Iraq passes new ‘morality’ legislation criminalising same-sex marriage | EUROtoday

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Iraq has handed a sweeping anti-LGBT+ legislation that criminalises same-sex relationships and will see homosexual folks sentenced to as much as 15 years in jail if convicted.

The legislation, which was handed by Iraq’s parliament on Saturday, purports to “protect Iraqi society from moral depravity and the calls for homosexuality that have overtaken the world”.

The Law on Combating Prostitution and Homosexuality, described as a bid to uphold the Islamic nation’s non secular values, said same-sex relations at the moment are banned in Iraq and punishable by a jail sentence of not less than 10 years, as much as a most of 15.

Any particular person who “promotes” homosexuality or prostitution would face not less than seven years in jail, the legislation stated. An earlier model of the invoice imposed the loss of life penalty for same-sex acts however the clause was eliminated in an modification amid sturdy opposition from the US and European nations.

The legislation additionally imposes a jail sentence between one to 3 years for anybody who modifications their “biological gender” or clothes in an effeminate method.

The invoice noticed staunch help from conservative Shia Muslim events helming the biggest coalition in Iraq’s parliament however met with widespread condemnation from worldwide group and human rights teams.

A press release from the US State Department stated: “This amendment threatens those most at risk in Iraqi society. It can be used to hamper free-speech and expression and inhibit the operations of NGOs across Iraq.”

“The Iraqi parliament’s passage of the anti-LGBT law rubber-stamps Iraq’s appalling record of rights violations against LGBT people and is a serious blow to fundamental human rights,” stated Rasha Younes, deputy director of the LGBT+ rights programme at Human Rights Watch.

Iraq was till now among the many few Islamic nations which didn’t explicitly criminalise homosexual intercourse, however loosely outlined morality clauses in its penal code have nonetheless been used to focus on LGBT+ folks.

Several members of the group have additionally been killed by armed teams and people.

More than 60 nations criminalise homosexual intercourse, whereas same-sex sexual acts are authorized in additional than 130 nations, in keeping with Our World in Data.