Is Homosexuality Illegal in Saudi Arabia? Penalties and Risks

Homosexuality is illegal in Saudi Arabia, and the penalties range from fines and imprisonment to flogging and death. The kingdom has no written criminal code that lists offenses by name. Instead, judges apply their own reading of Islamic law to all sexual activity outside marriage, which includes same-sex conduct. That means two people charged with similar behavior can receive very different sentences depending on the judge, the region, and whether the case draws public attention.

Why the Penalty Depends on the Judge

Saudi Arabia’s Basic Law of Governance, issued under Royal Order No. A/90, declares that the country’s constitution is the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet.¹ No statute criminalizes homosexuality by name. Judges rely on classical juristic interpretations of prohibited sexual behavior, and because all sex outside marriage is illegal, same-sex conduct falls inside that prohibition.²

The U.S. State Department has described punishment in these cases as “subject to considerable judicial discretion in the courts.”³ There is no clear line between conduct that draws a fine and conduct that draws a capital charge. The unpredictability is itself part of the risk.

The Range of Penalties

At the top end, the punishment is death. The State Department’s 2023 human rights report states that “consensual same-sex sexual conduct was punishable by death or flogging, depending on the perceived seriousness of the case.”² International reports in 2019 indicated that five of 37 men executed in a single mass execution may have been put to death for same-sex conduct. Documented executions tied specifically to consensual same-sex acts are rare, but the legal authority to carry them out has never been revoked.

Below that, judges impose prison sentences and fines. In 2021, authorities arrested the activist Tariq bin Aziz and sentenced him to one year in prison and a fine of 10,000 riyals (roughly $2,670) after he posted a TikTok video complaining that police had harassed him for looking “too feminine.” The court also ordered his phones confiscated, his social media account shut down, and the judgment published in local newspapers.² The sentence came not from sexual conduct but from a social media complaint about police treatment.

What Happened to Flogging

For decades, courts routinely ordered hundreds of lashes for morality offenses, sometimes administered in installments over weeks. In April 2020, the Saudi Supreme Court announced it would abolish flogging for discretionary offenses, replacing it with prison time, fines, or community service. The reform applied to offenses where punishment is left to judicial discretion rather than prescribed by religious text. The 2023 State Department report still listed flogging alongside death as a possible punishment for same-sex conduct, which suggests the reform may not cover every category of sexual offense under the kingdom’s interpretation of Islamic law.²

Online Activity Is Where Most Cases Start

Saudi Arabia’s Anti-Cyber Crime Law, enacted through Royal Decree No. M/17 in 2007, gives authorities broad power over online expression. Article 6 criminalizes producing, preparing, transmitting, or storing material that impinges on public order, religious values, or public morals through a computer or information network. The penalty reaches five years in prison and a fine of up to three million riyals (approximately $800,000), or both.⁴

Authorities use this law against social media posts, dating app activity, and any online advocacy related to LGBTQ+ rights. The State Department warns travelers that “online dating apps and social media may be monitored by local authorities” and that “you may be punished for engaging in, discussing, or supporting same-sex sexual relations, including on social media, even if posted before you travelled to Saudi Arabia.”⁵ Content posted from another country months or years earlier can be used against a visitor after entry.

Residents can also report suspected violations through a government-sponsored mobile application called Kollona Amn, which lets anyone submit photos, video, or audio to authorities. The app is maintained by the Ministry of Interior.

Gender Expression Falls Under the Same Framework

Cross-dressing and transgender identity are treated under the same legal framework as homosexuality. According to the State Department, it is illegal for men “to behave like women” or to wear women’s clothing, and vice versa. Gender reassignment surgery is prohibited except for intersex individuals, and there is no mechanism for changing gender markers on identity documents. In 2021, police arrested five men for appearing in public in women’s clothing, with a police spokesperson calling their conduct “inconsistent with the public morals of society.”²

The 2023 report noted that the government “did not actively enforce” cross-dressing laws in most situations, “except when individuals posted photographs of so-called cross-dressing on social media.” What happens in private may draw less attention than what gets shared online.

The Religious Police Changed, the Laws Did Not

For decades, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, often called the religious police, was the front line of morality enforcement. In 2016, the Saudi Council of Ministers approved a new regulation stripping the commission of its power to arrest, detain, chase, or demand identification. Its role was reduced to writing reports and submitting them to civil law enforcement.⁶

The roving moral patrols that once defined daily life in Riyadh and Jeddah have largely disappeared. But the shift is about who enforces the law, not what the law says. Regular police and state security services now handle morality enforcement, and digital surveillance has expanded to fill the gap left by street-level patrols. Publicly advocating for LGBTQ+ rights remains illegal and can result in arrest and imprisonment.²

Risks for Foreign Visitors and Expatriates

Foreign nationals are subject to the same laws as Saudi citizens. There is no diplomatic carve-out for private conduct, and a Western passport provides no protection. The State Department’s travel advisory for Saudi Arabia is rated Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”) and explicitly warns that penalties for same-sex sexual relations include fines, jail time, and death.⁵

Specific warnings for foreign travelers include:

Exit bans can prevent you from leaving the country. The State Department notes that “some U.S. citizens have been detained for several months or even years without charges” and that exit bans “can continue even after a criminal sentence has been fully served.”⁵
Same-sex dating apps on your phone may lead to increased scrutiny or accusations, and criminals have used such apps to target gay and lesbian travelers for robbery or assault.⁵
Items related to same-sex relationships, including shirts, buttons, or flags, may be seized at customs and can lead to detention or questioning.⁵
Saudi Arabia does not recognize foreign same-sex marriages, and hospitals and prisons may deny marital rights to same-sex couples.⁵

A conviction for a foreign national typically brings imprisonment followed by deportation, and serious offenses can trigger a permanent re-entry ban issued by the Ministry of Interior. For expatriate workers, a morality-related criminal conviction will almost certainly end the employment relationship, with deportation and the re-entry ban following.

What Your Embassy Can and Cannot Do

If you are a U.S. citizen detained in Saudi Arabia, embassy help is limited. The State Department warns that “the U.S. government has limited ability to offer emergency services to U.S. citizens in Saudi Arabia due to the safety risks.”⁵ An embassy can visit you in detention, help you contact family, and provide a list of local attorneys. It cannot get you released, override Saudi law, or intervene in criminal proceedings. Morality offenses are treated as matters of sovereignty and religious law, which leaves foreign governments little leverage.

The 2023 State Department report noted “no known reports of prosecutions of LGBTQI+ persons for same-sex sexual conduct during the year,” while also documenting “widespread stigmatization and discrimination.”² The absence of reported prosecutions in a single year does not mean the laws are dormant. They remain on the books, the penalties remain severe, and the legal system retains full authority to impose them.

1
World Intellectual Property Organization. Basic Law of Governance – Saudi Arabia
2
United States Department of State. 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – Saudi Arabia
3
United States Department of State. 2017 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – Saudi Arabia
4
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Saudi Arabia Anti-Cyber Crime Law – Article 6
5
U.S. Department of State – Bureau of Consular Affairs. Saudi Arabia Travel Advisory
6
Saudipedia. The General Presidency of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice