Decriminalisation on Human Rights Day
On Human Rights Day, Bhutan's parliament removed the ban on same-sex love from the criminal code.
On 10 December 2020, the world celebrated Human Rights Day. In the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, the date took on a meaning all its own. In a joint sitting of both chambers of parliament, members voted to decriminalise consensual same-sex relationships. Sixty-three of the sixty-nine members said yes. The remaining six did not vote.
Until then, Sections 213 and 214 of the 2004 Penal Code criminalised "unnatural sex". According to the common interpretation, this meant homosexuality, and it carried a prison sentence of up to one year. No convictions are known. But the ban hung over queer people in the country.
The road to the vote was a winding one. As early as June 2019, the National Assembly, the lower house, had voted to delete the provisions. The National Council, as the upper chamber, chose a different route: it left the section in place and added a sentence stating that homosexuality between adults is not considered unnatural. Because the chambers could not agree, a joint sitting had to decide. The version with the addition prevailed.
"Homosexuality is now not considered unnatural sex," member of parliament Ugyen Wangdi, vice-chair of the joint committee responsible, told Reuters. For Tashi Tsheten of the organisation Rainbow Bhutan, the symbolism could hardly have been greater. He called its passage on Human Rights Day of all days a momentous moment for everyone in the country.
Bhutan thus followed other Asian states that had relaxed their criminal laws, including neighbouring India in 2018. After approval by King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the change took effect in February 2021. The country does not legally recognise same-sex couples. Even so, the decision sent a signal far beyond the small kingdom.