Bhutan parliament decriminalizes same-sex relations
Bhutan’s parliament has voted to decriminalize same-sex relations.
The small South Asian nation is now the latest country to repeal sections of its penal code targeting consensual relations between people of the same gender.
On Thursday, both houses of parliament voted to amend articles 213 and 214, which criminalized “unnatural sex.”
Although LGBTQ relations were never specified in the language, “unnatural” was widely interpreted as same-sex acts.
Section 213 under the Bhutan Penal Code 2004 stated that, “A defendant shall be guilty of the offense of unnatural sex, if the defendant engages in sodomy or any other sexual conduct that is against the order of nature.” Section 214 added that the “offense of unnatural sex shall be a petty misdemeanor.”
“Homosexuality will not be considered as unnatural sex now,” lawmaker Ugyen Wangdi, the vice chairperson of a panel that considered the repeal, told Reuters.
The amendment, which passed with a vote of 63 by the 69-person body, was seen as a “huge achievement” by LGBTQ rights activists.
“For too long, the human rights of LGBTIQ people have not been recognized,” Jessica Stern, executive director of OutRight Action International, told the Daily News in a statement.
“Today, Bhutan chose to tell a different story and create a different future for itself,” Stern said, celebrating the news as “both a testament to the perseverance of the LGBTIQ movement in Bhutan, and a source of inspiration for LGBTIQ movements across the continent and the world where such laws are still in effect,” Stern added.
The repeal was initially proposed in 2019 by Finance Minister Lyonpo Namgay Tshering, who called that section of the penal code “redundant,” and “an eyesore for international human rights bodies,” The Bhutanese newspaper reported at the time.
The amendment now needs to be signed by the King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, before it becomes law.
“The adopted amendment not only decriminalizes same-sex relations, but by specifically mentioning homosexuality also acknowledges the existence of LGBTIQ people in Bhutan,” the Bhutanese activist Aatish Gurung, said.
“After years of work, this is great news for LGBTIQ people in Bhutan,” Gurung added.
The Kingdom of Bhutan, a majority-Buddhist nation of around 800,000 people, is famous for creating a concept known as the “Gross National Happiness Index,” which measures people’s happiness in nine key areas: psychological well-being, health, education, good governance, ecology, time use, community vitality, culture and living standards, according to CNN.
