GCC to Impose Medical Tests to ‘Detect’ Gay Travelers and Keep Them Out

By Nour ElSayed On Oct 8, 2013

Health officials in Kuwait will soon introduce a so-called medical test for detecting homosexuality in travelers wishing to enter any GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) member country.

Come again?!

GCC countries, which include Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are very strict when it comes to homosexuality. Being gay is just something that is completely unacceptable to these governments.

Until now, no details about the medical examination are known, but Yousouf Mindkar, Kuwait’s Director of Public Health insists that this medical check should be put into place ASAP.

Routine health exams are already required of foreign travelers, but with this new LGBT “test”, if it’s positive, the person will be stopped from entering the country – and any GCC country – and sent back.

“We will take stricter measures that will help us detect gays who will be then barred from entering Kuwait or any of the GCC member states,” Mindkar told the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai.

Being gay in an Arab country carries severe punishments. If you’re charged with being gay in Kuwait and you’re under 21, you can face up to 10 years in prison.

But that’s not as bad as in Saudi Arabia, where the punishment is death.