LGBT rights in Tunisia

Rule of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

In 2008, the Government of Tunisia was one of the co-sponsors opposing statement the 2008 General Assembly resolution and declaration calling for the decriminalization of same-sex sexual intercourse worldwide.^[3]

During the rule of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the regime filtered gay and lesbian information and dating pages.^[4]

Post-Arab Spring period

In March 2011, Tunisia's first online magazine for the country's LGBT community, Gayday Magazine, was launched.^[5] In 2014, Association Shams was formed as Tunisia's first LGBT rights organization.^[6] On 18 May 2015, Shams received official government recognition as an organization.^[7] On 10 December 2015, which is International Human Rights Day, Shams group joined with local activist groups to protest the ongoing discrimination against Tunisia's LGBT community.^[8]

An online radio station catering to the LGBT community began broadcasting in December 2017, believed to be the first of its kind in the Arabic-speaking world. In January 2018, the Mawjoudin’s Queer Film Festival successfully took place. It was the first ever film festival celebrating the LGBT community in Tunisia.^[2][9]

Forced anal testing

The Tunisian Government has in the past used forced anal testing to determine if individuals had committed sodomy. The practice was criticised by human rights groups and doctors.^[14] If the individual, accused of homosexuality, refused to be "anally probed", the authorities would view this refusal as evidence of guilt. In June 2017, a 16-year-old teen was sentenced to 4 months in jail for homosexuality after refusing to be "anally probed".^[15]

In September 2017, Minister Mehdi Ben Ghardia agreed to stop forced anal tests as proof of homosexuality. Ben Gharbia told Agence France-Presse that authorities could still perform anal tests on men suspected of being gay, but "these exams can no longer be imposed by force, physical or moral, or without the consent of the person concerned".^[16] Additionally, he said that Tunisia was "committed to protecting the sexual minority from any form of stigmatization, discrimination and violence", adding that "civil society must first be prepared" for such change in a Muslim country.

Decriminalization efforts

Association Shams, Tunisia's only LGBT group, has long advocated for the repeal of article 230. Several civil organizations, such as the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women, have also been pushing for its repeal.^[17]

In June 2012, Human Rights Minister Samir Dilou rejected the recommendation of the United Nations Human Rights Committee for Tunisia to decriminalize same-sex sexual acts, stating that the concept of "sexual orientation is specific to the West" and is overridden by Tunisian law, which "clearly describes Tunisia as an Arab Muslim country". In response, Amanullah De Sondy, Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Miami said, "It appears that the minister is stating that Article 230 is about upholding Islam yet it is a French Colonial law that was imposed on Tunisia in 1913 and has nothing to do with Islam or Tunisian Arab traditions."^[18]

In 2014, a campaign was launched on Facebook to repeal the criminal laws used against LGBT people in Tunisia. A representative of this campaign expressed an interest to create a registered group in Tunisia to campaign for these legal reforms. Several NGOs in Tunisia, including the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women, asked the Government to repeal the criminal law against homosexuality.^[11]

On 15 June 2018, the Individual Freedoms and Equality Committee (COLIBE), a presidential committee composed of legislators, professors and human rights advocates, recommended to President Beji Caid Essebsi the decriminalization of homosexuality in Tunisia. MP Bochra Belhaj Hmida told NBC News that the committee's recommendation regarding homosexuality "is the outright repeal of article 230." The committee did propose a second option, which is lowering the punishment to just a fine of 500 dinars (around $200) and no risk of jail time.^[2] The committee wrote in its report:

The state and society have nothing to do with the sexual life amongst adults… sexual orientations and choices of individuals are essential to private life."

The commission's proposal faces strong opposition from religious conservatives, who claim it would "eradicate Tunisian identity" and have likened it to "intellectural[sic] terrorism".^[19]

Media

In March 2011, Tunisia's first online magazine for the country's LGBT community, Gayday Magazine, was launched. Running stories and interviews related to the country's community, the publications covers consisted on English and French titles. In 2012, Gayday was hacked, as homophobic hackers took over the publication's email, Twitter and Facebook accounts.^[24] These attacks took place at the height of an international campaign of which Gayday Magazine is a part, to raise awareness about the massacre of emo and gay people in Iraq.

Human Rights Minister Samir Dilou with the encouragement of popular TV celebrity host Samir Wafi have called for the magazine to be denied the right of free speech and expression and stating that being LGBT is a sickness not a human right. He was asked about Gayday magazine on a talk show, the Tunisian Minister for Human Rights, who is a member of the Islamic Ennahdha Party, said even freedom of expression has limits. "Of course these people are also citizens, but there is a red line and that line is our morals, our history and our culture," he said, adding—to the presenter's consternation—that that sick people needed to be treated.^[4] "That was a politically-correct type of insult," says Houssem, with a wry smile. After all, he explains, the Minister did not explicitly refer to homosexuals as sick.

Fadi Krouj is the editor-in-chief and creator of Gayday Magazine, an e-magazine that's been addressing LGBT issues with a focus on the Maghreb region. Commenting on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia in 2012, Fadi said: "The Tunisian LGBT community in Tunisia has started to mobilize and discretely form its support-base. Reactions to the thus far mainly online activism were met with radical, homophobic statements from the current Minister of Human Rights, Samir Dilou. He described homosexuality as a mental illness that requires treatment and isolation, and described social values and traditions as red lines not to be crossed."^[4]

As of 2018, the site is still running.

Human rights

The U.S. Department of State's 2011 human rights report found that:^[25]

Consensual same-sex sexual activity remained illegal [in 2011] under the penal code, which criminalizes it with sentences of up to three years in prison. There was anecdotal evidence that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals faced discrimination, including allegations that police officers sometimes harassed openly gay persons and accused them of being the source of HIV/AIDS. There were no known reports of persons arrested for consensual same-sex sexual activity; however, a local LGBT activist reported an uptick during the year in harassment of and assaults by unknown individuals on persons perceived to be LGBT, including multiple incidents in which individuals were followed to their homes and assaulted by people the victims described as Salafists. Human rights activists also alleged that government forces continued to assault individuals perceived as LGBT.

Male prostitution

Male prostitution occurs in Tunisian tourist resorts. In 2013, Ronny De Smet, a Belgian tourist, was sentenced to three years in prison for attempted homosexual seduction in what he believes was a sting operation by local police to extort money. De Smet was released three months later.^[26]