Gulf Cooperation Council homosexuality test was a proposed homosexuality test that would have been used in Gulf states to prevent any

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

travelers from entering the countries. The director of public health Yousuf Mindkar from the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health initially proposed that routine medical examinations would have also screened for homosexuality. Obtaining a

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

already requires passing a health examination for migrant workers from certain countries. Those who would have failed the tests would have had their visas revoked. It has been suggested that concern for hosting

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

, and fears for controversy in a case that football fans would have been screened, made Mindkar to backtrack the plans and insist that it was a mere proposal. The proposal was set to be discussed in

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

on 11 November 2013 by a central committee tasked with reviewing the situation concerning

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

s. Previously in 2012 over 2 million expatriates across

Gulf Cooperation Council The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf ( ar, مجلس التعاون لدول العربية الخليج ), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; ar, مجلس التعاون الخليجي), is a regional, interg ...

countries were gender tested. Homosexuality is illegal in most Gulf Cooperation Council member states including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman, with the notable exception of Bahrain.

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There is no known working medical test for homosexuality in existence. Some gay activists were worried that the Kuwaiti test would have used anal probes.

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

uses such methods at police stations to determine what sexual practices suspected criminals have engaged in. One such instance was in 2012 when a movie theater was raided for

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

and 36 Lebanese men were subjected to anal examinations.

Peter Tatchell Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is a British human rights campaigner, originally from Australia, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey ...

and the UK-based foundation carrying his name demanded boycotting or cancelling the 2022 FIFA World Cup that is to be held in Qatar.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

strongly opposed any plans to introduce tests for discriminatory purposes against sexual minorities. Nasser Al Khater, the chief executive of the Cup, said, “Everyone is welcome” to visit the country to watch the matches and no one will be discriminated against. It was also pointed out by Richard Lane from gay rights charity group

Stonewall Stonewall or Stone wall may refer to: * Stone wall, a kind of masonry construction * Stonewalling, engaging in uncooperative or delaying tactics * Stonewall riots, a 1969 turning point for the modern LGBTQ rights movement in Greenwich Village, Ne ...

that restricting

freedom of movement Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights' ...

due to sexual orientation would be problematic to Gulf States that have marketed themselves as open to

international business International business refers to the trade of goods, services, technology, capital and/or knowledge across national borders and at a global or transnational scale. It involves cross-border transactions of goods and services between two or more ...

References

{{Gulf Cooperation Council Gulf Cooperation Council Homophobia LGBT rights in Asia LGBT in the Arab world LGBT in the Middle East

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See also

References