According to the results of the international survey published in 1999 by the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA),

Homosexual behaviour between consenting adults is not an offence under Iraq's Penal Code. However homosexuality is taboo, and there is no visible support for lesbian and gay rights (23 Apr. 1999).

The survey report also indicated that, under article 395 of the 1969 Penal Code,

the age of consent to sodomy was set at 18. Where the minor is between 15 and 18 years old and does not resist the act, the adult may be punished with imprisonment of up to 7 years. Where the minor is 14 years or below, the punishment is a maximum of 10 years (ILGA 23 Apr. 1999).

An article in the September 1998 issue of QSF Magazine, which is no longer published, quoted the testimony of an Iraqi lesbian who was raised in the Assyrian culture (Christian). She stated that sexual diversity is not recognized in Iraqi society; homosexuals are not respected or considered to be people or full citizens (QSF Magazine Sept. 1998). She added that "the Middle East's approach to homosexuality is governed primarily by culturally based assumptions, not by any Truth" (ibid.). According to her,

We are taught that you sleep with the opposite sex. I was raised to believe that being gay is against God's will, that gay people are sick and need to go to church or temple to receive help (ibid.).

An article on homosexuals in the American army during the Iraqi conflict, published in 2003 on the AtomicQueens.com Website, cited the remarks of a gay man in Baghdad who said in an interview that gays are treated better in Iraq than in other Arab countries, and that he had never witnessed overt gay abuse in Iraq. He nevertheless went on to describe Iraq as a "complex and repressive" society whose eyes are shut to the reality of gays and which uses "homophobic proclamations against political opponents, rather than to target gays" (AtomicQueens.com 2003).

An article on the status of homosexuals in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein, published in the Atlanta magazine Southern Voice, quoted a gay American-Arab journalist who frequently travels to the Middle East as saying that the family unit dictates the direction of a country in the Middle East, that families and tribal communities have widely differing views on individual rights, and that thinking "any government change in the short term will secure the rights of gays and lesbians in Iraq is unbelievably naïve" (18 Apr. 2003).

No additional information on the above-mentioned subject could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints for this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

AtomicQueens.com. 2003. L. Adrian Armstrong. "The Iraqi War: Be All You Can Be - But Gay." http://www.atomicqueens.com/war.htm [Accessed 2 Sept. 2003]

International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA). 23 April 1999. World Legal Survey: Iraq. http://www.ilga.org/Informatino/legal_survey/middle%20east/iraq.htm [Accessed 2 Sept. 2003]

QSF Magazine [San Francisco]. September 1998. Steve Cirrone. "Dalia Yalda. " (Google cache) http://qsfmagazine.com/qsf/9809/immigrants2.html [Accessed 2 Sept. 2003]

Southern Voice [Atlanta]. 18 April 2003. Lou Chibbaro Jr. "Life for Gay Iraqis May not Improve After Saddam's Fall." [Accessed 2 Sept. 2003]

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