The oft-quoted argument that same-sex relationships are not part of Middle Eastern culture is wrong, writes DW's CathrinSchaer, tracing the history of laws against homosexuality in the Middle East to colonialism.
Observers say there's an unusually intense crackdown on LGBTQ+ communities in the Middle East at the moment
If the law is passed, it would bring Iraq into line with the rest of the region. Most other Middle Eastern nations outlaw same-sex intimacy more directly, punishing it with anything from fines to prison to, in Saudi Arabia, the death penalty. "We are a Muslim country," he said."We have customs and traditions — and Islam forbids these actions."This argument — that same-sex relationships are not part of Middle Eastern culture — is one that is often used by those opposed to them. But it is also wrong.
In Iraq, for example, the eighth century poet Abu Nawas is celebrated with a statue in central Baghdad. Abu Nawas was an infamous libertine, who penned paeans to such things as the delights of the local bathhouse, or hammam, where he could observe handsome men naked — at least"until the towel bearers come in and spoil the fun."
Arabs began increasingly to adopt conservative European attitudes. Alamer describes how one Arab visitor to Paris in the early 19th century praised the French for"not being inclined toward loving male youths and eulogizing them in poetry.”
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