Saudi authorities seize rainbow-themed children’s toys in crackdown on homosexuality – World News

A Saudi official told state TV that the rainbow-colored items “promote homosexual colors” and “target the younger generation.”

Children’s rainbow-themed toys have been confiscated from shops by authorities in Saudi Arabia who claim the colors promote homosexuality.

Commerce Ministry officials have visited malls in the capital, Riyadh, to confiscate items including toys, hair clips, beauty items, clothing, hats, notebooks, pencil cases and other trinkets.

State-run Al-Ekhbariya TV showed two officers walking through the shops to inspect the goods before placing the brightly colored items in a pile on the floor.

An official told the channel that the rainbow-colored items “promote homosexual colors” and “target the younger generation.”

However, the ministry did not specifically say why they were seized. In a tweet, they said they were taken because they “contain symbols and signs that encourage divergence and go against common sense.”

They confirmed that any stores selling the items would face legal penalties.

The country is often criticized for its human rights record, and while there are no laws on sexual orientation and gender identity, sexual relations outside of marriage, including homosexuality, can carry a death sentence.

“We are giving a tour of the items that contradict Islamic beliefs and public morals and promote homosexual colouring, aimed at the younger generation,” a Commerce Ministry official said in a report.

Saudi Arabia previously banned films containing references to homosexuality and in April asked Disney to cut “LGBTQ references” from the Marvel film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Sexual discrimination is nothing new in Saudi Arabia, and the US Department of State in its annual report on human rights noted that “reports of official and societal discrimination, physical violence and harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing, access on Education and Healthcare” in Saudi Arabia.

In another Middle East country, Syria, the Directorate of Domestic Trade and Consumer Protection said it had confiscated about 600 rainbow kites for children that “suggest sexual homosexuality”.

They said in a post on Facebook that the toys are similar to the Pride flag and that there have also been violations from butchers and bakeries.