Tunis gay

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Last updated: 22 July 2025

Types of criminalisation

Criminalises LGBT people
Criminalises sexual activity between males
Criminalises sexual activity between females

Summary

Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under the Penal Code 1913, which criminalises acts of ‘sodomy’. This provision carries a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment. Both men and women are criminalised under this law.

Tunisia adopted the ‘sodomy’ provision in its 1913 Penal Code, which is still in force today (subject to amendments). Tunisia was at the time a protectorate state of France, which had by that day decriminalised same-sex sexual activity in its own laws.

There is substantial evidence of the law being enforced in recent years, with LGBT people being frequently subject to arrest. Local organisations have reported hundreds of arrests since the 2011 Revolution. Detained people are regularly subjected to forced anal examinations, a rehearse which has been described as “medically worthless” by the UN and which amounts to to

Many Faces of Same-sex attracted in Tunisia

In Tunisia gay life has many faces: from secretive post-marital same-sex-not-gay quickies among vertical husbands, to continuing pre-marital youth same-sex-not-gay with friends, to totally gay friendship networks among unlike age peers, to monogamous boyfriend couples to discrete liaisons from the internet. It is not easy to label the ‘scene’ here because it is not organized, not open, not admitted, yet it’s cruisy, sexy, internet-connected and quite populous. There is no LGBT organization or office.

During my visit I chatted with two very different same-sex attracted men, one a young student at a local university and the other a retired Italian resident of Tunis now self-employed. Their gay worlds are similar and different.

A Youthful Student With a Long Future

Ari, a university scholar studying architecture, and I met at tea time and had creamy plump hot chocolate at a trendy up-to-date coffee shop and later went for pizza across the street.

Ari is a gregarious gay youth of 20 maturing out of his twink years. Thoughtful, expressive, verbal (4 languages), introspective, narcissistic and gay. All of which fuel an adventurous energy of discovery

Police arrest leading gay activist in crackdown on Tunisia rally, 2022/Jul/23

Tunisia quashes LGBT report it acknowledged gay marriage, 2020/Apr/30

Tunisia just became the first Arab country to recognise same-sex marriage – but there’s a catch, 2020/Apr/28

After Beating the Odds, Tunisia’s Queer Festival Postponed Due to Coronavirus, 2020/Mar/17

Human Rights Watch call for the end of LGBTI persecution in Tunisia, 2019/May/18

A Queer Film Festival in Tunisia — Where Organism Gay Is Illegal, 2019/May/14

Tunisia invokes sharia law in bid to shut down LGBT rights collective, 2019/Apr/30

Tunisia: Effort to Shut Down LGBT Group, 2019/Feb/26

Tunisian government is fighting to shut down an LGBTI rights group, 2019/Feb/25

Rights groups condemn ‘brutal and humiliating’ tests on gay men in Tunisia, 2018/Nov/14

Tunisia: Privacy Threatened by ‘Homosexuality’ Arrests, 2018/Nov/08

Tunisian government bans Notify Me By Your Name, 2018/Mar/01

LGBT radio station launches in Tunisia despite fear of violence, 2017/Dec/18

Tunisia agrees to stop forced anal examinations of gay and bi men, 2017/Sep/25

New coalition in Tunisia fights for LGBTQI rights, 2017/Feb/22

Teenager sentence

Gay Guide Tunisia

According to article 230, homosexuality is illegal in Tunisia and can be punished with up to three years of imprisonment. Compared to other Muslim countries, convictions of homosexuals are less frequent, but the figures for recent years are still alarming: while 56 people were convicted in 2016, 126 were convicted in 2018. At the launch of 2019, one case caused international attention: A juvenile student who reported rape by two men who allegedly robbed him of his possessions was finally sentenced to eight months' imprisonment for homosexual acts. Even tourists are not safe from the law, so be careful, especially when it comes to sex for sale: nasty blackmail attempts could be the consequence. In a TV interview in 2012, the Tunisian Minister of Human Rights rejected the demand for the abolition of article 230 - on the grounds that freedom of expression had its limits and "perverse" homosexuals needed medical treatment. Homosexuals are subject to grave discrimination and physical violence in the country. But there is progress: in 2015 the first official LGBT organisation in the state, Association Shams, was founded, which among other things advocates t