A law amendment in Iraq proposes capital punishment for homosexual relations, in what campaigners call a "dangerous" escalation in the country where LGBTQ+ people already face frequent attacks and discrimination

The amendment to a 1988 anti-prostitution law, which passed a first reading in parliament last week, would enable courts to issue "the death penalty or life imprisonment" sentences for "homosexual relations"[…]
Homosexuality, much like other gender issues, remains taboo in Iraq's conservative society, though no existing laws explicitly punish homosexual relations

But members of the LGBTQ+ community have been prosecuted for "sodomy" or under vague morality and anti-prostitution clauses in Iraq's penal code

LGBTQ+ Iraqis have been forced into the shadows, often targeted with "kidnappings, rapes, torture and murders" that go unpunished, according to a 2022 report by Human Rights Watch and the IraQueer non-governmental organization[…]
The amendment was "still under discussion and subject to exchanges of viewpoints," said Saud al-Saadi, a member of the Shiite Muslim party Huquq, the political wing of the powerful Iran-aligned Hezbollah Brigades and part of the ruling coalition

Saadi said a second reading had yet to be scheduled, and argued 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"[…]
The amendment would also set a minimum seven-year prison term for "promoting homosexuality," according to the text seen by AFP[…]
The national media and communications commission is considering banning Iraq-based publications from using the term "homosexuality," a source at the body said

Instead, media outlets would be advised to use the derogatory term "sexual deviance," according to the source, and the term "gender" would also be banned