A bill proposing that homosexuality be banned in Iraq has been submitted to its parliament

It was presented by Mortada Al-Saadi, the Deputy Head of the Committee on Legal Affairs in Baghdad’s federal parliament, who officially submitted it to the Speaker of the Iraqi parliament

Delivered on 3 July, Al-Saadi’s letter asks that the bill be included in the upcoming legislative agenda, which is currently scheduled for September

The bill’s introduction follows Muqtada al-Sadr, the head of the nationalist Sadrist movement, announcing plans to rally support for a ban on homosexuality from Iraqi citizens, the independent Erbil-based news agency Basnews reported

He has also called on educational institutions to spread awareness about his efforts to implement such a ban

Iraq does not currently explicitly prohibit same-sex activity, though certain items in the 1969 Penal Code are used to criminalise members of the LGBTQ+ community