Saudi officials raid shops for rainbow-coloured toys and clothes that ‘contradict the Islamic faith’ in crackdown on homosexuality
- Saudi officials crack down on toys and items that ‘promote homosexuality’
- State TV show officials going into toy shops and pulling items off shelves
- Rainbow colours send a ‘poisoned message’ to children, news report says
- Homosexuality is a potential capital offence in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia
Authorities in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia have been raiding shops in the capital to seize rainbow-coloured toys and items of clothing as part of a crackdown on homosexuality, state media report.
Video broadcast by the state-run Al-Ekhbariya news channel show officials entering shops and taking objects off shelves and piling them up on the floor while they talk to the camera.
Offending items include rainbow-coloured bows, skirts, hats and pencil cases, most of them apparently manufactured for young children, according to a report broadcast Tuesday evening by the state-run Al-Ekhbariya news channel.
‘We are giving a tour of the items that contradict the Islamic faith and public morals and promote homosexual colours targeting the younger generation,’ says an official from the commerce ministry, which is involved in the campaign.
Gesturing towards a rainbow flag, a journalist says: ‘The homosexuality flag is present in one of the Riyadh markets.’
The colours send a ‘poisoned message’ to children, the report says.
Authorities in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia have been raiding shops in the capital to seize rainbow-coloured toys and items of clothing as part of a crackdown on homosexuality
Video shows officials entering shops and taking objects off shelves and piling them up on the floor while they talk to the camera
Offending items include rainbow-coloured bows, skirts, hats and pencil cases, most of them apparently manufactured for young children
The rainbow colours send a ‘poisoned message’ to children, according to the state media report
In a separate tweet the commerce ministry said its teams were confiscating ‘products that contain symbols and signs calling for deviation and contradicting common sense’.
There would be legal penalties against shops which continued to sell the offending items, it added.
The seizures follow on from a similar campaign carried out by neighbouring – and regional rival – Qatar in December, which confiscated toys which ‘went against Islamic values’.
Homosexuality is a potential capital offence in Saudi Arabia, known for its strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law which forms the basis of its entire judicial system.
The commerce ministry said its teams were confiscating ‘products that contain symbols and signs calling for deviation and contradicting common sense’
There would be legal penalties against shops which continued to sell the offending items, the commerce ministry added
Homosexuality is a potential capital offence in Saudi Arabia, known for its strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law which forms the basis of its entire judicial system
However the Kingdom has something of paradoxical attitude towards homosexuality, with gay acts being a traditional if clandestine part of the culture in a country in which interactions between non-family men and women were – until recently – strictly controlled.
Sexual relations are only permitted between married men and women, with consensual same-sex sexual conduct punishable by death or flogging, depending on the perceived seriousness of the case.
In April, the kingdom said it had asked Disney to cut ‘LGBTQ references’ from ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, the latest Marvel movie, but that Disney had refused.
The film ultimately did not screen in Saudi cinemas.
Disney’s latest animation ‘Lightyear,’ which features a same-sex kiss, has also been banned in Saudi Arabia and more than a dozen other countries, a source close to Disney told AFP Tuesday, though Riyadh has not commented on that film.
Tuesday’s Al-Ekhbariya report also showed stills of Benedict Cumberbatch in ‘Doctor Strange’ and of apparently foreign children waving rainbow flags.
The report did not detail how many establishments were targeted or items seized in the commerce ministry operation, and Saudi officials did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment Wednesday.