Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Iraq face severe challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents.

Homosexuality per se was not a crime, but could be justification for government discrimination and harassment under laws designed to protect national security and public morality.

As part of this, in the early 1990s, at the United Nations, the Iraqi delegation cited religion at the time as their reasoning for opposing efforts to have the international body support for LGBT rights.

This group operated similar to an armed Mutaween (religious police), and often staged public torture and executions of LGBT people as women who had sex outside of marriage.

[23] In 1999, an urban legend began to circulate that the Iraqi government banned the South Park television series, and feature film, because it depicted Saddam Hussein being involved in a homosexual relationship with Satan.

[26] When Coalition Provisional Authority Chief executive Paul Bremer took control of Iraq following the U.S. invasion in 2003, he issued a series of decrees that restored the Iraqi criminal code back to the Iraq penal code of 1969 (as revised in 1988), abolishing the death penalty (which the newly formed Iraqi government restored in 2005), and removing most restrictions on free speech and assembly.

The largest amounts of murder and death would happen during this time period, and despite the formation of many LGBT activist organization, many would be forced to disband, go underground, or travel to different countries to continue work there.

[29] Since 2005, there have been reports that the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq's Badr Organization has been involved in death squad campaigns against LGBTQ Iraqi citizens, and that they are supported in these policies by the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

[31] These reports seem to stem from a fatwa issued by Iraqi cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani stating that homosexuality and lesbianism are both "forbidden" and that they should be "Punished, in fact, killed.

[34] According to a New York Times story in April 2009, Shiʿa clerics in Baghdad "devoted a portion of Friday Prayer services to inveighing against homosexuality.

In addition to the national penal code, members of the Iraqi Internal Security forces, along with current students and retirees, are bound the rules outlined in Decree Number 9 (2008).

[35] The Iraqi Personal Status Law (1959) has to relevant provisions; Article 3 – Marriage is defined as a union between a man and a woman to create children.

The Iraqi Kurdistan Personal Status Law (1992) also has some relevant provisions; Article 1 - Marriage is defined as a voluntary union between a man and a woman to create a family.

Legally, the National Crime Code of Iraq prohibits public behavior that is "indecent", giving significant leeway to police officers to enforce traditional Islamic mores and attitudes about gender.

On April 27, 2024 Iraq's parliament voted to establish crimes and implement punishments that include:[7][38][39] In 2010, efforts by the Kurdish government to promote gender equality, were attacked by Kamil Haji Ali, Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs, as well as the Kurdistan Islamic Movement for trying to legalize same-sex marriage.

[40] In the areas controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, first offenders of homosexuality are sentenced to death, torture, floggings, beatings, and other violence.

Finally, they host several workshops dedicated to teaching people about gender and sexuality, how to lobby and properly advocate, and to maintain safety and security in times of crisis.

[49] Iraqueer has submitted several reports to international bodies, including the United Nations, talking about the state of LGBT people in Iraq.

[51] Their main goal is the creation and maintenance of several different "safe houses" in Iraq, where people who are fleeing from prosecution can find protection and safety.

Founded in 2008, International Railroad for Queer Refugees (IRQR) provides financial and resettlement assistance for LGBT asylum seekers who are fleeing their homes because of prosecution for their sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Furthermore, evidence gathered for two briefings by IGLHRC, its partners, and MADRE demonstrate the direct effect of the collapse of the rule of law on LGBT persons, through unfettered violence by sectarian militias.

According to their website, "Yeksani was created to combat the lengthy hate campaigns the LGBT+ community has been facing in Iraq, partly due to improper media representation.

"[54] Starting in 2003 with the rise of religious conservatism in the Iraq government, many media outlets began to publish articles and think pieces that condemned queer and LGBT people as practices of Satanism that contradict Islamic precepts and human nature.

The people responsible for the killings would be linked to the Iran-backed Badr Corps, which form part of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI).

[56] In 2005, on Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's website, a fatwa, or a ruling on a point of Islamic law, was issued that declared the killing of homosexual men justified.

In light of the law[,] authorities relied on public indecency charges or confessions of monetary exchange (i.e., prostitution, which is illegal), to prosecute same-sex sexual activity. ...

From February to April, a wave of violent attacks in Baghdad, Basrah, Samarra, Wasit, and Tikrit targeted individuals perceived to be LGBT. ...

In early February[,] signs and flyers appeared in Baghdad that threatened persons by name unless they cut their hair, stopped wearing nonconformist clothing, and gave up their "alternative" lifestyles.

Information was not available regarding discrimination in access to education or health care due to sexual orientation or gender identity, although media reported that students were harassed at school for not adopting conventional clothing or hairstyles.

At year's end[,] authorities had not announced any other arrests or prosecutions of any persons for violence against LGBT individuals, including cases reported in 2011.In June 2009, the U.S. State Department raised concerns regarding equality and human rights in a statement from spokesperson Ian Kelly:[62] In general, we absolutely condemn acts of violence and human rights violations committed against individuals in Iraq because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.