ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Western diplomatic missions in Baghdad have been slammed by the LGBTQ+ community for appearing to bow to Iraqi government and clerical pressure to remove rainbow pride flags flying above their embassies and posts from their social media accounts.
In a gesture marking International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on Sunday, the European Union, the World Bank MENA, and the Canadian and British embassies to Iraq all hoisted the iconic rainbow flag in Baghdad to “highlight the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people,” according to a tweet from the EU mission, which has since been deleted.
The flags and social media posts were fiercely attacked by Iraqi politicians and clerics, who said the promotion of LGBTQ+ rights was incompatible with Iraqi society and insensitive during the holy month of Ramadan.
Amir Ashour, founder and executive director of activist network IraQueer, fired back at the establishment response, arguing the raising of the pride flag is a public tribute to all those murdered and persecuted for their sexuality.
The online response – which included a written condemnation from Iraq’s foreign ministry – prompted some diplomatic missions to backtrack. The EU delegation and British embassy both deleted social media posts depicting the flag.
Critics were stunned to see western missions apparently bending under the pressure – suppressing their professions of support for the human rights of sexual minorities.
The controversy has ignited fresh discussion over the treatment of Iraq’s LGBTQ+ community, which is largely forced underground for fear of persecution.
“Whether people like it or not, as in every other society, homosexuals are part of Iraqi society,” said Ahmad*, a 20-year-old gay man from Sulaimani.
“Raising the flag of homosexuals should have been something ordinary for people… not a red line,” he told Rudaw English on Monday.
“Raising the flag was a step forward, but attacking the European Union and pressuring them to bring down the flag was two steps backward.”
Although there is no explicit ban on homosexuality in the Iraqi Penal Code, the country remains highly precarious for the community which is often subject to human rights abuses.
“We need to bear in mind that black people faced this discrimination until the 1960s but in the end they gained their deserved rights,” said Ahmad.
“Rejecting homosexuals does not solve the problems. No matter how many times people reject them, they exist… In [the] Iraqi Penal Code there is no law against homosexuality. But they are using articles 393 and 400 to punish homosexuals,” he said.
Articles 393 and 400 refer to legislation which penalizes sexual assault.
“Homosexuality is not a sexual assault. It is love between two consenting adults,” Ahmad said. Any misinterpretation is a “legal scandal”, he added.
A lesbian woman, also from Sulaimani, told Rudaw English she expected such a backlash from a society “bound by religion and culture” in which LGBTQ+ individuals are not accepted or understood.
“It’s good for the people of Iraq to know that LGBT people exist and that they have the support of the international community,” she said.
“Even though there are few organizations that work on this cause in Iraq, the situation is still bad for LGBT people. Everyone is in danger,” she said.
LGBTQ+ individuals risk being made homeless or even being murdered by families who reject their sexual identity.
“I can’t tell anyone that I’m a lesbian woman. It can be very dangerous for me. LGBT people are not accepted and not understood. People think it’s a choice but you are actually just born that way,” she added.
Soran*, 28, a gay man from Erbil, insists there is nothing foreign or imported about his sexuality.
“One aspect of the debate about the LGBTQ+ that bothers me is that some are trying to say that this is something alien to the Iraqi society and has been imported,” Soran said.
“We have not come from somewhere else. We are Iraqis, from villages and cities of this country, and we are serving this society.”
“The criterion should not be whom I sleep with in my bedroom but how I serve this society and how I treat other people,” he said.
“Sadly, those who say bad things in Iraq are louder and the good people are silent. I have a lot of support from my friends who know about my sexuality, but they don’t dare say anything on Facebook or say something in support of the LGBTQ+ community,” he added.
In 2017, the US consulate in Erbil raised the LGBTQ+ flag over its compound in honor of Pride Month, which celebrates the community and promotes the human rights of LGBTQ+ individuals across the globe. The gesture sparked similar criticism.
The US embassy in Baghdad did not raise the rainbow flag on Sunday, nor did it release a statement marking the occasion.
*Names have been changed to protect identities.
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