Kuwait & other Gulf states to ban gay visitors

Gay Australians and others hoping to visit several Middle Eastern countries may have to cancel their plans in the near future after officials from the Kuwaiti government announced moves to refuse entry to homosexuals by taking measures that will “detect” gay people when they first arrive.

The proposal to ban gay expatriates from Kuwait and other Gulf countries was suggested earlier this week by Yousuf Mindkar, the director of public health inside the Kuwaiti health ministry, who hopes to have the plan supported at the upcoming meeting of Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) on November 11.

Mindkar has flagged some form of test that will gauge the sexuality of expatriates attempting to enter GCC nations.

“Health centres conduct the routine medical check to assess the health of the expatriates when they come into the GCC countries,” Mindkar said on Monday according to local daily Al Rai.

“However, we will take stricter measures that will help us detect gays who will be then barred from entering Kuwait or any of the GCC member states.”

Homosexual acts are already banned in Kuwait and other GCC countries like Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates; with prison terms in Kuwait for those found guilty of such crimes extending up to 10 years if at least one of those involved was under the age of 21.

In Saudi Arabia, homosexuality can attract the death penalty.