Yes, Algeria Bans Gender Transitions And Trans Identity

Claim:

In Algeria, it is forbidden to be transgender or to undergo gender-affirming treatment, such as a medical or surgical transformation.

Judgement:

As people tried to debunk the false rumor in August 2024 that Olympic boxer Imane Khalif, from Algeria, was a trans woman, some claimed that she could not be trans because her country bans medical and surgical care meant to affirm a person’s gender identity. Some social media users said transgender people were ‘banned’ in the country (archived):

FACTS:
Khelif is NOT transgender or transsexual. Khelif is a biological woman. In Algeria, the country Khelif represents, transgender identity is illegal, as is changing sex or gender, and medical or hormonal treatments to transition to another gender.https://t.co/FMEYtVBApn

— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) August 1, 2024

This post, which at the time of writing had been viewed 8.3 million times, had also received over 42,000 likes and 6,000 reposts. The same claim has appeared elsewhere on Xin the comments on a Reddit post and further Instagram.

The claim is true. In Algeria, LGBTQ+ people are not protected, homosexuality is considered a crime, and widely debunked “conversion therapies” to supposedly change people’s orientation are legal. The law does not allow people to change their gender on their official identity documents, let alone medically or surgically.

We have confirmed this information using the database of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), an LGBTQ+ rights organization with consultative status at the United Nations. Non-governmental organizations with this status can attend and speak at UN meetings and meetings of the UN Human Rights Council.

ILGA maintains a database on the rights of LGBTQ+ people in all 193 UN member states and 47 other jurisdictions. According to the group, Algeria adopted an amendment in 1966 that outlawed homosexuality. The law does not include permission for same-sex marriage, no prohibitions against interventions on intersex minors, and no ban on conversion therapy. It does not allow self-identification, the process by which a transgender person can officially change their gender with the authorities. By extension, it also does not allow gender-affirming surgery.

It goes even further, banning any expression that might acknowledge or promote the existence of people with different gender identities or sexual orientations. It requires the media to adhere to the principles of Islam, the country’s official religion — which it considers to be antithetical to sexual and gender diversity. Algerian authorities still enforced these laws in 2024. For example, a 2023 ILGA report listed several arrests and prosecutions of people involved in activities related to these bans. In 2020, 44 people were arrested for attending a “gay wedding”.

It is true that if Khelif were trans, she would not have had her chosen identity recognized and affirmed in her country of origin. But as we have reported, Khelif is indeed biologically female and a cis woman.