Bhutan Has Another Reason To Celebrate As World¡¯s Happiest Country Decriminalises Homosexuality
The lower house of Bhutan overwhelmingly voted late June 7 to repeal two sections of the 2004 criminal code which made &ldquounnatural sex&rdquo illegal. Finance Minister Namgay Tshering who submitted the recommendation to repeal sections 213 and 214 of the penal code said they had become a stain on the country&rsquos reputation. LGBT Bhutan said a lot more work needed to be done to change social attitudes.
The tiny Himalayan kingdom¡¯s parliament, became the latest to decriminalise homosexuality. The lower house of Bhutan overwhelmingly voted late June 7 to repeal two sections of the 2004 criminal code which made ¡°unnatural sex¡± illegal.
Finance Minister Namgay Tshering, who submitted the recommendation to repeal sections 213 and 214 of the penal code, said they had become ¡°a stain¡± on the country¡¯s reputation, said an AFP report.
Breaking: Section 213 and 214 of the Bhutan Penal Code criminalizing ¡®unnatural sex¡¯ or homosexuality has been removed by the National Assembly.
¡ª The Bhutanese (@thebhutanese) June 7, 2019
Namgay Tshering said the sections had become redundant since Bhutan became a constitutional monarchy in 2008. ¡°There is a high degree of acceptability of the LGBT community in our society,¡± he said.
The world¡¯s happiest country got another reason to cheer with the landmark move.
Huge congratulations to #LGBTI people in #Bhutan ?? as the country decriminalises same-sex activity! A dozen countries have now done so in the last decade!
¡ª Scott Cuthbertson (@ScotCuthbertson) June 9, 2019
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"Stain On Reputation": Bhutan Repeals Law Criminalising Homosexuality https://t.co/krCpPnAyvH
¡ª Rajesh Kumar (@HeyRajeshJee) June 8, 2019
Bhutan's lower house of parliament has voted to decriminalize homosexuality, and the upper house will vote on it on Monday. "A lot of us cried¡When our rights are discussed in parliament, it makes us extremely happy." https://t.co/unnVWLQSBs #LGBT #LGBTQ pic.twitter.com/Bd7i8DABD2
¡ª LGBT+ News (@mondokoosh) June 9, 2019
¡°The National Assembly of Bhutan has removed provisions in the penal code that criminalized gay sex.¡±
¡ª Senthorun Raj ? (@senthorun) June 8, 2019
This is promising news. Let¡¯s hope it becomes law. https://t.co/Sv6zZGjEQs
Bhutan¡¯s lower House decriminalizes homosexuality by removing provisions in the Bhutan Penal Code that criminalized unnatural sex.
¡ª Tenzing Lamsang (@TenzingLamsang) June 7, 2019
The Bill to become law has to also pass in the upper house next. #Bhutan https://t.co/gscQDqzUjK
LGBT Bhutan said a lot more work needed to be done to change social attitudes and spread awareness of the challenges faced by members of their community.
"We have a big number of people supporting the LGBT people but still, a lot more is to be done /talked about," the group posted in a message on Facebook.
As of now, there are no massive pride parades or other public display in Bhutan.