Same-sex sexual activity legal? Illegal Recognition of
relationships No | Discrimination protections No Adoption No | |
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The rights of LGBT people in Bhutan are unrecognized by law. Ignorance about homosexuality is common due to stereotypes in popular culture. Bhutanese culture does not share the typical Western view of heterosexuality and homosexuality. Some have referred to it as an openly bisexual society, although this is disputed. Women are more likely than men to be open about their sexual orientation. There are cultural and traditional struggles for those who seek acceptance.
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Homosexuality is illegal in Bhutan in the penal code of Bhutan (Art. 213 & 214) and is punishable by a prison sentence of between one month to less than one year. There are reportedly no known cases of anyone having ever been charged with this misdemeanor.
Buddhism, the main religion of Bhutan does not condemn homosexuality. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Bhutan's most prominent Buddhist teacher has said that sexual orientation has nothing to do with who will reach enlightenment.
Bhutan Observer, one of the country's main weekly newspapers, has written a significant number of articles on LGBT issues which elicited a lot of interest making them the most commented articles on the paper's website. The government-supported newspaper Kuensel, meanwhile, has referred to gays as being the "Third Gender" in an article discussing HIV programmes targeted towards gay men.
The United States Department of State issues this warning to LGBT travelers to Bhutan: "Although there are no laws that explicitly prohibit consensual same-sex sexual activity, laws against “sodomy or any other sexual conduct that is against the order of nature” exist. Under the penal code, a person can be imprisoned for as long as one year for engaging in such acts. One government official noted that prosecution under this law is rare, as criminal intent must be proven by the prosecution. There have been no reported cases of such charges."
Public opinion
One of the first homosexuality opinion polls in Bhutan carried out by an exchange student at the Royal Thimphu College on campus with 150 participants resulted in the following responses in 2013. 60% of the respondents believed that homosexuality is immoral and 40% believed that homosexuality should be accepted and homosexuals protected from discrimination and harm. However, with only 150 participants and all of which were within a single area, the validity of the poll to be used as a national basis is very lacking.
Recognition of same-sex couples
Currently, Bhutan does not provide any form of legal recognition for same-sex couples.