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A Phenomenological Study of Identifying as Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual in an Islamic Country

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Abstract

Ten adult Kuwaitis (four women and six men) who self-identified as being gay, lesbian, or bisexual (GLB) participated in in-depth semi-structured interviews examining their experience of being a sexual minority and living in a socially conservative Islamic country. The data were analyzed using interpretive phenomenology and yielded four primary themes including the role of religion and culture, risks, coping, and influential political factors. These themes help understand the ways in which LGB individuals in Kuwait integrate their sexual identity with religious and cultural factors and navigate a socially conservative society. The results of the study have implications for political and social policies in Kuwait, and for more culturally-sensitive models of sexual identity development among Arab populations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. American University of Kuwait, Salmiya, Kuwait

    Nicholas C. Scull

  2. American Center for Psychiatry and Neurology, Dubai, UAE

    Khadeja Mousa

Authors
  1. Nicholas C. Scull
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  2. Khadeja Mousa
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicholas C. Scull.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human Participants and/or Animals

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Appendix

Appendix

How do you self-identify in terms of your sexual orientation?

Describe to me when you first questioned your sexual orientation?

How did you feel about it?

What happened after you realized your sexual orientation?

What did you envision would happen if you came out?

How did you cope?

Who were some of the first people you came out to? How did they react?

What beliefs to people typically have in Kuwait about individuals who identify as being GLB?

Where do these beliefs come from?

Have views changed over time. Why?

What are some specific issues GLB Kuwaitis must deal with? How do they cope? (Prompt to inquire about marriage if participants does not mention—Given that marriage is such an important cultural institution, how do GLB individuals navigate this?

What messages have you received about being GLB?

  1. A.

    From your family?

  2. B.

    Arab community?

  3. C.

    Religious institutions?

  4. D.

    American culture at large?

What are some risks of being open in Kuwait?

Have you experienced any discrimination or microaggressions? How did you cope?

How do you cope with societal views of sexual minorities?

(If they identify as Muslim) How do you incorporate your religion with your sexual identity?

Do you feel that there is a community? If so, describe the community to me.

  • How do fit into this community?

  • In what ways are you connected to this community?

  • How did you develop this connection?

  • How has the GLB community changed in the past several years?

Do you believe that there gender considerations when coming out as gay or lesbian Arab Kuwaiti? If so, what do you believe they are?

How do you see the GLB community in 5–10 years from now?

What sorts of supports are needed in Kuwait for GLB individuals?

What has helped you in the process of seeing yourself as a gay or lesbian and Kuwaiti?

What do you see for yourself in the future?

Is there anything else that you would like to add that we have not covered?

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Scull, N.C., Mousa, K. A Phenomenological Study of Identifying as Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual in an Islamic Country. Sexuality & Culture 21, 1215–1233 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-017-9447-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-017-9447-5

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