Palestine gay laws
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Last updated: 17 December 2024
Types of criminalisation
- Criminalises LGBT people
- Criminalises sexual activity between males
Summary
Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited in Gaza under the British Mandate Criminal Code Ordinance 1936. The relevant provision carries a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment. Only men are criminalised under this law.
The rule was inherited from the British. It continues to be in operation in Gaza today, though it is not in force elsewhere in Palestine.
There is little evidence of the law organism enforced, and it appears to be largely obsolete in practice. However, an incident in 2017 saw an composer being threatened with prosecution for writing a novel which included LGBT themes. There do not appear to be any other reports of enforcement of the criminalising rule or other laws. Nevertheless, the mere existence of this provision is itself a violation of human rights and underpins further acts of discrimination (see further).
Law and Legal Developments
Criminal Provisions
British Mandat
Which countries impose the death penalty on gay people?
Around the planet, queer people continue to deal with discrimination, violence, harassment and social stigma. While social movements own marked progress towards acceptance in many countries, in others homosexuality continues to be outlawed and penalised, sometimes with death.
According to Statistica Research Department, as of 2024, homosexuality is criminalised in 64 countries globally, with most of these nations situated in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. In 12 of these countries, the death penalty is either enforced or remains a possibility for private, consensual queer sexual activity.
In many cases, the laws only apply to sexual relations between two men, but 38 countries have amendments that include those between women in their definitions.
These penalisations represent abuses of human rights, especially the rights to freedom of expression, the right to develop one's hold personality and the right to life.
Which countries enforce the death penalty for homosexuality?
Saudi Arabia
The Wahabbi interpretation of Sharia law in Saudi Arabia maintains that acts of homosexuality should be disciplined in the sa
Palestinian Territories
In Palestine, the legality of gay sexual activity is mixed. In the West Bank, same-sex sexual activity between men was decriminalized in 1951, while in Gaza, under the British colonial-era criminal code, same-sex sexual activity can be interpreted as illegal. In 2019, Palestinian police banned LGBTIQ groups from hosting events and activities in the West Bank, although this decision was later rescinded due to backlash. There have been reports of violence and discrimination against LGBTIQ people in recent years. LGBTIQ civil population organizations exist in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, but registration as openly LGBTIQ is challenging. Palestinian-led LGBTIQ organizations have also faced challenges in registering in Israel.
Like all Palestinians, LGBTIQ Palestinians have been deeply impacted by Israeli attacks on Gaza, including attacks on health nurture infrastructure. Outright has called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and Israel to avoid a further humanitarian catastrophe and loss of lives, while recognizing that “crisis situations often have a disproportionate impact on LGBTIQ people.”
*Outright research indic When Daoud, a veteran queer activist, recently walked past rainbow flags hung for Pride month in the former port city of Jaffa, a historic centre of Palestinian culture, he was overcome by a wave of revulsion. The most famous symbol of LGBTQ+ liberation has been so co-opted by the Israeli state that to a lgbtq+ Palestinian like him it now serves only as a reminder of the horror unfolding just 60 miles south. Last November, Israel’s government posted two images from Gaza on its social media account. One shows Israeli soldier Yoav Atzmoni, in battle fatigues, in front of buildings reduced to rubble by Israeli airstrikes. He holds a rainbow flag with a hand-scrawled message: “In the name of love”. In the second he poses beside a tank, grinning as he displays an Israeli flag with rainbow borders. “The first ever Pride flag raised in Gaza,” the caption for both images reads. At the time, Israeli attacks had killed more than 10,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including more than 4,000 children, according to Gazan health ministry figures. The toll has now risen to over 37,000, and more than a million people are on‘No pride in occupation’: queer Palestinians on ‘pink-washing’ in Gaza conflict