The 14-page document recognises that the poor state of LGBTQ+ rights in Iraq is currently influenced by a number of factors, but biased media coverage of LGBTQ+ issues reinforces discrimination in wider society.
As is currently the case in most countries across the globe, religious and traditional values are the main drivers in opposing LGBTQ+ equality in Iraq.
However, the way in which LGBTQ+ issues and people are reported on or discussed in mainstream media continues to cast LGBTQ+ individuals as “alien to Iraqi society, and that LGBTQ+ identities are ailments that must be treated and eradicated.” For their report – titled Biased: The Role of Iraqi Media in Spreading Anti-LGBT+ Rhetoric – IraQueer searched the websites of more than 60