Mongolian conqueror
Genghis Khan
banned gay sex,
experts say
By AP from iht.com on
the Web, August 30, 2007
BEIJING: Gay sex was
punishable by death under Genghis Khan's rule.
That was among the findings of Chinese researchers who spent more than a year
compiling the legendary Mongolian conqueror's code of laws, the official Xinhua
News Agency said Thursday.
His early 13th century empire stretched across Asia all the way to central
Europe.
Article 48 of the code said men who "committed sodomy shall be put to death,"
according to experts at a research institute in the Chinese region of Inner
Mongolia.
The experts at the Research Institute of Ancient Mongolian Laws and Sociology
said the ban was put into place because Genghis Khan wanted to expand the
Mongolian population, which was about 1.5 million at the time. The rival
Song Dynasty, which dominated today's central China, was 100 million strong,
Xinhua said.
The code also said that damaging grassland with unauthorized excavations or
starting fires was punishable by death, Xinhua said, without providing details.
Experts compiled the Mongolian code based on historical texts, including Marco
Polo's travelogue, Xinhua said. The original text was lost more than 600
years ago.
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