LGBT Rights in Saudi Arabia - Saudi LGBT Community

Saudi LGBT Community

Many expatriates may initially feel that social customs and laws encourage homosexuality. Unmarried women and families are generally kept separate from single men as much as possible, and dating is generally seen as being taboo and immoral. Opposite sex couples may be harassed if they demonstrate affection in public; however it is not uncommon to see heterosexual men seemingly expressing affection toward each other in public (e.g., kissing on the cheeks or holding hands.)

The practice of men holding hands, or kissing on the cheeks, in public is a social custom in parts of the Middle East and Asia and is a symbol of friendship and not homosexuality. Also given the limited sexual contact with women pre marriage, and the dangers in having an unmarried woman get pregnant, there is a degree of unspoken situational bisexuality that may exist among young men and women. There have been some reports that this bisexuality is becoming more common among the upper classes.

Bars and nightclubs are illegal, although there are some reports of underground dance clubs in the major cities. Private gatherings are generally permitted but they are traditionally segregated by gender. Whereas private gatherings where non-relative individuals of opposite sexes intermingle are considered taboo and might be raided by the police or the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which views combating homosexuality as one of its major objectives.