Gay Iraqis Accused of Spreading Monkeypox and Called on To Repent
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Gay men in Iraq are fearful as leaders in the Middle Eastern country are being accused by their leaders of spreading monkeypox.
#Iraq : Twitter removes post by powerful cleric Muqtada al-Sadr – مقتدى الصدر – in which he urged countries that have upheld #LGBT laws to retract them in order to ward off #MonkeyPox – which he described as “gay pox”-& issued anti-gay hashtag #كلا_للمثلية #الْعِرَاق pic.twitter.com/K0uUoasadF
— sebastian usher (@sebusher) May 30, 2022
According to Middle East Eye, Sadr, an Iraqi Shia scholar, politician and militia leader said in a now deleted tweet: “I call on them [homosexuals] to repent.”
He then called for laws that provide gay rights in Iraq to be repealed to “protect humanity from the monkeypox epidemic or what we call homosexual-pox.”
Bachori said that many people in Iraq agree with Sadr’s ideologies about the LGBTQ+ community, even those who are considered highly educated.
“He does have a large following and is quite feared by people because his so-called ‘army’ goes after those who speak against him, threaten them and even kill them,” she said.
Bachori believes there is much work to be done to move things in the right direction for LGBTQ+ people in Iraq, but fears that it will be very difficult because most of the homophobic beliefs there are rooted in religious beliefs.
“More education needs to be done about these issues to bring awareness, but most importantly, religious leaders must stop inciting against gay people. They have a lot to do with why things are the way they are,” she said.
According to CDC figures as of June 7, there have been 1,019 confirmed monkeypox cases in non-endemic countries since the latest outbreak began. While most have been reported in Europe and North America, a handful of cases have also been reported in the Middle East, where homosexuality is still a crime in many countries.
In Iraq, homosexuality is legal, but people can be charged with public indecency. Those found guilty face fines and up to six months in jail.
“The general climate in Iraq is that homosexuality is heavily frowned upon, both in public and in private,” Sally Bachori, an MD/MS candidate living in the US who grew up in Iraq, told Newsweek. “It’s very common for us to hear that some family killed their son/daughter for being gay/lesbian.”
“They really do believe that monkeypox is caused by homosexual individuals,” Bachori said. “I hate to be pessimistic but things are not looking great for the future of the LGBTQ+ community in Iraq. Especially after the [now deleted] tweet Muqtada Al-Sadr made a few days ago. The hashtag #كلا_للمثلية (#nogay) is still a trend that people keep tweeting about.”
