LGBT rights in Bhutan

LGBT rights in Bhutan
Bhutan Bhutan
Same-sex sexual activity legal?	Illegal
Discrimination protections	No
Family rights
Recognition of relationships	No
Adoption	No

The rights of LGBT people in Bhutan are unrecognized by law. Ignorance about homosexuality is common due to stereotypes in popular culture. Bhutanese culture does not share the typical Western view of heterosexuality and homosexuality. Some have referred to it as an openly bisexual society, although this is disputed. Women are more likely than men to be open about their sexual orientation. There are cultural and traditional struggles for those who seek acceptance.

Homosexuality is illegal in Bhutan in the penal code of Bhutan (Art. 213 & 214) and is punishable by a prison sentence of between one month to less than one year. There are reportedly no known cases of anyone having ever been charged with this misdemeanor.

Buddhism, the main religion of Bhutan does not condemn homosexuality as opposed to most other religions. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Bhutan's most prominent Buddhist teacher has said that sexual orientation has nothing to do with who will reach enlightenment.

Bhutan Observer, one of the country's main weekly newspapers, has written a significant number of articles on LGBT issues which elicited a lot of interest making them the most commented articles on the paper's website. The government-supported newspaper Kuensel, meanwhile, has referred to gays as being the "Third Gender" in an article discussing HIV programmes targeted towards gay men.

The United States Department of State issues this warning to LGBT travelers to Bhutan: "Although there are no laws that explicitly prohibit consensual same-sex sexual activity, laws against “sodomy or any other sexual conduct that is against the order of nature” exist. Under the penal code, a person can be imprisoned for as long as one year for engaging in such acts. One government official noted that prosecution under this law is rare, as criminal intent must be proven by the prosecution. There have been no reported cases of such charges."

Public opinion

One of the first homosexuality opinion polls in Bhutan carried out by an exchange student at the Royal Thimphu College on campus with 150 participants resulted in the following responses. 60% of the respondents believed that homosexuality is immoral and 50% believed that homosexuality should be accepted and homosexuals protected from discrimination and harm.

Recognition of same-sex couples

Currently, Bhutan does not provide any form of legal recognition for same-sex couples.

Summary table

Same-sex sexual activity legal	(Penalty: Up to 1 year imprisonment; not enforced)
Equal age of consent
Anti-discrimination laws in employment only
Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services
Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech)
Same-sex marriages
Recognition of same-sex couples
Step-child adoption by same-sex couples
Joint adoption by same-sex couples
Gays and lesbians allowed to serve openly in the military
Right to change legal gender
Access to IVF for lesbians
Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples
MSMs allowed to donate blood	According to the Bhutan Medical and Health Council, anyone in good health aged at least 18 years and weighing at least 45kg (100 lbs) may donate. Until recently, there have been few restrictions on blood donations in Bhutan.

See also

• LGBT Bhutan — Facebook Page.

• LGBT rights in Asia
• Homosexuality laws of the world
• Human rights in Bhutan

External links

• Gay in Bhutan — Facebook group.
• Black and White and the Colours of the Rainbow — BBS article on LBGT Bhutan