Kuwait’s constitutional court has overturned a law that criminalised “imitation of the opposite sex” and was used to prosecute transgender people. The Gulf state’s parliament amended Article 198 of the penal code in 2007 to make the offence punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine. But Wednesday’s court ruling said the amendment violated the constitution. Amnesty International called the development “a major breakthrough for transgender rights in the region”. Lynn Maalouf, the human rights group’s deputy Middle East director, said the law was “deeply discriminatory, overly vague and never should have been accepted into law in the first place”. “The Kuwaiti authorities must now ensure that Article 198 is repealed in its entirety,” she added. “They must also immediately halt arbitrary arrests of transgender people and drop all charges and convictions brought against them under this transphobic law.”(BBC)…[+]