Luxembourg's Prime Minister Leads the Charge

Xavier Bettel, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, shocked delegates at the EU-Arab League Summit in Egypt earlier this week by pointing out that he could be legally killed or imprisoned in many of the represented countries. His crime? Mr. Bettel is married to Gauthier Destenay, an architect form Belgium. Gay sex can incur the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Mauritania, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, but it is illegal in several other Arab League countries, including Morocco, Tunisia and the U.A.E. It's about time that these countries were openly confronted with their oppressive prejudice, but it is sad that it had to take a gay head of state to do it. 

Of course, behind the scenes pressure is applied to these states by western governments and organisations, both directly, and indirectly through loss of tourist revenue and business opportunities, but the time for subtlety and the softly-softly approach is over. At present, homosexuality is illegal in 73 countries and of those, only Kenya and Botswana have pending court rulings to decriminalise it. In the run up to the vote in Kenya,  Open for Business published a report, The Economic Case for LGBT+ Inclusion in Kenya, showing that the country is losing up to $1.3 billion because of its discriminatory practices. A similar logic no doubt applies to other countries, but clearly, the numbers indicate that facts, justice and mild pressure do not work. It's time for heads of state (not just gay ones) to name and shame these countries, and time for citizens of the "free" world to boycott or challenge them in any peaceful way they can.