edited: to put entire article in body of post, instead of just beginning & end.

A law amendment in Iraq has proposed capital punishment for homosexual relationships. Campaigners have called it a “dangerous” escalation in the country where people already face frequent attacks and discrimination. However, life for queer Iraqis hasn’t always been this way. As with so many stains on worldwide human rights, the worsening homophobia and transphobia in Iraq can be traced back to the British empire.

Iraq: debating the death penalty for LGBTQ+ people

The amendment to a 1988 anti-prostitution law passed a first reading in parliament last week. It would enable courts to issue “the death penalty or life imprisonment” sentences for “homosexual relations”. This is according to a document seen by Agence France-Press (AFP). The amendment would also set a minimum seven-year prison term for “promoting homosexuality”.

Currently, no existing laws explicitly punish homosexual relations. However, the state has prosecuted LGBTQ+ people for sodomy, or under vague morality and anti-prostitution clauses in Iraq’s penal code. This also comes at a time when the state and the media are also cracking-down on open discussion about LGBTQ+ issues.

The national media and communications commission is considering banning Iraq-based publications from using the term “homosexuality”. Instead, it would advise media outlets to use the derogatory term “sexual deviance”. It also wants to ban the term “gender”.

‘Abnormal social phenomena’, apparently

The law change appears to have broad support in the Islamist-majority assembly. Saud al-Saadi is member of Shiite Muslim party Huquq, the political wing of the powerful Iran-aligned Hezbollah Brigades and part of the ruling coalition. He said the amendment was “still under discussion and subject to exchanges of viewpoints”. Saadi said a second reading had yet to be scheduled, and argued that parliament aims to “fill a legal vacuum”.

Lawmaker Sharif Suleiman of the Kurdistan Democratic Party said the proposed legislation reflects:

our moral and human values and our fights against abnormal social phenomena… We need deterrent laws.

‘My life will end’

A 2022 report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and non-governmental organisation IraQueer found that people often target LGBTQ+ Iraqis with “kidnappings, rapes, torture and murders”. The state fails to punish the perpetrators. LGBTQ+ rights researcher at HRW Rasha Younes called the new proposed legislation as a “dangerous step”. She told AFP:

That means that Iraqi individuals’ life and constant fear of being hunted down and killed by armed groups with impunity is now going to translate into the law itself.

The Iraqi government (is) using the rights of LGBT people to distract the public from its lack of delivery.

The surge in anti-LGBTQ sentiment has stoked further fear among members of the community. Iraqi gay man Abdallah told AFP:

The situation has become too complicated because we are not protected by the authorities. If someone finds out that I’m gay and has a problem with me, they can send my name or photo to armed groups. My life will end.

It is likely Iraqi politicians will pass the law – and it can be directly linked back to Britain’s colonial influence.

Colonialism: bringing homophobia to Iraq and the Middle East

Historically, Iraq and other countries in the Middle East were not as homophobic as they are today. Rather, the Ottoman empire – part of which would later become present-day Iraq – was relatively permissive of homosexuality, particularly if it was kept out of the public eye.

Then, as History wrote:

Britain seized Iraq from Ottoman Turkey during World War I and was granted a mandate by the League of Nations to govern the nation in 1920. A Hashemite monarchy was organized under British protection in 1921, and on October 3, 1932, the kingdom of Iraq was granted independence.

But the damage was already done. The Economist explained that:

In 1885 the British government introduced new penal codes that punished all homosexual behaviour. Of the more than 70 countries that criminalise homosexual acts today, over half are former British colonies. France introduced similar laws around the same time. After independence, only Jordan and Bahrain did away with such penalties.

Britain forced its anti-LGBTQ+ laws onto Iraq (as it did most of its colonies). Negative societal attitudes and state criminalisation have remained ever since.

Now, it’s LGBTQ+ Iraqis feeling the full effects of the legacy of British colonialism.

  • Betty White In HD@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    Blaming Britain for a 150 year old law instead of a clearly bigoted and distinctively intolerant religion and theocracy is an insane take.

    This is actually pants on head stupid.

