LGBTQ rights in Tunisia

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Tunisia face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents.

[6] During the rule of the Husainid dynasty, Bey Muhammad III as-Sadiq was open about his intimate relationship with his vizier Mustapha Ben Ismaïl.

[6] The traveler Jacques Philippe Laugier de Tassy described in his diary in 1725 that "sodomy is widely practiced among the Turks of Algiers, the Deys, the Beys and the principals give the example".

[8] Historian Abdelhamid Larguèche argues in favour of this hypothesis, pointing out that among all the arrests which took place in Tunis between 1861 and 1865, only 62 of them were for "sodomy", and all of them were "rape cases[;] often involving minors".

[10] In the 43rd chapter entitled "Illicit Cohabitation, that is to say adultery, fornication and implicitly sodomy", the author describes illicit sexual acts which must be punished; sodomy is described as the "intentional act of an adult male, endowed with reason, who introduces... the head of the penis (or a part of the penis of equal length to the head) into the body parts of a person on which he has no legal right as recognized by the doctors of the law.

[20] On 7 December 2016, two Tunisian men were arrested on suspicion of homosexual activity in Sousse, "anally probed" and forced to sign confessions of having committed "sodomy".

Police arrested the two men on the suspicion of same-sex conduct on 3 June and attempted to subject the defendants to an anal exam, apparently to use as evidence in the case.

Ben Gharbia told Agence France-Presse that authorities could still perform anal tests on men suspected of being gay, but "these exams can no longer be imposed by force, physical or moral, or without the consent of the person concerned".

[28] Additionally, he said that Tunisia was "committed to protecting the sexual minority from any form of stigmatization, discrimination and violence", adding that "civil society must first be prepared" for such change in a Muslim country.

However as of 2019, reports by local human rights and LGBTQ associations confirm that anal tests are still being ordered by courts to determine whether a suspect is gay or not throughout 2018 and 2019.

[20] In October 2015, Justice Minister Mohammed Saleh bin Aissa called for the abolition of Chapter 230 of the Penal Code, but was quickly rebuked by the President of Tunisia, Beji Caid Essebsi, who said, "This will not happen.

"[32] The international non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch published a report in March 2016 urging the Tunisian Government to decriminalise consensual same-sex conduct and noting that the ongoing discrimination against gay men and men perceived to be homosexual were subject to grave human rights abuses "including beatings, forced anal examinations, and routine humiliating treatment."

"[34] The commission's proposal faces strong opposition from social conservatives, who claim it would "eradicate Tunisian identity" and have likened it to "intellectural [sic] terrorism".

On 22 December 1993, the Court of Appeals in Tunis rejected a request from a trans woman to change her legal gender (statut civil) from male to female.

[60] These attacks took place at the height of an international campaign of which Gayday Magazine is a part, to raise awareness about the massacre of emo and gay people in Iraq.

Commenting on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia in 2012, Fadi said: "The Tunisian LGBTQ community in Tunisia has started to mobilize and discreetly form its support-base.

"[61] A number of Tunisian films have addressed same-sex attraction: Man of Ashes (1986),[62] Bedwin Hacker (2003),[63] Fleur d'oubli (2005), The String (2010),[64] Histoires tunisiennes (2011), and Upon the shadow (2017).

In 2013, Ronny De Smet, a Belgian tourist, was sentenced to three years in prison for attempted homosexual seduction in what he believes was a sting operation by local police to extort money.

[72] During a television interview in February 2012, Minister for Human Rights Samir Dilou stated that "freedom of speech has its limits", homosexuality is "a perversion", and gay people needed to be "treated medically".

[75] La sodomie, si elle ne rentre dans aucun des cas prévus aux articles précédents, est punie de l'emprisonnement pendant trois ans.65.

Muhammad III as-Sadiq ( portrait ), known as Sadok Bey and the Bey of Tunis from 1859 until his death in 1882, had a homosexual relationship with his vizier Mustapha Ben Ismaïl .
Prior to the introduction of the Penal Code of 1913, Tunisian Muslims were prosecuted for sodomy by Islamic courts that applied either the Maliki or Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence . The Hanafi school, founded by Abu Hanifa ( sketch ), was more leniant towards those accused of homosexuality.
In the first draft of Tunisia's 1913 Penal Code—drafted and completed in 1911—no references are made to homosexuality in any of the printed articles. However, a handwritten note labelled as Article 274 that criminalized sodomy appears in the margins of the "Offenses against Decency" section ( scan ). By the time the Penal Code was published in 1913, this handwritten note had become law as Article 230.