Zheera J. Bazzaz
On the night of April 1, Sulaimani citizens were shocked by what the news outlets were reporting. The city’s police forces had announced a surprise raid on the LGBT+ members. Before this unexpected raid, which was the first of its kind, the people of the Kurdistan Region were busy criticizing a misogynist statement made by a Kurdistan Parliament member. It was exactly one day ago, March 31st, when an MP, named Hawre Mala-Star, from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the second political party running Kurdistan alongside the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (PDK), made a statement that shocked the Kurdish public. He claimed that the Kurdish government is ‘feminine’ because it fails to meet peoples’ needs.
People in the Region reacted to his statement and called it “sexist” as many activists and feminists criticized such ideas, saying they are the outcome of a patriarchal mindset and a society that endorses it.
Interestingly, Mala-Star, in a clarification statement, said “I didn’t mean to disrespect women, my words were about females, not respectful women, this topic is very philosophical, I don’t want to get into it.” The clarification came after the parliamentary session ended.
Kurdish people were busy responding to the statements of the MP when they were hit by the headlines that the Slemani’s police force known as Asaiysh is cracking down LGBT+ members, and they are on the street now to arrest anyone suspected of homosexual acts.
“This operation is for detaining gay people,” Pshtiwan Bahadin, who was the operation’s supervisor, told a local news outlet. The officer added their forces are patrolling everywhere in the city in search for homosexuals.
The only reported place where the security forces had set checkpoints at was Sarchnar neighborhood. The bustling area hosts a number of nightclubs and bars as well as liquor shops. In a recent reportage by a local media outlet, it was revealed that prostitution takes place inside the clubs. Consequently, it had caused a partial closure of the clubs.
“We expected something like this to happen sooner or later after local media started a propaganda campaign targeting the LGBT+ community,” Zhiar Ali, an outspoken LGBT+ rights activist and advocate in Sulaimani, told AUIS Voice on Sunday.
Ali suggests that the [Asayish] spokesperson clearly said that their forces are after ‘homosexuals’, but later they changed their statement to “cracking down prostitution”.
Regarding this change of statements, Ali suggests that there are two scenarios: “The authorities have thought gay people are all sex workers, hence the massive hate directed at them,” or “they had planned to detain every LGBT+ individuals, but later swayed their objectives to include only sex workers to avoid further backlash.”
Ali criticizes the media for not allowing he and his fellow activists to convey their message to the public on the LGBT+ people.
“The hosts are dismissive and ignore the LGBT+ part of the argument. Therefore, it results in more confusion towards LGBT+ members,” Ali told the Voice.
House of Kurds, an online movement dedicated to Kurdish recognition in the United Nations, criticized the security sweeping as well. The House, in a tweet, wrote, “LGBT is not a Crime.” Rather, “Stealing the wealth of the Kurd nation, terrorizing the Kurds, building clans, sabotaging unity of the Kurds & prisoning Kurds while BOWING down to criminal oppressors & staying silent on the rape happening to Kurd women THIS IS A CRIME.”
A lot of people on social media also suggested that there are bigger problems to solve. However, another group agreed with the operation and suggested that LGBT+ is a threat to our social values.
The campaign faced a lot of criticism and backlash, most notably a statement by the US consulate in Erbil. The American Consulate posted that they are concerned about the operation taking place in Kurdistan, Slemani and that they are watching the situation. A few years ago, the Consulate faced a lot of criticism for raising the LGBT+ flag at their building as sign solidarity with the community.
On April 2nd, the Asaiysh released a statement “the operation was about capturing people who were doing prostitution in the public in Sarchnar area. Our operation was in response to the requests of the citizens of those neighborhoods. The operation was not targeting any certain group or community of people.” The Asaiysh denied any agendas against LGBT+ people.
However, on April 3rd, Zana Abdulrahman, a previous MP on the PUK block, shared a statement and said: “Some people are normalizing prostitution through homosexuality. They are doing everything under the name of freedom. This goes against the will of any city that has principles.” Abdulrahman, “thank[ed]” the security forces for their work, in the statement.
The operation resulted in detaining 15 individuals, some of them were under 18 years old and all of them were males. The photo of the detainees facing a wall with two Malinois dogs behind them is circulating social media. Another one that is getting a lot of attention is a photo of the Asaiysh forcing the teenagers and young adults to take off their shoes and see if they are wearing any LGBT+ colors or flags.