  • apt_install_coffee@lemmy.ml
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    10 months ago

    Blaming the creation of a new law on anybody except the lawmakers is a pretty shit take, but blaming it on 150 year old colonialism is actually infantilistic.

      • silent_water [she/her]@hexbear.net
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        10 months ago

        this is ahistorical. as the article notes:

        Historically, Iraq and other countries in the Middle East were not as homophobic as they are today. Rather, the Ottoman empire – part of which would later become present-day Iraq – was relatively permissive of homosexuality, particularly if it was kept out of the public eye.

          • Shinji_Ikari [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            10 months ago

            History doesn’t occur in a vacuum though.

            Why is it also present in Indonesia, a Muslim nation colonized by the Dutch

            Please read the Jakarta Method. Indonesia was trying to build up some kind of socialist system after Dutch rule. The democratically elected leader was a member of the Communist party but overall was not forcing a hard revolution. The US manufactured a right-wing military coup that would go on to execute nearly a Million members of the communist party, imprison over a million more, and lead the country down a right wing reactionary path. Indonesia pre-coup was is almost unrecognizable compared to modern Indonesia.

            Iran was never directly colonized

            The 1953 coup strengthened the shah and changed power to be far more pro-west interests, imperialism in a mask. The later Iranian revolution was again, a reaction to the more or less puppet regime. I don’t think anyone on the left has more than a critical support for Iran to self govern. Of course not all changes or revolutions are a blanket good.

            Generally the support for Islam on the left is a counteraction to Islamophobia in the west, where Muslims are written off as terrorists due to the multiple decades of war waged in the Middle East.

            I personally know non-muslim brown people called “Terrorist” in predominantly white school districts in the early 2010s. This racism didn’t go away, and it won’t go away by demanding people to surrender their religion in the name of anti-homophobia. Doing so, claiming they’re generally homophobic is the same as generalizing them all as terrorists.

  • aeronauty@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    “You can blame the British for that [modern day enforcement of backward laws that the rest of the world has since corrected]”

    Horrendous state of affairs but the tying it “the British” is mind boggling. Pull your head out of yer arse.

    • cloaker@kbin.social
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      10 months ago

      Most brain-dead take I’ve heard. Apparently the UK managed to change Iraqi culture in well less than 20 years to become homophobic. ???

      • DJGlowworm@feddit.nl
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        10 months ago

        Kind of brain dead not to realize Iraq was a British mandate after World War I, 100 years ago. They did upend the bureaucratic systems following the fall of the Ottoman Empire and instituted sweeping new laws.

          • lad@programming.dev
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            10 months ago

            I’m not well versed to speak about the UK and Iraq, but there are indeed examples in the contemporary world where some 8–14 years would be enough to change the public opinion quite a lot

        • cloaker@kbin.social
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          10 months ago

          I realise this, my issue is that this is blamed on Britian despite administration being for well less than 20 years before independence. Iraqi opinions to homosexuality have over history been more influenced by the teachings of Islam than Britain.

    • archiotterpup@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      British Law was exported to all of its colonies. Homosexuality was not taboo in Pre-Anglo Ottoman Iraq. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the British land grabs you start to see these kinds of changes in the penal code.

        • DJGlowworm@feddit.nl
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          10 months ago

          Bro don’t be obtuse. It was illegal to be gay in Britain as recently as 1981 in some parts. British colonial rule had a profound effect on the countries it held dominion over particularly in introducing laws which often held harsher punishments than at home in order to “civilize” the local people there. As other commenters have mentioned, homosexuality was not nearly as taboo in the Middle East during the days of the Ottoman Empire as it is today. Many countries which were under British rule still maintain harsh anti homosexuality laws today, the harshness of which can be traced back to the introduction of British law codes.

          • ZodiacSF1969@sh.itjust.works
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            10 months ago

            But instead of blaming a period of time that lasted only around a decade (British control of Iraq), why not blame the massive rise in fundamentalist Islamic views since the mid-20th century? That seems to be the much more important factor.

            • archiotterpup@lemmy.world
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              10 months ago

              Hey, where do you think financialist Islam came from? Hint hint, it wasn’t under Ottoman occupation. It was post British colonial rule under a system set up by the British.

