Rainbow Toys Promote Homosexuality Says, Saudi Officials

In Saudi Arabia, where the rigid interpretation of Islamic sharia law serves as the foundation of the whole legal system, homosexuality is a potential capital offence.

As part of a crackdown on homosexuality, Saudi officials are taking rainbow-colored toys and clothing from businesses in the capital.

According to a programme broadcast by the state-run Al-Ekhbariya news station, the items removed by commerce ministry officials include rainbow-coloured ribbons, skirts, caps, and pencil bags, the majority of which appear to be designed for young children.

The commerce ministry also tweeted that its teams were confiscating “products that contain symbols and signs calling for deviation and contradicting common sense”.

Shops found to be selling them would face legal penalties, it added.

The colours deliver a “poisoned message” to children, says the report.

Authorities in neighbouring Qatar announced in December that rainbow-colored pop-its and other toys had been seized from stores for “carrying statements that go against Islamic norms.”

Although there are no laws governing sexual orientation or gender identity in Sunni Muslim-ruled Saudi Arabia, sexual encounters outside of marriage, including homosexual intercourse, are legally prohibited.

Consensual same-sex sexual conduct is punishable by death or flogging, depending on the severity of the case, according to the country’s interpretation of Islamic law.

It’s also against the law for men to “behave like women” or wear women’s apparel, and for anybody to engage in online behaviour that interferes with “public order, religious values, public morals, or privacy.”

The kingdom announced in April that it had asked Disney to remove “LGBTQ connotations” from the new Marvel film “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” but that Disney had refused.

In the end, the film was not shown in Saudi cinemas.

According to a source close to Disney, the latest animation “Lightyear,” which involves a same-sex kiss, has been banned in Saudi Arabia and more than a dozen other countries, though Riyadh has not commented on the film.

Stills from Benedict Cumberbatch in “Doctor Strange” and supposedly foreign children waving rainbow flags were also included in Tuesday’s Al-Ekhbariya report.

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