I have been in contact with Amir Ashour since 2014, and I can certainly say that he is one of the bravest person I have ever met in my life. His politeness and mild manners, together with his tenacity and steadfastness make Amir a creditable young man with who you can discuss for hours. I contacted him for the first time via email to know more about his organisation, as at that time I had just published my research about homosexuality in the Middle East. Amir Ashour is the founder of IraQueer, which is the first and only organization for the LGBTIQ+ community in the public history of Iraq.
By word of mouth, Amir contacted through varies means like social media and personal contacts the core team of 16 activists at IraQueer; it documents and reports everything related to the LGBTIQ+ community in Iraq starting from personal stories, to writing reports to the UN, and ending up with providing information about sexuality and its relations to the legal, social, and religious aspects in Iraq, in Arabic, Kurdish, and English.
IraQueer is the only resource for such information in Kurdish, and most of the English and the Arabic content can’t be found anywhere else.
Nicola: Dear Amir, tell us a little bit more about your organization, the reason(s) why you have decided to set it up and the main challenges you are facing
Amir: Like you said Nicola, it’s the first time in Iraq’s public history that an organization focuses solely on the LGBT+ community in Iraq. Our team and our work have been growing very fast since we launched on March 2015.
I decided to establish the organization because I felt it’s time for me and for many others to stand up for ourselves. I can not live in fear for the rest of my life and force myself to live a double life. And I wanted to show that through this very local organization in which all members are Iraqis/Kurds; we all have different ideologies and have different sexual orientations and that’s possible and has nothing to do with where you come from.
Nicola: What does being a human rights activist in Iraq mean?
Amir: Human rights work in Iraq has been growing a lot. There are so many great organisations and initiatives in Iraq that work with so many groups like women, children, and internally displaced people. It doesn’t mean that there aren’t organization that only exist to take up money, and it doesn’t mean that everyone stands for the right values, but from my personal experience; I think generally people who work with human rights in Iraq are very active and have a big desire to make real changes.
The sad part was that the LGBT+ community was very rarely a part of any organisation’s public agenda. It’s a very sensitive part of the fight for equality, and a lot of human rights organisations are actually against people who have different sexual orientations.
Nicola: You are 26 years old and you come from northern Iraq. When did you realise you are gay and how did you live your homosexuality in your hometown?
Amir: I was born in Baghdad and lived there for 11 years, and then moved to the north where I spent my adult life. I knew that I was gay for as long as I remember. I always had feelings that I didn’t understand in the beginning but grew up and developed better understanding of what it all means. I was never in a closet, I never said I wasn’t gay, but I also didn’t knock on doors to tell random people that I was gay. But I always dated different guys, and I’ve been public about my work and what I stand for the last couple of years of my life there. I wrote about it, I gave talks about, and I always had discussions about it. So you can say that I was living my life as a gay person even though I didn’t do that to the full extend.
Nicola: Almost two years ago you left behind your home and family and you went to Sweden, where you are currently living. Why did you decide to move to Europe? Because of your sexual orientation or for other reasons? And why did you choose Sweden?
Amir: I moved to Europe because staying in Iraq was no longer an option. It was becoming impossible for me to survive as I was facing a lot of threats from authorities, militias, and even my social circle both because I am gay and also because of my activism.
Nicola: Thus, you have received threats from both officials and your relatives and friends because of who you are and the work you are doing, don’t you?
Amir: Yes. I have received multiple threats from officials, some distant family members, and some friends mainly because of who I am, but also because I was talking about it and promoting human rights for the LGBT+ community. I was imprisoned twice because of my activism, and I always heard the phrase that I am “Illegal twice” both because I am gay and because I advocate for it.
Nicola: I know quite well your country. I have lived in Kurdistan region for a while, and I have experienced life in Erbil, the capital of KRG, Duhok and Sulaimani. As you know, I have also done a research about homosexuality in the Middle East, and I have published a book on the issue. What has never been clear to me, and this is the question I am asking you, is if there are any places in Iraq where being gay is more tolerated – and, why not, accepted – than anywhere else. I think that being gay in Sulaimani or in Baghdad is much more different than being gay in Duhok, Bassora and Mosul
Amir: The LGBT+ scene in Iraq in general is very limited. There are very small gatherings for people who know each other. There are a couple of cruising parks that are very dangerous but some people from the community still go to. There used to be a few LGBT+ friendly places in Baghdad, but armed militias and local authorities actively started attacking those places, bomb them or set them on fire, and since then the scene has been getting smaller and smaller.
Nicola: In 2014, you gave a talk at the University of Kurdistan Hawler about gender norms: in that occasion you discussed the difference between gender, sex, and sexual orientation, and you talked about how gender norms are socially constructed. What was the reaction of the audience? How sensitive and reactive are Iraqi people to these ideas?
Amir: It was a TEDx talk, and I expected that it will cause some controversy. A few minutes after I started giving the talk and got to the sensitive parts; people started leaving the place. There was a small number of people who were very impressed and happy about the talk, but the majority were unhappy and thought that I promote sex and immorality. Later I have been told by the organisers of the event that my talk, which I supposed being recorder, had been “damaged” and that they could not retrieve it.
