A group of Kuwaiti MPs has told homosexuals and cross-dressers in the Gulf state that they would provide “specialised doctors” to help find a “solution to their problem” if they came forward, local media has reported.
“If there are homosexuals seeking to discuss what they are suffering from, our doors are open for them,” MP Hamdan Al Azmi, president of the so-called “negative phenomena committee” in Kuwait’s National Assembly, told Al Rai newspaper.
“Some cross-dressers are going through physiological suffering, and maybe they can be cured if they are seen by specialists.”
Homosexuality is illegal in Kuwait, as in all Gulf states, and men who publicly wear female clothing are charged with imitating the opposite sex.
Kuwait was heavily criticised in October last year for proposing to introduce compulsory medical tests to bar migrant workers deemed homosexual or transgender from entering the country.
Human rights group Amnesty International slammed the idea and said it would only further stigmatise people who already suffered extremely high levels of discrimination and abuse on the grounds of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
“It is an affront to the fundamental human right to privacy and underscores the continuing persecution of individuals based on their sexual orientation or gender identity,” the organisation’s Middle East and North Africa director Philip Luther said at the time.
Amnesty said it had documented increasing reports of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Kuwait in recent years.
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