Summary:
Long before the Western-centric coverage of homophobia and transphobia at the World Cup in Qatar, the state of Qatar maintained and continues to maintain the strict criminalization of gender non-conforming identities. The Penal Code effectively prohibits transgender expression and identity, resulting in de facto criminalization. Additionally, transgender people in Qatar have no access to legal gender recognition and no access to gender-affirming healthcare.
Criminalization:
De-facto: The Qatari Police Force are legally entitled to detain individuals for up to six months on suspicion of violating public morality laws without arrest or trial so they may maintain public peace as per Article 1 and 2 of the Law No 17 of 2002 on Protection of Community. While there are no reports authored by the state concerning the arrests or detainment of trans people in Qatar, many trans people report to have been unfairly detained under these laws for simply appearing or behaving in a gender non-conforming manner.
“Notwithstanding the provisions of the aforementioned Criminal Procedure Law, in crimes involving state security, honor, decency or public morals, the Minister of Interior may, on the basis of a report submitted by the Director of Public Security, order the provisional detention of the defendant if there exist well founded reasons to believe that the defendant may have committed the crime(s) with which he/she is charged.”
“The duration of the provisional detention shall be two weeks, extendable for additional similar period or periods to a maximum of six months. The duration may be extended for an extra period not exceeding six months with the consent of the Prime Minister. The period of provisional detention shall be doubled if the offence relates to state security.”
Enforcement:
As is the case in much of the Arab World, especially in the Arab Gulf, documenting human rights violations against transgender individuals is difficult due to overarching governmental issues like censorship laws, but also because of matters such as not receiving an official record of being arrested, detained, or imprisoned.
- During the 2022 World Cup, a number of transgender women and other LGBTQ+ individuals were unlawfully detained in an underground prison located in Al Dafneh, Doha. The reasons for their detention were often as arbitrary as wearing tinted moisturizer. Throughout their illegal confinement, these individuals were subjected to various forms of harassment, including verbal, physical, and sexual abuse. They were also denied legal representation and access to medical care. Furthermore, they were coerced into providing false confessions and signing pledges to cease engaging in “immoral activities.” Notably, none of the detainees faced any formal charges, and one individual was even subjected to solitary confinement for a duration of two months. These actions were carried out under the guise of the Protection of Community Law.
- In an interview with the BBC, Shahd, a transgender woman from Qatar, shared her firsthand experiences of being arrested and detained by Qatari law enforcement. She described how those who were imprisoned solely based on their gender non-conforming appearances were often forced to undergo medical assessments at a therapy center in Doha. Despite the government’s denial of the existence of such conversion centers, many individuals assert that one is housed within the state’s Protection and Social Rehabilitation Center (AMAN). The services offered by this center, which fall under categories such as “guidance and counseling service,” “parental care service,” and “community awareness service,” are known to include conversion therapy. Moreover, the center provides legal guidance in family court cases and even refers cases for compulsory conversion treatment. Additionally, the Community Awareness Department claims that their services aim to raise awareness about family issues and “mitigate the effects of rapid changes in the family life in Qatar and raise the efficiency of family members to manage a stable and cohesive family life.”
Legal Gender Recognition:
Name Change:
Qatari citizens can request an amendment be made to their birth certificates as per the Law on Births and Death Records) Law No.3) (2016).
- Article 29 Law No.5 on Births and Death Records (2016):
Any significant person may request any alteration, modification, or correction of the data on the name of the newborn or deceased in the records, except in relation to the surname or name of the tribe or family. The application is submitted to the Committee together with a certificate of birth, death or official copy, and all supporting documents.
The Committee shall examine the application and verify the authenticity of the data contained therein or the documents annexed thereto by all means at its disposal, within 15 days of the date of submission, and shall consider the expiration of this period without restitution as an implicit refusal of the application.
If the Committee establishes the validity and seriousness of the application, it orders that it be published in two newspapers on two occasions at the requestor’s expense. If no one objects within fifteen days of the date of publication, or submits an objection based on non-serious reasons, the Committee shall issue a decision to make the change, amendment, or correction requested.
The Committee sends its decision to the competent body to make the necessary change, modification, or correction and to give the stakeholder a new testimony.
However, both laws refer to executive bylaws and regulations which may be issued by the government to amend or clarify procedures. Applications for amendments are taken on a case-by-case basis. Names associated with certain genders or that have religious significance may be rejected for the sake of protecting public order.
Gender Marker:
Changing your legal gender marker in Qatar is not possible. There have been many legal efforts by intersex and trans people to access legal gender recognition by the state, but they have been unsuccessful.
Case law in Legal Gender Recognition:
- Case Number 107/2015: Plaintiff X submitted a legal application for gender recognition to the Qatari Court of First Instance. In the application, they presented evidence of two gender-affirming surgeries performed abroad to address genital deformities resulting from their intersex condition. Prior to each surgery, Plaintiff X underwent medical evaluations carried out by both an Austrian and Qatari Committee to confirm their intersex status. While the Austrian committee determined that the Plaintiff was biologically male, the Qatari Committee reached a different conclusion because they could not verify the existence of previous genital deformities. As a result, the Qatari Court of First Instance dismissed the case, reasoning that the Plaintiff did not have a medical necessity for transitioning and that the previous surgeries violated the law. The court’s decision was based on the incorporation of Qatar’s legislation with its state religion, Islam. According to most interpretations of the Quran, transitioning is permissible for intersex individuals under Islamic Law, as it is recognized as a medical requirement. However, transgender individuals who are not intersex are not granted permission to transition, as it is considered a choice based on desire rather than a medical necessity. In response, Plaintiff X filed an appeal and underwent a subsequent medical examination conducted by a committee of experts. The examination concluded that the Plaintiff was not intersex and thus did not have grounds for transitioning.
- Case Number 690/2016 and Appeal Number 202/2017: In December 2016, the plaintiff, referred to as Y, submitted a legal petition to the court seeking recognition of their gender in accordance with their gender identity and their experience with Gender Identity Disorder. Y had undergone gender-affirming surgeries in Germany in May 2016. A panel of medical experts, appointed by the Qatari State, conducted a medical evaluation of Y and determined that there was no medical justification for Y’s transition, as Y did not exhibit intersex traits in accordance with the traditional interpretations of Islamic Law, which forms the basis of legislation in Qatar. The committee also based their decision on the principles of social order and public morals. Furthermore, they cited previous court cases from Kuwait (Case Number #871/2003 and Cassation No. 2004/674) that concluded that psychological needs alone are insufficient grounds for gender transition. In 2017, Y lodged an appeal against the court’s ruling, initially granted, but later dismissed due to a lack of compelling evidence demonstrating an urgent medical necessity for Y to undergo transition.
Gender Affirming Healthcare:
Access to gender affirming healthcare in Qatar is extremely limited. As per the state’s views on gender nonconformity, public hospitals do not offer any gender-affirming healthcare. Some forms of treatment might be found in private clinics, but this might not be accessible to everyone in Qatar due to legal, financial, or social purposes. Another option for accessing gender affirming healthcare is to go abroad, like how the plaintiffs from the aforementioned cases did when seeking out healthcare.
Fatwas:
There are no specific fatwas pertaining to transgender individuals issued by the religious authorities in the country. However, as the country follows Sunni Islam, the fatwas issued by esteemed Sunni authorities such as Al-Azhar in Egypt and the Islamic Fiqh Council in Saudi Arabia are considered applicable. These fatwas prohibit transgender individuals from seeking gender-affirming healthcare and restrict sex reassignment surgeries to intersex individuals only.