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Saudi Arabia is reportedly pushing for harsher punishments on homosexuals and could even sentence gays to death.

According to Okaz newspaper, Saudi Arabia is seeking to 'raise the ceiling on the sanctions demanded by the prosecutor in cases of homosexuality to become a discretionary death penalty'.

The death penalty could apply if the practice of homosexuality is 'deliberate' or 'uses social media', the paper claims.

(Image: Getty)

Prosecutors in Jeddah have proposed the death penalty in response to dozens of cases they have prosecuted over the last six months - including 35 people who received prison sentences for sodomy.

Okaz also reported that authorities have prosecuted 50 cases in which men allegedly dressed as women.

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A doctor who lives in the port city on the Red Sea has been released on bail after officials arrested him for allegedly raising an LGBT Pride flag over his home.

Under the country's laws consensual homosexual acts are often legally indistinguishable from rape or paedophilia, so it is difficult to confirm data about gay people charged under Saudi Arabi's justice system.

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In defiance, social media users in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere have begun to use the hashtag, 'You will not terrorise me, I'm gay' on Twitter.