: Lesbian To Request Asylum In France". Ansa Mediterranean (via globalgayz.com). Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ↑ Young, Craig (8 March 2011). "Being Gay under Gaddafi". GayNZ.com. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ↑ Outrage as Libya tells United Nations: 'Gays threaten the future of the human race', 14 February 2012, Daily Mail