Iraq

 

In the fabric of human diversity, LGBT people find themselves entangled in a complex web of societal attitudes, cultural norms, and political landscapes that often generate hostility and discrimination. The LGBT community in Iraq faces not only challenges of self-acceptance and identity but also deep-seated societal resistance fueled by a mix of religious doctrines and historical and political viewpoints.

“This year, the intensity of hostility toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Iraq has increased significantly,” Human Rights Watch said in its 2023 global report on the situation in Iraq. What are the reasons that led to the escalation of this hostility in Iraq, a country that is considered among the most dangerous in this context, where homosexuality is a crime punishable by death, according to Amnesty International reports? Iraq LGBT Community

Hate campaigns against the LGBT community began in Iraq in 2023 with the establishment of the Anti-Likeline Content Committee on social media sites by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior in January. This committee operated a website to receive reports about sites accused of promoting degrading content, and the reports reached more than 50,000 within just three weeks. The Supreme Judicial Council also issued directives to the courts, the public prosecution, and the Judicial Supervision Authority, indicating “the use of social networking sites to publish content that offends public taste and constitutes unethical practices,” classifying talking about homosexuality, promoting it, or even publishing content about it as degrading content. Iraq LGBT Community

These directives resulted in the arrest of a number of individuals on charges of publishing homosexuality-related content on social media platforms, according to the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior. This campaign remains ongoing until the present moment, which increases the state of tension and hostility towards the LGBT community in Iraq. Iraq LGBT Community

In the Kurdistan region of Iraq, during the fifth month, a court issued a decision to close the “Rasan” human rights organization based on its activity in supporting homosexuality. Following this decision, members of the Kurdistan Regional Parliament introduced a draft law aimed at punishing any individual or group defending the rights of the LGBT community. Iraq LGBT Community

 

Burning Gay Flags

In the sixth month of 2023, cleric and politician Muqtada al-Sadr called on his supporters in Iraq to go out and burn gay flags in various regions of the country as a response to the burning of the Qur’an in Sweden. He also called for this campaign to continue until the eighth day of the month of Muharram.

As a result of this call, the cities and villages of Iraq witnessed a widespread campaign of hatred as demonstrators burned gay flags and spread hate speeches against them. In conjunction with this campaign, gay people received many threats, including the threat of imposing the “block”, a concrete structure that was used by the Mahdi Army militia, affiliated with Muqtada al-Sadr, to target gay people, which they called at the time the “emo massacre,” and its purpose was to send a message of intimidation: a threat to members of the LGBT community. Iraq LGBT Community

Parliament of Hate

In the seventh month, Representative Saadoun Al-Saadi, a member of the Rights Movement (the political wing of the Hezbollah militia in Iraq), presented a proposal to amend the Penal Code and criminalize homosexuality explicitly and clearly in Iraqi laws. This amendment comes due to the lack of a direct law criminalizing homosexuality in Iraq, as several vague laws such as family values and public morals are used to fight homosexuals. Although this proposal never saw the light of day, it indirectly contributed to pushing Parliament towards moving to criminalize homosexuality in Iraq.Iraq LGBT Community

After a short period of time, a member of the Iraqi Parliament’s Legal Committee, MP Raed al-Maliki, made a proposal to amend the prostitution law to include homosexuality and transsexuality.
This proposal is considered one of the harshest penalties against LGBT individuals. The proposal includes severe penalties, such as the death penalty for homosexuals, and imprisonment for up to seven years for anyone who supports them or contributes to the dissemination of information about them, even if they are outside the LGBT community. Iraq LGBT Community

Prohibiting the Use of the Terms Gender and Homosexuality

In the eighth month of the same year, the Iraqi Media and Communications Commission issued a directive asking all media outlets and social media platforms operating in the country to avoid using the term “homosexuality” and instead use the term “homosexuality.” The authority explained that its goal with this decision is to protect society and preserve authentic values by confronting the use of strange terms that have acquired a meaning conflicting with public order and public morals. Iraq LGBT Community
The Commission added that it decided to prevent the use of the terms “gender,” “gender,” and “homosexuality” in all communications related to the Commission because these terms have negative connotations in Iraqi society. Iraq LGBT Community

The statement stated that it was decided to prevent all companies that have a license from the authority for mobile phone and Internet services and others from promoting these terms by using them in their applications and programs.

