Iraq criminalizes homosexuality with sentences of up to 15 years in prison to “preserve moral decency in society”

This Saturday, the Iraqi parliament approved changes to the law against prostitution, to include the criminalization of homosexual relations and transgender expressions, which from now on will carry penalties of up to 15 years in prison.

According to the EFE news agency, which cites a statement from the Iraqi parliament, the legislative body justifies these changes with the need to “preserve moral decency in Iraqi society from the calls for homosexuality that have invaded the world” and in view of the “absence of legislation ” in the country that “dissuasively punishes homosexual acts”.

The acting president of the Lower House, Mohsen al Mandalawi, stated that the approval of the amendments “is a necessary step to protect the value structure of society and children, who are called to moral depravity.

The changes to the law against prostitution, in force since 1988, were approved in a session attended by 170 of the 329 deputies that make up the Iraqi Chamber.

From this moment on, Iraqi law penalizes any consensual homosexual relationship with penalties of between ten and 15 years in prison, while promoting same-sex relationships also carries a penalty of one to three years in prison and a fine.

Anyone who undergoes a sex change operation, as well as the doctor who performs it, will be subject to a sentence of one to three years in prison.

The law also provides punishments for any man who displays “effeminate behavior”.

On her account on the social network against LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) people in Iraq.

Rasha Younes added that this law “adds more suffering to Iraqi LGBT people who are already victims of systematic violence and threatened in their lives by armed groups”, especially of a religious nature.

The bill for this amendment was introduced in August 2023 by independent MP Raad al Maliki and initially stipulated that homosexual relations would be punishable by the death penalty or life imprisonment, while “promoting homosexuality” would mean a minimum of seven years’ imprisonment. imprisonment and a fine.

Although consensual same-sex sexual relations were not explicitly criminalized in Iraq, authorities used arguments of “morality” laws to persecute LGBT people.