LGBTQ rights in Kurdistan

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Kurdistan face legal and social challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents.

The nationalists, many of whom were described as Barzani and KDP supporters, also planned to shoot the LGBT sympathisers and leftists, who instantly fled.

[15] The situation of the LGBTQ community in the Kurdistan Region was sometimes discussed in April 2021, when it was announced that the Kurdish security forces had arrested several homosexuals in Sulaymaniyah.

During its reign of terror in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State terrorist group released videos in which its members killed gay men by throwing them from rooftops.

[citation needed] Even though the Kurdish society is still very conservative in this regard, in recent times there has been an increase in the number of artists who stand on their sexual orientation without hiding it.

Among the pioneers of the last 50 years, the former PKK fighter Rotinda, although he never made a statement about his sexual orientation, wrote many Kurdish songs and had a positive impact on millions of Kurds around the world.

[citation needed] Since then, there have been some artists and their sexual orientation is part of their image: they want to shake people up and therefore provoke some conservative circles with their pride.

[16] Gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation have never created any issue in the Kurdish fight for cultural and political rights.

Photos showing TQILA masked militants holding a banner reading "These faggots are killing fascists!"

The group posted a photo alongside its banner showing Heval Mahîr - the supreme commander of all foreign SDF brigades - with a purple flag.