Dalya Sazan, a student at AUIS tweeted “Imagine if these guys go back home and get killed by their families, wouldn’t you be responsible? Or maybe that’s your F-ing point?!” Sazan refers to the honor killing culture in the Kurdish society. Women face death if they are suspected of sexual acts and gay men are facing a similar fate, but most of the times, it is easier for men to either run away or prove themselves innocent.
Regardless, the number of women killed in honor cases is in the thousands. They also have unnamed graves segregated in a special graveyard because their families don’t claim them anymore. Moreover, the faces of some of the detainees were revealed in the pictures which raised concerns among many people regarding the safety of these people after being released.
This operation comes after a campaign started by conservative voices such as Omer Gulpi and Dana Jaff. Gulpi, who is an MP on the Komally Dadgery Kurdistan/Iraq bloc, filed lawsuits against Rasan organization for defending LGBT+ rights. He called LGBT+ rights an immoral violation against people of Kurdistan and family values.
Dana Jaff, who is currently residing and studying in the UK, is a conservative influencer and a YouTuber with his most viewed video (320K) titled “What happens if you don’t masturbate for a month. Why I stopped masturbating?” tweeted in favor of the operation too. Jaff stated that LGBT+ has become a dangerous umbrella for many things and he lists them as “sexual abuse, pedophilia, and prostitution.” and in another tweet, he stated that “Homosexuality and transgender agenda is not a universal value. Even in the West, it is still a divisive controversial issue.”
The last person who has put his voice next to the conservative voices of the Kurdish community is Abubakr Alli, a Kurdish politician. He shared in a post responding to the statement made by the US Consulate that “The US should leave the societies and countries to live the way they want and to respect their values, which are directed by God almighty.” He also added, “Such statements are going to harm the reputation of US in the area in the future.”
“These campaigns against LGBT+ people are nothing but a campaign to distract the masses from the real problems with this country,” says Sawen Gelas an International Studies student. She also added, “Targeting minorities creates a huge mess in any society and the people will start fighting among each other, this benefits the ruling parties and their corrupt government.” It is mentioned by many people on social media that these anti-LGBT+ voices are all gaining popularity and setting up future goals in the political sphere, especially with election dates being so close by. In this political game, LGBT+ members are paying the price.
One of the pro-LGBT+ rights and a member of the community is Shirin Qurayshi. A Kurdish woman from Rojhelat of Kurdistan (Eastern Kurdistan) lives in Europe. She is an atheist and LGBT+ advocate. In response to the mass misinformation and confusion about LGBT+ people and rights, she has started a campaign to raise awareness about the community to give them a platform to have some visibility. LGBT+ members are sending her videos of themselves and she shares them on her Instagram page. The people in the videos are introducing themselves along with saying that they are part of the community and they are equal to anyone else. This is a very unique campaign and it is the first time that Kurdish LGBT+ members come out on videos in numbers.
Shaswar Mame, an independent journalist, who has been outspoken about different topics in the Kurdish society, more notably the injustices that journalists and activists face in the region, also defended the rights of LGBT+. In a post, he stated that “Homosexuality is not a crime for them to arrest people because nor it is a sickness to heal people from it.” He also added, “It is a normal sexual orientation that exists in some humans.” Mame also mentioned that the Kurdish community should educate themselves on the LGBT+ cause, so they can overcome homophobia together as a community.
Few days after the operation and on the night of April 2nd, Allveen, a 16 years old boy in the Sharazoor district committed suicide because his family did not accept him as being gay and tortured him. Allveen was in 9th grade and he has lost his mother and his relationship with his father was terrible according to his friends who reported to Pelkezerine’s IG page, a Kurdish pro LGBT+ account. It is also reported that his family found out that Allveen had a lover and the family did not accept this. They took away all of his belongings, phone, laptop, etc… and imprisoned him in a room. Allveen hung himself in the room and wrote in his suicide note, “I want to go to my mom.”
On April 4th a member of Slemani Provincial Council said on Speda radio station that they have filed an order to detain anyone who is LGBT+ and/or advocates for their rights. He also added that 17 members of the council have already signed the order and no one had any objection against it. He also added in the interview that he thanks the Slemani police force for capturing anyone who commits homosexual acts. He also said that the US Consulate should not interfere with our values and principles. As this report is being written, the reign of terror against LGBT+ members continue in Slemani, the so-called city of enlightenment, and it is considered to be the most progressive city among Kurdish cities.
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