LGBT rights in Jordan

LGBT rights in Jordan
Jordan
Status	Legal, though vigilante honor killings occur (see below)
Gender identity	-
Discrimination protections	None
Family rights
Recognition of relationships	No recognition of same-sex couples

Jordan is generally seen as a moderate Muslim nation and the criminal code makes no explicit distinction between private, adult and consensual heterosexual and homosexual relationships. Although Jordan is a relatively progressive country, many Jordanians and Islam, like some interpretations of other Abrahamic religions, looks critically upon homosexuality.

Constitution

The Constitution does not mention sexual orientation or gender identity, it was written in 1952, but it does have certain articles that could apply to its LGBT citizens. [1].

• Article 2 - Islam is the Official State Religion.
• Article 7 - "Personal freedom shall be guaranteed."

The Constitution also stipulates the freedom of speech, press and freedom to create political parties and groups shall be peaceful and regulated by the law.

Former laws against homosexuality

Some news reports have falsely stated that homosexuality is a crime [2]. Yet, private, non-commercical, adult and consensual sodomy was decriminalized by the Penal Code of 1951. The age of consent is 16.

Article 306 of the national penal came stipulates that the solicitation of anyone under the age of sixteen is a crime, punishable by several months in prison [3].

Honor killings

Though homosexuality is not illegal per se, Article 98, 99 and 304 or the penal code provides for reduced penalites for persons engaging in vigilante honor killings. Since the 1990s efforts to have these laws reformed have failed.

In 2001, the king introduced a law that raised the penalities for persons engaging in such conduct, but the parliament subseqently repealed the law. [4] In 2009, the Ministry of Justice announced that a special tribunal would be established to hear cases involing honor kilings [5].

 A handful of upper-class LGBT Jordanians have fled to western nations, mainly Canada, and reported on the physical abuse they faced by their family. This abuse does not appear to be official government policy, although the government seems reluctant to come to the aid of such an unpopular class of people .

Censorship laws

The National Press Law (aka "Press and Publication Law") was amended in 1998, and again in 2004. The initial document prohibited the depiction or endorsement of "sexual perversion", which may have included homosexuality . The revised edition in 2004 has a few provisions of direct impact on gay rights in Jordan. First of all, the content ban on 'sexual perversion' is replaced with a general requirement that the press "respect the values of....the Arab and Islamic nation." and that that press must also avoid encroaching into people's private lives .

When the Jordanian press discuss homosexuality, it tends to do so in a negative light, often linking it to gender roles, periodic police crackdowns of public cruising and prostitution. Homosexuality is often treated as a serious sin, a product of western decadence as well as a Freudian mental defect [6].

Discrimination protections

No civil rights legislation exists to protect people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The government funded National Center for Human Rights (created in 2006) has not yet dealt with LGBT human right issues or the AIDS-HIV pandemic [7].

LGBT rights movement in Jordan

See also: LGBT social movements

There are no known government-recognized LGBT community or human rights organizations, and no Jordanian political parties have expressed any support for LGBT legislation. The "Political Parties Law" of 1992, does not formally ban a LGBT-supportive political parties or organization from forming, although such a group would need, at least, fifty adult citizens [8] expressing a public intent to organize.

Living conditions

The social status of LGBT Jordanians seems to be fluid, often being tied to other class and cultural based issues. Socially, a new degree of openness exists in the cities among Jordanians of the more prosperous middle and upper classes, but their appear to be real limits to how much openness the more socially conservative elements will tolerate.

Younger, western educated and prosperous Jordanians are less likely to be strictly in the closet about their sexual orientation or gender identity. This is a new wave of Jordanians who are becoming more visible in the country, this resulted in establishing a vibrant LGBT community of filmmakers, journalists, writers, artists and other young professionals.[9].

Some nightclubs and cafes opened up, attracting this new wave of LGBT and straight, liberal Jordanians. Today, the two most openly gay Jordanians are Khalid, a supermodel, and Suhail Abual Sameed, who outed himself at an Islamic conference on AIDS-HIV [10]. Yet, the socially conservative elements still hold significant sway.

Most Jordanians still face intense social pressure to marry a suitable person of the opposite sex and raise a family [11]. Sometimes this pressure has manifested itself in the form of harassment and other forms of violence.

In 2008, the cosmopolitan Books@Cafe was shut down by police during the Islamic month of Ramadan [12]. Aside from Islam law, the cafe's kitchen was accused of being unclean [13]. Likewise, nightclubs are periodically shutdown by the police or face intimidation to close down.

LGBT Media

In 2007, the first gay-themed Jordanian publication arose, although it soon folded. A year later, "My Kali" started publication online [14].

AIDS/HIV

It is not clear how many people are living in Jordan with HIV or AIDS, but it is likely to be around 600 - 1,000 people with most of the infections coming from people engaging in unsafe sex . The Ministry of Health has an AIDS-HIV prevention and education program, although as is the case in much of the Middle East, ignorance about the disease is common place. As part of its prevention programs, the Foreign Ministry requires blood tests for foreigners who apply for visas longer than the standard 3-month tourist visa.

The Ministry of Health has given its supports to efforts to specifically target an educational campaign at gay and bisexual Jordanian men [15].

See also

• Human rights in Jordan
• Politics of Jordan
• LGBT rights in Asia

References

• GlobalGayz.com [16]
• Gay Jordan blog
• Exploring Rainbow Street in Amman Intercultural Journalism from Glimpse
• GayMiddleEast: Jordan
• SodomyLaws: Jordan
• Prostitution and Homosexuality in Jordan
• Homosexuality and Power in the Arab World