Rights groups alarmed about new anti-LGBTQ+ law in Iraq

Passed Saturday, the law, an amendment to an existing anti-prostitution rule, says those found guilty of same-sex relations will face 10 to 15 years in jail. Additionally, the law criminalizes those who seek or perform gender-affirming medical treatments. Transgender people or the doctors who help them can face a prison term of one to three years.

The United Nations said it was "alarmed" by the passage of the law.

"The law runs contrary to several human rights treaties and conventions ratified by Iraq, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and should be shelved," U.N. Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement Monday.

"Everyone, without distinction, is entitled to enjoy all human rights, including the right to privacy, the right to be treated as equal before the law and the right to protection from discrimination on various grounds that include sexual orientation and gender identity," she added.

Rasha Al Aqeedi, an Iraq consultant with Freedom House, a Washington think tank, said the new law surpasses in its severity all pre-existing laws and leaves no room to advocate for the protection of the LGBTQ+ community in the majority-Muslim country.

"Iraq has long been a conservative country where the potential for advancing LGBTQ+ rights was dim, but homosexual individuals were often left alone in a 'don't ask, don't tell' style," Al Aqeedi told VOA.

"There is denial in Iraq that homosexuality is global, common and has been around as long as mankind," she said. "In recent years, it has been portrayed as a Western-imported phenomenon aimed at corrupting youth. In reality, everyone in Iraq knows someone who is part of the LGBTQ+ community, but it's a reality Iraqis refuse to accept after decades of social conditioning and homophobia."

Previous discrimination

Even before the new law was passed, rights groups said LGBTQ+ individuals faced discrimination by the Iraqi authorities.

The U.S. State Department said in its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, released last week, that Iraqi authorities used public indecency or prostitution charges to prosecute individuals involved in same-sex sexual acts.

"Despite repeated threats and violence targeting [LGBTQ+] individuals, specifically gay men, the government failed to identify, arrest or prosecute attackers or to protect targeted individuals," the report said.

Iraqi officials have defended the new law, describing it as a necessary measure to protect the country's societal values.

But IraQueer, an Iraq-based LGBTQ+ human rights organization, said the LGBTQ+ community in Iraq doesn't pose any threat to the Iraqi population.

"Our government has yet again let its people down. This is what they're most known for — ignoring the truly needy, and focusing on what benefits their own agendas. The LGBT[Q+] community in Iraq has no agenda. We only want to exist in peace," the group said Monday in a statement posted on social media.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that "limiting the rights of certain individuals in a society undermines the rights of all" and could also weaken Iraq's ability to attract foreign investment.

"International business coalitions have already indicated that such discrimination in Iraq will harm business and economic growth in the country," he said in a statement.

Miller added that the law undermines the government's political and economic reform efforts.

This decision came days after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani concluded a visit to Washington where he met with President Joe Biden and other senior officials. Economic and political reforms were among the issues discussed.

Al Aqeedi said the law "demonstrates the near nonexisting influence the U.S. has on domestic and social matters in Iraq, contrary to the belief still held by some."