              • ZodiacSF1969@sh.itjust.works
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                10 months ago

                It’s more complicated than that. Governments established by Britain are a factor, but Salafi ideology fostered a hatred of Western ideals separate from colonial issues. Trying to say it’s Britain’s fault is oversimplifying to the point of absurdity.

  • Alto@kbin.social
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    10 months ago

    Gonna be honest, I really doubt that non-existence of that law would stop them

  • R0cket_M00se@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    How is centuries old colonialism at fault for the clearly bigoted and anti-LGBTQ theocracy of fundamentalist Islamic radicals that took over the country and are currently implementing and enforcing authoritarian restrictions on the population LIKE WE KNEW THEY WOULD?!?

    Stupid as absolute fuck. Blame Sharia law and those that uphold it.

    • ThatWeirdGuy1001@sh.itjust.works
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      10 months ago

      I mean that’s pretty much how all modern cultural views happened. The British came in and changed shit and when they left not everything changed back and a lot of cultural norms remained.

      Edit: Idk anything about middle eastern history (thanks American education system!) I just thought it made sense since Britain has impacted cultures all over the world due to its violent colonialism.

      • R0cket_M00se@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        The British have nothing to do with the takeover of religious authoritarianism in the area and the obvious implications of what people would be oppressed when said religion becomes law.

        This trying to shift the blame onto anyone except the actual problem, the modern religious extremists that control the country.

          • R0cket_M00se@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            Not you personally, but the overarching narrative you’re espousing is intended to take the pressure off of the current oppressors which are the religious authorities of the middle east.

            Sorry if it seemed like I was specifically targeting you, it’s more about the articles perspective being used as a tool.

            • ThatWeirdGuy1001@sh.itjust.works
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              10 months ago

              Hey that’s fair. I’m not a big fan of religious doctrine personally so I understand. I just thought that it might’ve been a remnant of British culture at the time.

              But like I said I’m ignorant af about it all and I’ll accept that

    • Grimble [he/him,they/them]@hexbear.net
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      10 months ago

      Little weasely quietist fuck. You know exactly why you came here.

      You dont believe this, and are just doing a classic forum debate trick by mixing up viewpoints, so I assume you know already that LGBTQ people would be worse off still under colonialism. Nobody will buy this trick.

      I can tell you’re just itching to argue, which is the purpose of your whole account, so this is all you’ll get from me. You’ll keep replying anyway, and wasting your life. To anyone else, I challenge you to make this guy quit Lemmy as quick as possible.

    • BelieveRevolt [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      10 months ago

      At this rate, the UK’s laws will change to match Iraq’s. J.K. Rowling and her fascist buddies are probably already drooling at the opportunity to execute trans people.

    • 420blazeit69 [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      10 months ago

      Edit - I didn’t think this would need an /s but clearly it does.

      The fediverse leans left overall, but there are still plenty of reactionaries around.

      • sizeoftheuniverse@programming.dev
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        10 months ago

        It’s not leaning on the left, it’s collapsing into the left, and once you pass the event horizon of leftism, you cannot entertain any kind of dialogue or what “normies” are calling sanity or common sense.

  • usernamesaredifficul [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    10 months ago

    that doesn’t really make sense Iraq is it’s own country independence means that they are now responsible for their own laws. Also what do you want britain to do at this point everyone old enough to have been involved in the 1920 colonisation of Iraq is dead now

    blaming everything about iraq now on a 10 year period 100 years ago is ridiculous

    • 420blazeit69 [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      10 months ago

      The status quo is hard to change. The British are responsible for changing the status quo from “don’t really care” to “illegal.” That also has effects on how people grow up thinking about LGBT rights, which is how you get support for a law that’s ratcheting up the oppression.

      I don’t think this article should be read as “the Brits are fully responsible, period,” but as an example of how the many harms of colonialism still leave marks today.

      • paysrenttobirds@sh.itjust.works
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        10 months ago

        The status quo is hard to change…the Brits changed the status quo

        I agree, though. The British share the blame, but it’s hard to argue that any particular law they made persists due to some special factor other than that it is as useful to the insecure government of today as it was to the insecure colonial government of the time.