In addition to the term “homosexuality,” the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission (CMC) document states that the use of the term “gender” is also prohibited. The media regulator banned all telephone and internet companies licensed by the authority from using the terms in their mobile applications.
The Arabic-language statement said the regulator “instructs media organizations not to use the term homosexuality and to use the correct term ‘sexual perversion’.”
The decision has not yet been approved, and no penalty has been set for violating the rule.
It is not explicitly illegal to be gay in Iraq, but loosely defined morality clauses in the penal code have been used to give members of the LGBTQ+ community a hard time.
Major Iraqi parties have stepped up their criticism of LGBTQ rights over the past two months, with rainbow flags often being burned during protests by Shia Islamist groups against recent Quran burnings in Sweden and Denmark.
See also. Burning the Qur’an leads to great anger in the Islamic world