After carrying out campaigns and mounting pressure from the masses, the Iraqi Parliament completed the first reading of MP Raed al-Maliki’s proposal, which stipulates that homosexuality should be punished by death, in a session that took place on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. This proposal is one of the toughest LGBT laws in the world. In the following days, Shiite authority Muhammad Taqi al-Mudarresi came out, inciting against homosexuals and describing homosexuality as a “satanic curse and a malicious conspiracy,” which increased the level of hatred against members of the LGBT community and provided support for Parliament to pursue and complete the legislation of the law.

In the same month, in the presence of a large number of Iraqi political figures and ambassadors of several countries around the world under the banner of the United Nations, the religious and political leader Ammar al-Hakim delivered a speech at a conference organized on the occasion of the Islamic Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Al-Hakim stressed the importance of calling on the legislative, executive, and judicial authorities to cooperate seriously in combating extremism and agendas that target human nature and nature and aim to destabilize the foundations of legitimate marital life between a man and a woman.

He also called for confronting foreign marketing and promoting concepts of homosexuality in his country and not giving in to any pressure that might be directed in this direction. It is noted that this speech came in an unprecedented context for Iraq, where he was speaking before the United Nations and in the presence of many ambassadors, in a historical precedent regarding anti-hate speeches in the country. Iraq LGBT Community

During that time, the Iraqi Medical Syndicate issued a document directing all its branches and doctors to prohibit the use of the terms “gender” The union indicated in the document that the use of this banned terms contradicts human values and ethics.
In the same context, and as a result of the escalation of hate speech, a speech was published on the official website of the Al-Nujaba Armed Militia, talking about the LGBT community, their presence, and the reason for their spread. The text of the speech contained the phrase: “The call to confront this scourge is good, praiseworthy, and positive, and its people will be rewarded according to their intentions.” Iraq LGBT Community

Amid this framework, a campaign emerged from Iraqi content makers aiming to combat homosexuality and its electronic presence in Iraq. They launched a campaign of notifications with the aim of closing these platforms, which subsequently led to many of these platforms temporarily disabling their accounts. Iraq LGBT Community

The killing of Nour BM

On the ninth of August, the Shiite authority al-Yaqubi issued a fatwa prohibiting the study and teaching of gender topics in Iraq. Meanwhile, Nour BM, an Iraqi figure with a non-traditional sexual identity, was assassinated with a silencer in Baghdad. Later, the Iraqi masses reacted to this incident and witnessed an escalation in hate speech by the killer’s supporters. Iraq LGBT Community

At the beginning of October, the Alawite Shrine, which follows the Shiite authority al-Sistani, launched an advertising campaign targeting children, urging them to tear up the pages of the fifth-grade English language book. The reason for this was the presence of a picture of a boy with rainbow-colored hair on one of the pages of the book, even though this version of the picture had been available in the book for years.

Continuous targeting throughout the year

According to Human Rights Watch, throughout the year, the LGBT community in Iraq was systematically and violently targeted because of their sexual orientation. This violence includes murder, kidnapping, torture, and sexual violence. Iraq LGBT Community

Thus, members of the LGBT community in Iraq end one of the worst years they have experienced in recent times. The year 2024 is widely expected to be worse than the previous year, as the Federal Supreme Court in Iraq, in January, brought back the law that punishes homosexuality with death to the forefront. Representative Raed Al-Maliki announced that he is striving to legislate and approve this law during this legislative term, despite all the challenges that may arise. Iraq LGBT Community

 

Iraq LGBT Community

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