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Legality of same-sex sexual activity

Criminal laws:
The country's criminal code prohibits all sexual activity outside of a lawful marriage. Under Article 410 of the Libyan Penal Code, Private homosexual acts between consenting adults are illegal.

In the 1990s, the General People's Congress began to approve "purification" laws designed to enforce a harsh view of Islamic law on the population. Libyan courts were given the power to use amputation, flogging and other punishments against persons found to be violating traditional Islamic morality.

In 2010, the Gay Middle East blog reported that two adult men had been charged with "indecent acts", which meant cross-dressing and homosexual conduct.

Female homosexuality would also appear to be illegal, as is making any sort of public acknowledgment that a person is gay. In 2010 a French asylum case involved a Libyan girl who sought asylum after being jailed, raped and then returned to her family for a forced marriage after she made a public statement online that she was gay. Vigilante executions, in lieu of the penal code, are more commonplace in ISIS-controlled territories.

The criminal code is still technically in operation, although much of Libya is run by competing militias who may choose to execute LGBT people. ISIS in Libya has publicly executed men for homosexuality.

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All the articles featured in this magazine are about the plight of LGBTI people in Gambia, Africa and the world. Copyright remains the property of the contributors and sources. GayPride Gambia does not claim ownership. Commons license rights asserted.

3 Comments

Yahya Jammeh News
21 November, 2014 1:47PM EST
' Gambia: Life Sentence for 'Aggravated Homosexuality'
Reply
Yayah Toure

November 18, 2014 12:00 am

Gambia must stop wave of homophobic arrests and torture.
Reply
- Yasmin Amin
  
  Tue 9 Sep 2014 00.18 BST
  
  Gambia's president threatens to slit the throats of gay men.
  Reply