Iraq delays vote on brutal anti-gay laws
It’s being reported that Iraq’s parliament has postponed a planned vote on a brutal piece of anti-LGBTQ legislation that would have made gay sex punishable by the death penalty.
The bill, which would have amended an anti-prostitution law, was second on lawmakers’ agenda at the most recent parliamentary session but was apparently postponed due to time constraints and disagreements over proposed amendments.
In addition to imposing the death penalty or life in prison for gay sex, the bill would also impose a minimum seven-year prison sentence for “promoting homosexuality,” which is undefined in the bill.
While consensual gay sex is not explicitly outlawed under current law in Iraq, “morality” clauses in the country’s penal code are routinely used to target LGBTQ people.
The move to toughen criminal sanctions against queer people comes on top of a move last year by Iraq’s media regulator to ban the use of the term “homosexuality” – forcing the term “sexual deviance” to be used instead.
Commentators are suggesting that the timing of the vote on the new legislation may have been delayed as it coincided with a meeting scheduled between Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and US president Joe Biden – the focus of the meeting was on increased US investment in Iraq.