Report: Saudi Arabia Seeking Death Penalty For Coming Out Online

US Secretary of State John Kerry with the King of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. (Photo public domain) - See more at: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2014/06/26/sexually-stifled-kingdom/#sthash.VPV7yEOn.dpuf


One of our closest allies in the region is executing people for being gay. We give them billions of dollars. What are we doing?

Via The Washington Blade:

A published report indicates that people who come out online in Saudi Arabia could face the death penalty.

Oraz, a Saudi newspaper, reported on Saturday that prosecutors in the city of Jiddah have proposed the penalty in response to dozens of cases they have prosecuted over the last six months. These include 35 people who received prison sentences for sodomy.

Okaz reported that Jiddah authorities have prosecuted 50 cases in which men allegedly dressed as women. A doctor who lives in the port city on the Red Sea has been released on bail after officials arrested him for allegedly raising an LGBT Pride flag over his home.

A gay Saudi man who lives outside the kingdom told the Washington Blade on Monday during a telephone interview the enhanced penalties that Jiddah prosecutors have proposed would apply to the entire country. The man, who operates a Twitter account that publishes LGBT-specific news and other information from Saudi Arabia, said the proposal has caused fear among LGBT people in the country.

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