Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender persons in Yemen face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex adultery is punishable by death, though that has not been enforced. LGBT persons additionally face stigmatization among the broader population.
Punishment for homosexuality in Yemen can originate from the codified penal code, or from people seeking to enforce traditional Islamic morality. Article 264 of the national penal code prohibits private consensual homosexual acts between adult men. The stipulated punishment in the law for unmarried men is 100 lashes and up to a year in prison. The law stipulates that married men convicted of homosexuality are to be put to death. Article 268 of the national penal code prohibits private consensual homosexual acts between adult women. The law stipulates that premeditated acts of lesbianism are punished with up to three years in prison. In addition to the penal code, punishment for homosexuality can originate from people seeking to enforce traditional Islamic morality within their own family or for the broader society. In vigilante cases such as this, the punishment for homosexuality is oftentimes death.
In 2013 there were credible reports of members of the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula were killing men for allegedly being gay.
Islamic State
Media censorship
The government blocks access to webpages that express support of LGBT rights. This policy of censorship also extends to publications and magazines in Yemen. In 2010, the magazine Al Thaqafiya was shut down by the government for publishing a review of the Egyptian film titled, Heena Maysara. The reviewer, a Yemeni filmmaker named Hamid Aqbi, expressed some support for LGBT rights while discussing the film. In 2004, the Yemem Times, an English-language magazine, was allowed to publish an opinion piece opposing legal recognition of gay marriage. In 2003, the Week, an Arabic-language magazine, published an article that included interviews with Yemeni men imprisoned for homosexuality. The three journalists involved with the article were convicted by the government.
