New Iraqi bill punishes same-sex relationship with 15-year jail term

The Iraqi parliament on Saturday passed a bill making same-sex relations punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Transgender people will also be sentenced to three years in jail under the amendments to a 1988 anti-prostitution law.

The legislation was adopted during a session attended by 170 out of 329 lawmakers.

A previous draft had proposed capital punishment for same-sex relations.

 

But the new amendments allow the courts to sentence people to between 10 and 15 years in prison.

They also set a minimum of a seven-year prison term for “promoting” same-sex relations and a sentence ranging from one to three years for men who “intentionally” act like women.

The amended law makes “biological sex change based on personal desire and inclination” a crime and punishes trans people and doctors who perform gender reassignment surgery with up to three years in prison.