Bahrain is known as one of the more tolerant Muslim nations in the Middle East, and has recently undergone a period of political liberalization and the criminal code is silent on private, non-commercial acts of sodomy between consenting adults. The law therefore allows homosexuality and it is not criminalized in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Traditional religious mores view homosexuality and cross-dressing as signs of immorality, which may impact how the legal system deals with LGBT-rights. Law enforcement agents and the courts have broad discretionary powers to issue fines and or jail time for any activities deemed to be in violation of traditional morality.
The Bahrain Penal Code
Previously sodomy was illegal in Bahrain between 1955 and 1976. A new Penal Code was enacted in March 1976 and this repealed the old Penal Code of the Persian Gulf imposed by the British, technically permitting private, non-commercial acts of sodomy between consenting adults over twenty-one years of age. However, the legal system is influenced by traditional Islamic morality, which gives law enforcement agents and judges broad discretionary powers to issues fines, jail time and, for visitors, deportation for engaging in activities deemed to be immoral.
Private, non-commercial and consensual homosexual or heterosexual sexual intercourse with anyone under the age of twenty-one years is essentially deemed to be similar to statuatory rape, although the non-consent of the victim is legally presumed if he or she is less than fourteen years. If the victim is at least sixteen years old, then the offender can be sentenced to up to ten years in prison. However, the death penalty is the punishment where the victim is under sixteen years of age [Bahrain Penal Code. Article 345]. Likewise, the penal code has stiff penalties for prostitution or using deception or force in a sexual relationship.
Immorality & Public Order
Homosexuality and cross-dressing can be grounds for fines or imprisonment under broad laws designed to protect public morality and public order.
The penal code does give broad discretionary powers to law enforcement agents and the courts to punish people for engaging in activities deemed to be immoral or a danger to public order. The lack of clear definitions in describing something like "immorality", gives tremendous discretionary power to police and judges to punish LGBT people for their sexual or gender identity.
For example, any private establishment with LGBT customers or entertainers can be shut down by the courts for being an immoral establishment and its owner and employees are potentially libel for fines and prison sentences for assisting in this ill-defined immorality [Bahrain Penal Code. Article 328].
Asking or enticing someone to engage in any immoral act is also illegal, which potentially prohibits LGBT people soliciting sex or even asking someone out on a date. If the victim of this immoral enticement is under the age of eighteen, the maximum prison sentence increases to five years [Bahrain Penal Code. Article 324]. A related clause in the penal code deals with maintaining public order.
Peaceful opposition or dissent to the current system of government, its policies, can be punished if it is deemed to be "hateful" or "hostile" (Article 165), neither of which are fully defined. Thus campaigning for LGBT-rights or public expressions of a sexual orientation or gender identity can be punished if a police officer or judge deems the behavior to be immoral, or hateful or hostile to the current government.
In the last decade or so, publicized arrests of people in Bahrain for homosexuality often fall under this broad prohibition on immorality. For example, it has been reported that in 2002 the government deported 2,000 gay Filipino workers for alleged homosexual activity and prostitution.
Public cross-dressing would appear to be associated with homosexuality and thus subject to these broad discretionary laws. There is at least one report of a man being arrested for cross-dressing in public under this broad crime of "immorality". Although there have been recent reports of a possible comprehensive crackdown against homosexuality and cross-dressing in Bahrain.
In response to questions from parliament about lesbianism in schools, the Assistant Under-Secretary for Educational Services Khalid Al Alawi has said that the Education Ministry is not responsible for addressing issues of sexuality, and instead it is the responsibility of parents to take care of their children's emotional development: "Any emotional problems should be dealt with by their parents – it is not up to the school to take actions on this problem. The public shouldn't make a big deal out of this problem because it does not exist." Speaking about the government's attitude, Mr Al Alawi said that "As for the question that has been raised in the Press about the so-called problem of lesbianism, as a ministry we cannot talk about a widespread phenomenon and we can't call them lesbians. The problems that the students are facing are put into the category of educational problems, not immoral acts. If a student's appearance is contrary to custom and the schools values, then the only thing we can say is that those violating the school's rules should be disciplined."
In 2008, a harsher crackdown on homosexuality was called for members of the military, law enforcement and the Al Menbar parliamentary bloc. The Government is being asked to conduct an official study into the problem of homosexuality and how to best combat it. The initial response from the government was as follows;
The Interior Minster says that "suspected" (effeminate) homosexuals are banned from entering Bahrain by checks at the airport.
The Interior Minister says that many homosexuals choose a profession in hairdressing salons and beauty and massage spas, which the Minster says are often inspected.
The government crackdown against homosexuality and cross-dressing appears to have begun a year later. In 2009, two Asian foreigners were sentenced to six months in jail, with hard labor, and later deportation for offering to have sex with undercover police offices in exchange for money at a Male Barbershop [14 January 2009 – Bahraini Newspaper, *Alwaqht,*]
In January 2009, the government blocked access to LGBT-web pages, and subsequent pressure was put on the government to close down nightclubs attached to one-star and two-star hotels for engaging for tolerating "illicit" activities on the premises [22 April 2009 – GulfNews].
In February 2009, a thirty—nine year old man was sentenced to a month in jail for wearing women's clothing in public, namely an abaya and purse. [13 February 2009 – PinkNews]
Other pending bills would expressly ban LGBT foreigners from entering the kingdom or receiving residency permits as well as plans to instruct children's teachers in apparent warning signs of homosexuality or cross-dressing, so that the children can be punished.
Freedom of Speech
The subject of homosexuality in Bahrain is rarely discussed in the newspapers, although it is not a forbidden topic. Since the 1990s newspapers have mentioned the issue particularly when talking about events happening outside of Bahrain in the field of entertainment or criminal arrests or the AIDS-HIV pandemic. It has only been within the last few years that the Bahraini press has begun to address sexual orientation, gender identity, and AIDS as they apply to the island.
In 2002 the Arabic language newspaper, Al-Meethaq, created a national controversy when it became the first newspaper to discuss homosexuality in Bahrain.
On 21 December 2005, the Gulf Daily News' British columnist Les Horton wrote a commentary, 'Gay weddings are no threat to family values'. While it is an English language newspaper, its readership includes many Arabic speaking Bahrainis.
The Gulf Daily News has continued to write articles that touch upon these taboo subjects. For example, it has published brief articles on Bahrani female homosexuality in girls' schools and women who claim to have become lesbians based on abusive relationships with men.
LGBT community
The 2002 Constitution and other reforms legalized "political societies", which can participate in the parliamentary elections. However, they are expressly prohibited from offending Islamic morality or upsetting public order. No individual politician or any of these societies have formally endorsed LGBT rights. No LGBT social or political society, group or organization exists.
A Bahraini lawyer named Fowzia Mohammed Janahi has been giving legal assistance to transsexuals seeking to have their legal documents changed and be officially recognized in their new gender. In 2006 the Gulf Daily News published a story about a Bahraini person assigned female at birth who, having undergone a sex change operation, is going to court in a bid to have his new status as a man recognised in law. The lawyer,, had won a landmark case in 2005 where a Bahraini person assigned female at birth, aged 30, had the operation and was legally recognized as a man. The legal case was still going through the Bahraini legal system for years, until 2008 when the court granted the motion to allow the transsexual to change his legal documents and be recognized in his new gender., ["Transsexuals in the Middle East Await the Wave of Change" Suad Hamada.
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