Agencies-Gaza post
Kuwait calls top US diplomat after posts pro-LGBTQ tweet
Kuwait called a top U.S. diplomat on Thursday in tie to a pro-LGBTQ tweet from the American Embassy commemorating Pride Month.
The official Twitter account of the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait conveyed a quote from President Joe Biden on Thursday that read: “All human beings should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear no matter who they are or whom they love.”
The tweet reported President Biden is a “champion for the human rights of LGBTQI persons.”
The statement included the words “Pride Month,” and featured a photo of a Progress Pride flag.
Separate from the rainbow LGBTQ flag, the Progress Pride flag features transgender flag colors, plus “black and brown stripes representing marginalized LBGT residents of color, community members lost to HIV/AIDS, and those currently living with AIDS,” according to Northwestern University.
The tweet was posted in English and Arabic.
Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned a senior U.S. official in answer to the pro-LGBTQ tweet.
“This evening, Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Acting Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy, Mr. Jim Holtsnider, [to] meet with the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Americas Affairs, Nawaf Abdul Latif Al-Ahmad, against the background of the embassy’s publication on its social media accounts of references and tweets supporting homosexuality,” the press release clarified.
The Kuwaiti government announced that it had abandoned the American Embassy’s messaging, and emphasized”the need for the embassy to respect the laws and regulations in force in the State of Kuwait and the obligation not to publish such tweets in compliance with what was stipulated in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961.”
Kuwait denies same-sex relationships, and violators face jail time.
“Consensual intercourse between men of full age (from the age of 21) shall be punishable with a term of imprisonment of up to seven years,” the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association said.
The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia also shared a Pride Month tweet with the LGBTQ flag.
“During #Pride2022, @StateDept celebrates the contributions members of the LGBTQI+ community make to our nation. We are committed to ending violence, discrimination, and stigma against LGBTQI+ persons worldwide,” the tweet said.
Engaging in homosexuality in Saudi Arabia may be penalized with the death penalty.
“According to some variations of Sharia, the death sentence may be handed down for specific homosexual acts. Other penalties may include 100 blows of the whip and banishment for 1 year,” according to Human Rights Watch.
In April 2021, the Biden government gave authorization for U.S. embassies and consulates around the world to fly LGBTQ flags. The decision was a setback from the Trump administration’s order that barred flying flags along with the American flag at U.S. embassies.
In 2019, many American embassies defied the Trump government’s order and flew LGBTQ flags in honor of Pride Month. The American Embassy in South Korea hung a huge LGBTQ flag and Black Lives Matter flag on the facade of the construction. The flags were later removed following orders from the State Department.
