Amendments to anti-prostitution law also enable courts to sentence trans people to three years in prison

Iraq’s parliament has passed a bill making same-sex relations punishable by up to 15 years in prison, in a move condemned as an “attack on human rights”.

Transgender people will also be sentenced to three years in jail under the amendments to a 1988 anti-prostitution law, which were adopted during a session attended by 170 out of 329 lawmakers on Saturday.

A previous draft had proposed capital punishment for same-sex relations, in what campaigners had called a “dangerous” escalation. The new amendments enable courts to sentence people to between 10 and 15 years in prison, according to the document seen by AFP, in a country where gay and transgender people already face frequent attacks and discrimination.

They also set a minimum seven-year prison term for “promoting” same-sex relations and a sentence ranging from one to three years for men who “intentionally” act like women.

  • EdibleFriend@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    They were a shithole before we invaded and they are still a shithole. We didn’t bomb homophobia into the country.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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      6 months ago

      And yet, homosexuality was legal then and it’s illegal now. Seems like a big difference to me.

    • SulaymanF@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Iraq was a secular country with the best healthcare in the region. The US war made electricity and water no longer available 24/7 and allowed a wave of fundamentalism in. Pretending it was broken before the war is ignorance.