The surprising decriminalization of homosexuality in the Ottoman Empire

Rindfleisch
Published on Apr 17, 2021
On August 9, 1858, the Ottoman Empire implemented a new penal code as part of an overall period of reform that lasted nearly 40 years. This new criminal code omitted the crime of homosexuality, thus decriminalizing homosexuality in the Empire and its successor, the Republic of Turkey. Thatâ€™s 124 years before you couldnâ€™t be arrested for being gay in the UK, and 145 years before the United States!

Surprised? I was too. We constantly hear tragic stories of LGBT discrimination, persecution, and hatred in the Muslim world. Itâ€™s not an exaggeration to say that being gay can get you killed in some Muslim countries. So how can it be that the Ottoman Empire, the very epitome of Islamic power for hundreds of years, would not outlaw something that some modern Islamic governments think should be punishable by death?

It turns out that this homophobia that we see is a relatively recent phenomenon. During the Islamic Golden Age (from about the 8th century to the 13th century), Muslim societies were remarkably accepting of homosexuality.

Sources:

"Africa: homophobia is a legacy of colonialism" byÂ Val Kalende. The Guardian.Â https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/30/africa-homophobia-legacy-colonialism

"British colonialism and the criminalization of homosexuality" by Enze Han &Â Joseph O'Mahoney.Â Cambridge Review of International Affairs.Â http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09557571.2013.867298

"Criminal Codes, Crime, and the Transformation of Punishment in the Late Ottoman Empire" byÂ Kent F. Schull.Â Law Explorer.Â https://lawexplores.com/criminal-codes-crime-and-the-transformation-of-punishment-in-the-late-ottoman-empire/

"Everything you need to know about being gay in Muslim countries" byÂ Brian Whitaker.Â The Guardian.Â https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/21/gay-lgbt-muslim-countries-middle-east

"Mahmud of Ghazni" on WikipediaÂ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmud_of_Ghazni

"Muslims have a long history of accepting homosexuality in society" byÂ Shoaib Danial.Â Muslims 4 Liberty.Â http://www.muslims4liberty.org/muslims-have-a-long-history-of-accepting-homosexuality-in-society/

"The books have been burning" byÂ Daniel Schwartz.Â CBC News.Â http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/the-books-have-been-burning-1.887172

"The Tanzimat: Secular Reforms in the Ottoman Empire" by Ishtiaq Hussein.Â Faith Matters.Â http://faith-matters.org/images/stories/fm-publications/the-tanzimat-final-web.pdf

"Where is it illegal to be gay?"Â BBC.Â http://www.bbc.com/news/world-25927595

Image Credits

"Ä°stanbul Onur YÃ¼rÃ¼yÃ¼ÅŸÃ¼ Gay Pride" byÂ Lubunya (CC 3.0)Â https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:21._Ä°stanbul_Onur_YÃ¼rÃ¼yÃ¼ÅŸÃ¼_Gay_Pride_(37).jpg

"Abu Nuwas" By Jalil Gibran (Public Domain)Â https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4487160Â

"Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni" byÂ Maulvi Abdurab Ahadi (Public Domain)Â https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sultan-Mahmud-Ghaznawi.jpg

Music Credits:Â "Swinging with the Sultan" by Doug Maxwell; accessed through YouTube Audio Library