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Kuwait to screen expats with gaydar

Director of public health says stricter measures can be taken during medical screenings to detect homosexuals trying to reenter country

By ToI Staff 8 October 2013, 1:42 pm

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Illustrative photo. Gay rights supporter waving a rainbow flag outside the US Supreme Court building in Washington following its ruling expanding gay rights, June 26, 2013. (Win McNamee/Getty Images via JTA)

Kuwait may start using routine health screenings to detect homosexuality in expatriates seeking to enter the country, a senior Kuwaiti official reportedly said recently.

“Health centers conduct the routine medical check to assess the health of the expatriates when they come into the [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries,” Director of Public Health Yousuf Mindkar said Monday, cited in Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai and translated by Gulf News. “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.”

A committee will consider the proposal at a November 11 meeting, according to Mindkar.

Homosexuality is a crime in all Gulf Cooperation Council countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

In Kuwait, people convicted of homosexual acts can face years of jail time.

In 2010, Kuwait banned the Egyptian film “Bedoon Rakaba” (“Out of Control” or “Uncensored”). A member of the censorship board told a local newspaper that some of the scenes were “too hot” and that the lesbianism theme was too bold, according to Gulf News.