Bhutan’s parliament has decriminased homosexuality, removing two laws which made “unnatural sex” illegal. While it has been several years since the laws were enforced, people found guilty under them could serve between one month and a year in prison.
Both houses of the country’s parliament approved the changes in the law on Thursday 10th December, following a parliamentary inquiry which had reviewed the legislation over the last 12 months.
Lawmaker Ugyen Wangdi, the Vice-Chairman of the joint panel considering the changes said 63 members of the country’s 69 member parliament voted in favour of the changes, six members were absent from the vote.
“Homosexuality will not be considered as unnatural sex now,” Wangdi told news agency Reuters by phone from the Bhutanese capital of Thimphu. The changes still need to be approved by the King of Bhutan to become a law.
The tiny kingdom in the Himalayas is home to 800,000 people, most of whom are Buddhist. Bhutan is known around the world for measuring its success by it’s ‘Gross national happiness index” rather than traditional economic measurements.
OIP Staff
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