Iraq Outlaws the Word 'Homosexuality' in National Media, Pushes Use of Alternative Term
Iraq has banned the terms “homosexual” and “homosexuality” from being broadcast across all media, including on social media.
Earlier this week, the country’s Media and Communications Commission ruled that the words should be substituted for the term “sexual deviancy,” CBS News reported.
The regulatory agency has not said what punishments could be handed down for using such terms, but it is believed those who violate the rule could be fined.
CBS cited numerous reports from within Iraq about the banning of the words in media, which regulators say will protect the county’s “societal values and public order.”
Iraq is one of few countries in the Middle East where homosexuality is not illegal, but it is looked down upon, and promoting LGBT agendas is prohibited in some areas of the country.
The non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch reported a group that was promoting homosexuality in the Kurdistan region was ordered to shut down earlier this year.
The group the Rasan Organization was ordered to cease operations on May 31 over “its activities in the field of homosexuality,” the group reported.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, homosexuality is outlawed and is in some cases punishable by death.
In Iran last year, CBS News reported two men were said to have been executed in the city of Maragheh, which is about 300 miles from Tehran.
The men were charged with “forced sexual intercourse between two men” and hanged in prison.
Homosexuality is also punishable by death in Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The Taliban also instituted strict laws against homosexuality beginning in 2021 when the U.S. exited Afghanistan in a chaotic manner after two decades in the country.
CNN reported that it spoke to people in the country who identified as LGBT weeks after the Taliban seized power, and many claimed they were being hunted.
“The situation gets worse every day … fear of arrest is part of life now, and I have such stress that I can’t even sleep,” one woman described as a previously open lesbian told the outlet.
A Taliban spokesman told CNN at the time it was still deciding what to do with gays and lesbians.
“When there is anything I will keep you updated,” the spokesman said.
Qatar, which hosted last year’s World Cup, also has strict laws against homosexuality, and engaging in such acts can result in prison sentences ranging from seven years to a life sentence, according to a State Department 2021 report.
Meanwhile, American LGBT activists in states such have Florida have shared grievances in recent months over legislation that bans them from performing “drag” shows in front of children.
One family moved out of the state in June after they said during an interview with The Washington Post that they did not feel “safe.”
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