Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Sudan face legal challenges not experienced by non-

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

residents. In July 2020, Sudan removed capital punishment for same-sex sexual activity, as well as corporal punishment. Sodomy remains illegal and penalties of terms of imprisonment were retained. The maximum penalty, for a third offence, remains life imprisonment.

Law regarding anal sex

Sodomy, defined as anal sex whether the couple is same-sex or opposite-sex, is illegal in Sudan. The Offence is defined in Article 148 of the Criminal Act of 1991. The original wording (translated) of the sodomy law, as amended in 2009, follows: There were no documented cases of executions for sodomy, prior to repeal of capital punishment for the offence. On 9 July 2020, Sudan abolished the death penalty as a punishment for anal sex. The Sudanese Sovereign Council also eliminated the imposition of 100 lashes and added two years to the sentence for a second offence. The penalty for a third offence was changed from death or life imprisonment to life imprisonment. A first offence is now punished with up to five years and a second offence with up to seven years. Sudanese LGBT+ activists hailed the reform as a 'great first step' but said it was not enough yet, and the end goal should be the decriminalisation of gay sexual activity altogether.

Historically

Nuba tribal society in the 1930s

Siegfried Frederick Nadel wrote about the

Nuba The Nuba people are indigenous inhabitants of central Sudan. Nuba are various indigenous ethnic groups who inhabit the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan state in Sudan, encompassing multiple distinct people that speak different languages which b ...

tribes in the late 1930s. He noted that among the Otoro, a special transvestitic role existed whereby men dressed and lived as women. Transvestitic homosexuality also existed amongst the Moru, Nyima, and

Tira people The Tira are a sub-ethnic group of the Nuba peoples in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan state, in southern Sudan. The population of this group exceeds 100,000. Language They speak Tira of the Kordofanian languages The Kordofanian languages ...

, and reported marriages of Korongo ''londo'' and Mesakin ''tubele'' for the

bride price Bride price, bride-dowry ( Mahr in Islam), bride-wealth, or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dow ...

of one goat. In the Korongo and

Mesakin Mesakin is an ethnic group in the Nuba Hills in Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. ...

tribes, Nadel reported a common reluctance among men to abandon the pleasure of all-male camp life for the fetters of permanent settlement. While not directly attributing the observed preference for camp life, Nadel highlighted two features of tribal life, as he viewed them, in connection with the preference: that it was a "matrilineal society... in which the fruits of procreation are not the man's", and "the strong emphasis on male companionship,... ndalso,... widespread homosexuality and transvesticism."

Politics regarding LGBT rights

In the United Nations on 4 February 2011,

International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) is an organization who is committed to advancing human rights to all people, disregarding gender identity, sex characteristics and expression. ILGA participates in a ...

application for consultative status for the UN's Economic and Social Council was called for a vote. Sudan then called for a No Action Motion to prevent voting on the consultative status for the LGBT group, and their motion passed 9–7, so the issue was not voted on. Sudan has voted against every supportive resolution of

LGBT rights at the United Nations Discussions of LGBT rights at the United Nations have included resolutions and joint statements in the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), attention to the expert-led human rights mechanisms (such ...

Social attitudes

Same-sex sexual relations policies have divided some religious communities. In 2006, Abraham Mayom Athiaan, a bishop in South Sudan, led a split from the Episcopal Church of Sudan for what he regarded as a failure by the church leadership to condemn homosexuality sufficiently strongly. The

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other ...

's 2011 human rights report found that: In the 2019 Arab Barometer Survey, 17% of Sudanese said homosexuality is acceptable.

Rights groups

The first LGBT association of the country is Freedom Sudan, founded in December 2006. However, no internet presence is seen from the group after 2013 on its Facebook page. Another group, Rainbow Sudan, was founded on 9 February 2012. Its founder, known as Mohammed, described the work and aims of the group: "... have groups that work online and offline. We form a small network of people working in an organized way to advance as much as possible LGBTQ issues, to show who we are, to stop discrimination, to see our rights recognized. We provide sexual education, psychological and emotional support, protection." Internet presence for Rainbow Sudan discontinued after January 2015.

Summary table

References

External links

"Rainbow Sudan", the Sudanese LGBT Association
{{Africa topic, LGBT rights in LGBT in Sudan Sudan Sudan Human rights in Sudan Law of Sudan Politics of Sudan Sudan