BBC Screenshot on Saudi Arabia’s ‘Straight Pride’ Month Is Fake
The Claim
Saudi Arabia has announced its intention to hold an "International Straight Pride" month in June 2022, according to the BBC.
News posted on
Emerging story
Social media users have shared a screenshot purporting to show a tweet from the BBC news official Twitter account in which it was reported that Saudi Arabia had scheduled the "Straight Pride" month for June 2022.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar has investigated the circulating claim and found it to be fake.
Fake Screenshot
Our team has investigated the claim by conducting a Google Advanced Search using the following keywords: Saudi Arabia, Pride, and BBC. We discovered that no credible sources or media outlets have reported on Saudi Arabia scheduling a "Straight Pride" month, nor any reporting that is related to this topic.
A Twitter advanced search on the BBC news official Twitter account yielded no results.
Saudi Arabia’s Law
Saudi Arabia is an Islamic country where same-sex sexual activity is illegal under Sharia law, which criminalizes all sex outside of marriage, including same-sex sexual activity.
“Both men and women are criminalized under this law. In addition to potentially being captured by laws that criminalize same-sex activity, trans people may also face prosecution for failing to adhere to strict dress codes imposed by Sharia law,” mentions an article on Human Dignity Trust.
The country adopts the Islamic law (Sharia), which bans homosexuality and mentions that an unmarried man found guilty of homosexuality would be punished with 100 lashes and banishment for a year, while a married man would be sentenced to death.
