In Iraq, parliamentarians are slated to vote on an anti-LGBTQIA bill that includes the death penalty or prison term for at least seven years to life for those engaging in same-sex relations. The bill is actually an amendment to the existing anti-prostitution law.
The same bill also criminalizes prostitution, sexual brokerage, and wife-swapping.
As reported by The New Arab, the parliamentarians are now only awaiting the parliament’s presidency to include the bill in the agenda of the parliament’s future sessions.
Currently, Iraq’s penal code actually lacks specific laws on LGBTQIA people. But the country’s anti-prostitution law and article 393 of the Iraqi penal code of 1969 (which outlaws rape or sodomy) are often used against members of the LGBTQIA community. The new bill now seeks to specifically amend Iraq’s penal code 8 of 1988, which bans prostitution, to also criminalize LGBTQIA relations in the country.
