The Communications and Media Commission (CMC), the media regulator in Iraq, recently asked the media houses to use the term sexual deviance, instead of homosexuality!

In a statement, the media regulator mentioned that the social media companies, operating in the West Asian nation, would have to follow the same instruction. As per the statement, the CMC also banned the term gender! It further prohibited all phone and internet companies from using these terms in any of their mobile applications.

Talking to the media, a senior government official said that the decision would require a final approval from the concerned authorities. He confirmed that the regulator “directs media organisations not to use the term homosexuality and to use the correct term sexual deviance”. According to the official, media houses would have to pay a penalty for violating the rule set by the CMC.

Mortada Al-Saadi, the Deputy Head of the Committee on Legal Affairs, submitted the Bill, banning the term homosexuality, to the Parliament in July 2023, and requested Speaker of the Council of Representatives Mohammed al-Halbousi to put it on the agenda during the Legislative Session to be held in September. Although Baghdad is yet to explicitly criminalise gay sex, it loosely defined morality clauses in its penal code, targeting members of the LGBT community. In recent times, major political outfits in the country have stepped up criticism of LGBT Rights, with rainbow flags frequently being burned by the Shi’ite Muslim factions who opposed recent burnings of Qurans in Sweden and Denmark.

Since the beginning of 2023, anti-LGBTQ+ hate has been on the rise in Iraq. The Regional Government of Kurdistan recently brought a similar Bill. If passed, the Regional Government could punish LGBTQ+ advocacy by up to one year in prison and a fine of GBP 3,000. The Government of Kurdistan also imposed a ban on Rasan, the only Human Rights group advocating for LGBTQ+ equality, in May 2023 for “activities in the field of homosexuality”. According to an Equality Index prepared by LGBTQ+ community advocacy group Equaldex, Iraq occupies the 176th position out of 197 countries as the rankings are based on queer equality.

Currently, LGBTQ+ individuals face extensive discrimination in Iraq, as open homosexuality leads to military service bans and the illegality of same-sex marriages or civil unions. These people lack legal safeguards against discrimination. Hence, they often fall victim to vigilante justice and honour killings. Iraq’s anti-LGBT stance dates back to its Declaration of Independence, during which homosexuality was officially prohibited.

So far, more than 60 countries have criminalised gay sex, while same-sex sexual acts are legal in more than 130 countries.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das