Rainbow flags over Baghdad fan debate, spur fear
In what both progressive and conservative critics considered a tone-deaf step to support Iraq’s LGBTQ community, several Western embassies’ raising of the rainbow flag did not have its intended effects.
The embassies of Canada and the United Kingdom and the offices of the World Bank and the European Union raised rainbow LGBTQ flags in Baghdad to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on May 17.
Though welcomed by liberals, the gesture prompted an online backlash, strenuous objections by Islamic parties and PMU militias and spurred fear among Iraq’s LGBTQ community. The fierce online commentary from conservatives forced the embassies to delete tweets that showed the colorful flag fluttering alongside the flags of the European Union, Canada and Iraq.
The hashtag #No_to_LGBT_flag_in_Iraq trended on Twitter, particularly among supporters of controversial Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Many users shared a photograph of a rainbow flag being burned, warned its hoisting would have consequences, called to bring back the death squads that used to kill gay men with concrete blocks and religious posts condemning homosexuality. Others took the opportunity to accuse the anti-government protests that began in October 2019 of being funded by foreign embassies, sharing a photo of protesters in Baghdad with their fingers painted in rainbows. Some even called to expel the diplomatic delegations altogether.
On Sunday, Iraq's Foreign Ministry issued a statement denouncing the flags as against "the noble moral principles of all divine religions" and adding, "We remind all the missions operating in Iraq to adhere to the laws of the country and to follow diplomatic norms."
