Iraq’s Parliament recently postponed a plan to vote on a proposed bill passed on April 15th that would make same-sex acts punishable by death as the country’s prime minister is set to meet with US President Joe Biden over plans to increase investment in the Middle Eastern country.

Iraq to vote on bill including death penalty for same-sex acts https://t.co/PYxBAynl1E pic.twitter.com/UoO3ObnNvG

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 15, 2024

The Council of Representatives was in session on April 15th with the bill, which would have amended an anti-prostitution law. It was also second on the lawmakers’ agendas. The bill, titled “Law on Combatting Prostitution,” was introduced by Raad Al-Maliki, an independent Member of Parliament, in August last year. 

In that same month, Iraq’s media regulator also banned the word “homosexuality” and required traditional media outlets and social media platforms to use the term “sexual deviance” instead. 

Al-Maliki told media outlets such as Reuters that the bill was necessary to “preserve the entity of the Iraqi society from deviation and calls for ‘paraphilia’ [abnormal sexual impulses] that have invaded the world,” adding that he expected it to pass “because of its importance in preserving the authentic traditions of Iraqi society.”

What did you expect a Muslim country to do !

— julain Gallimore (@GallimoreJulain) April 18, 2024

Under the bill, anyone found guilty of engaging in same-sex relations would be sentenced to death or life in prison. It also imposes the same harsh punishments for anyone who swaps their wife with someone else’s for sexual purposes. 

In addition to the death penalty or life imprisonment for homosexuality and prostitution, the bill also imposes a minimum seven-year prison sentence for anyone found guilty of “promoting homosexuality,” which is undefined in the bill. The proposal also targets transgender women, with punishments ranging from fines to up to three years jail time for “imitating women.”

Currently, the Muslim-majority country of over 46 million does not explicitly outlaw homosexuality. However, vague “morality” clauses in the Iraqi Penal Code are routinely used to target Iraq’s LGBTQIA+ community.

Meanwhile LGBTQIA+ folks in the West: let's become Muslim!!

— Sander / Sandra(@EOLforXdotcom) April 15, 2024

Major Iraqi political parties and religious organizations have also stepped up their criticism of LGBTQIA+ rights, with rainbow flags being burned in protests by both ruling and opposition conservative Shia Muslim factions. 

Western diplomats and human rights organizations have raised their concerns over the proposed bill, arguing that the bill would make it more challenging to work with Iraq at a time when the country is trying to ease its international isolation after years of turmoil.

“Iraq’s proposed anti-LGBT law would threaten the lives of Iraqis already facing a hostile environment for LGBT people,” Rasha Younes, senior LGBTQIA+ rights research at Human Rights Watch, said at the time of the bill’s passage in August last year. “Iraqi lawmakers are sending an appalling message to LGBT people that their speech is criminal and their lives are expendable.”

I didn't know Iraq is that amazing and based. Long live Iraq

— شهرداری طرطوس (@shardari_tartus) April 16, 2024

Human Rights Watch also said the proposed bill does not only contradict Iraq’s nondiscrimination and privacy protections under its constitution but also international law.

“It would be very difficult to justify working closely with such a state at home,” one senior diplomat also said regarding the bill, who was also asked not to be named due to the subject’s sensitivity. “We were very, very direct: if this law is passed in its current form, it would have catastrophic consequences for our bilateral and business and trade relations.”

Nevertheless, the planned vote for the bill was delayed due to time constraints and disagreements over the proposed amendments. In addition, the vote was postponed as Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani was scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden, with the trip reportedly focused on increasing US investment in Iraq.

More than 60 countries criminalize same-sex relations, including other Middle Eastern countries like Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Palestine.