Nicola: What, in your opinion, is the best way to get Iraqis to accept the gay community?
Amir: I think we first need a safe space for activists and other people who could talk about things safely, and not fear for their lives every time they go to give a talk or a training about this. The government must provide protection for people and most encourage freedom of speech. The fear of coming out is very big not only for those who are LGBT+ themselves, but also for those who want to support the community and spread awareness about it as they will be associated with the LGBT+ people and face the same consequences.
Nicola: Iraq has faced a lot of political changes in the last years that have brought social changes as well. Has the attitudes of people and the government policy towards LGBT community changed? Have things improved or gotten worse?
Amir: Without a doubt things have been getting worse. The government has been trying to make homosexuality clearly illegal in the law and actually wrote that it is illegal in their latest periodic report that they submitted to the UN. ISIS is actively killing gay men as everyone knows, and even TV programs have been promoting and encouraging violence agains the LGBT+ community where they state that homosexuality is a foreign phenomenon that is threatening our pure community and therefore needs to be tackled.
Nicola: What are the responsibilities of the religious militias in condemning the Iraqi LGBT community?
Amir: Some militias who have certain interpretations of Islam have been one of the main threats to the LGBT+ community. There has been at least one killing campaign to kill gay guys since 2006. The last one was in 2015. ISIS has been publicly executing gay guys. The society has never said anything about those killings, and the majority of those who did supported those killings. The LGBT+ community has nowhere to go, and no one that can protect them.
Nicola: What is the role that Islam plays in condemning the homosexuals in Iraq? Do you think that the problem is of a religious nature or what else?
Amir: I personally think religion and sexual orientations are two different things. It’s like saying I don’t eat apples because I eat oranges. I personally know a lot of LGBT+ people who are Muslims.
Of course Islam and Christianity (And other religions) condemn homosexuality; but they also promote acceptance, love, and peace. It’s strange in my opinion that people only focus on the negative aspects. I think the problem is more lack of knowledge and awareness rather than summing it up with religion.
Nicola: In an interview with Huffington Post UK you said that “Being gay isn’t as sexy as ISIS. So no-one pays us any attention”. Are Western leaders taking sufficient action to pressure Iraq to ensure the basic human rights of gays and lesbians are protected?
Amir: Western leaders have not being doing anything to protect the LGBT+ community in Iraq. The media rarely speaks about it, politicians almost never talk about it, and when they do; it’s meaningless statements that are not followed by actions. Many state donors have big influence in Iraq, and yet the situation of the LGBT+ people have been getting worse despite the fact that Iraq has ratified most of the human rights treaties that should ensure equal rights for everyone regardless of their sexuality.
Nicola: Homosexuality is against the law in the territory of Iraq and Syria currently occupied by Daesh. The Islamist death cult is notorious for executing accused gay men in vile acts of violence. Do you have any contacts with gay people leaving in Mosul and in Niniveh province? Is there anything that you and other human rights activists can do for them?
Amir: Unfortunately, we have very limited connections and information about the real situation in ISIS controlled areas in Iraq. We are not sure what we can do for them since we don’t fully understand the situation and don’t have enough information.
Nicola: Do you have any advice for young human rights activists in Iraq who, just like you, want to change the climate of hostility against homosexuals in the country?
Amir: I think the advice for any human rights defender no matter where they live is that if they think this is a job that they can apply for, and go to work from 8:00am to 4:00pm, and then go home; they shouldn’t really do it, and I recommend that they look for other jobs. Being a human rights defender is a lifestyle. You can’t believe in equality for 8 hours a day and then go home. You can’t say I will help people who only contact me during my 8 hours of work. The world if facing desperate times, and that needs desperate measures, and a big reaction. Of course human rights activists who come from Iraq or other similar backgrounds face much bigger obstacles than others who come from more open societies. But in short; if we want to make real changes and recreate the society to make it a place where we want to live in; we must be willing to sacrifice and lose a lot of things. I chose this path and I lost a lot of things and people, and I know I will keep losing a lot of things. But in the same time; I gained a lot of beautiful connections and experience that I would never learn if it wasn’t for the choices I made and where they took me.
Nicola: Last but not least questions: Are you happy with your life? How do you foresee your future? And how do you prophesy the future of the Iraqi LGBT community?
Amir: I am very happy with my life. I have never had more meaning in my life than I do now. I always meet amazing people and have been exposed to amazing experiences. All that makes me very happy. I am very excited about my future. I truly believe there’s nothing I can not do if I worked hard for it. I have a lot of goals for myself, and one of those goals is to become Iraq’s prime minister in a couple of decades. I don’t know if that will be possible, or if I will succeed when I do that. But I am sure that I will give it everything I have.
I have a lot of hope for the LGBT+ community in Iraq simply because I have the most amazing teammates anyone can ask for. The fact that our team grew from one person to almost 40 people who directly and indirectly contribute to IraQueer’s work, and that so many people, outlets and organisations have been showing their support and encouraging us to continue, I think we are on the right track. But for us to be able to continue this fight and get bigger and better result; we need those who support us to speak up with us, and those who can influence and support should not hold back.
