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.
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. Read more via RUDAW