Kuwait summons US envoy over pro-homosexuality postings
US embassy posted tweets supporting LGBT rights, sparking Kuwaiti anger
Cairo: Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry said it had summoned acting US Charge d’Affaires Jim Holtsnider over postings supporting LGBT rights.
The ministry’s acting assistant foreign minister Nawaf Abdulatif Al Ahmad had handed the US diplomat a memorandum confirming Kuwait’s rejection of the postings.
The Kuwaiti note underlined the necessity of the embassy’s respect for laws and regulations in force in the country and be committed to not publishing such tweets in compliance with the 1961 Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.
The US embassy on Thursday posted a pair of tweets in Arabic and English showing the rainbow flag symbolising the LGBTQI community along with a quote attributed to President Joe Biden saying: “All human beings should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear no matter who they are or whom they love.”
The tweets sparked massive anger in Kuwait and calls for the Foreign Ministry to take action.
“The US embassy’s defiance and its violation of international charters by attempting to impose modes of abnormal behaviour rejected by the Muslim Kuwaiti society make it imperative for the Foreign Ministry to play its role in taking measures against this to prevent recurrence of these provocations that people reject,” Kuwaiti lawmaker Hamad Al Matar said.
Homosexuality is strictly prohibited in Islam.