By Dan Littauer and Sami Al Ali 15.6.2011

According to Alari News, four Kuwaiti transgender people in Salmiya mall attracted the attention of the mall customers, particularly women, who noticed their feminine mannerisms but suspected they were men. The customers reported the group to the local police who promptly arrived and were led to the group who were in a women’s clothes shop.  The police waited until they left the shop and asked for their IDs which disclosed their gender as men. A “security soruce” said that the police proceeded to arrest and took them to the “Ethical Investigation Department” to take against them criminal proceedings. GME has noticed that Kuwaiti media has been reporting on these incidents lately (probably as the media is much freer than in other GCC countries).  Such an incident highlights the daily transphobia transgender people can and do face in Gulf.

Kuwaiti LGBT activists have been complaining this is a common recurrence in Kuwait, especially over the past four years.  The amount reported in the rather transphobic Kuwaiti media dwarfs in comparison to the unreported cases of harassment and/or arrest of transgender people, according to the activists.

For the source