GEM works in Iraq to support LGBTQIA+ communities facing criminalization, violence, persecution, and exclusion through a holistic approach connecting documentation, strategic advocacy, international mobilization, emergency protection, and longer-term recovery.
When proposed legislation threatened LGBTQIA+ people with some of the harshest penalties in the world, GEM mobilized internationally while remaining connected to those facing the consequences on the ground.
The campaign did not stop when the law changed. As risks escalated, GEM moved from advocacy and policy influence to direct protection and emergency response.
Following International Opposition & Mobilization
Governments, Diplomats & Multilateral Actors Engaged
For Victims & LGBTQIA+ People at Risk
GEM monitored the changing legal environment and documented escalating threats facing LGBTQIA+ people, connecting community experiences with advocacy and international action.
As the proposed amendment advanced, the threat extended beyond criminalization of same-sex relationships to transgender identities, activists, organizations, and people supporting LGBTQIA+ rights.
GEM launched an international advocacy and mobilization effort calling for the proposed legislation to be rejected and for international actors to intervene.
Together with All Out, GEM launched a global petition that mobilized tens of thousands of people around the world, while broader advocacy engaged civil society, governments, diplomats, and international institutions.
The campaign centered a simple principle:
Early drafts of the legislation threatened the death penalty for same-sex relations.
The final legislation remained deeply discriminatory and criminalized same-sex relationships, but the death penalty provision was removed before adoption.
In its retrospective on the campaign, All Out highlighted the international opposition to the provision and credited the campaign’s signatures with playing a key role in successfully removing the death penalty clause.
This distinction matters.
For GEM, advocacy is not only about speaking against harmful policies. It is about mobilizing communities, evidence, partnerships, and international pressure toward concrete change—even when the broader struggle continues.
Following the law’s adoption in April 2024, LGBTQIA+ people continued to face severe risks. GEM expanded its response from policy advocacy and mobilization toward direct protection for people affected by criminalization, persecution, and escalating hate attacks.
Emergency assistance included:
GEM’s fundraising and emergency response specifically mobilized resources for legal support, security needs, and relocation for LGBTQIA+ people facing immediate danger.
The consequences of criminalization are not abstract. They affect where people can live, whether they can remain safely in their communities, and whether they can access protection when violence occurs.
One person supported by GEM shared:
“The small amount from GEM provided me the chance to escape to a safe place for a short while after the hate attack campaign.”
Another reflected:
“GEM’s support to help me renew my residency saved my life from being deported to a place of death and allowed me to pursue another opportunity in life.”
And another beneficiary described the impact of emergency assistance:
“The urgent financial assistance saved our lives, helping us escape persecution in the streets and find safety in a shelter.”
These experiences demonstrate why GEM connects policy advocacy with direct protection: challenging the structures creating harm while supporting the people living through their consequences.
GEM’s longer-term work in Iraq seeks to move beyond immediate crisis response toward protection and case management, mental health and psychosocial support, livelihoods and economic empowerment, professional development, technology and AI, community support, capacity building, documentation, and continued advocacy.
Our approach is designed to evolve with the situation—responding to immediate threats while creating pathways toward greater safety, independence, and resilience.
GEM intends to continue working alongside LGBTQIA+ communities in Iraq while strengthening both local protection and international advocacy.
As opportunities and resources allow, GEM aims to expand longer-term support around mental health, economic independence, digital livelihoods, community resilience, and capacity building, while continuing to advocate against criminalization and policies that endanger LGBTQIA+ lives.
The experience in Iraq reflects something fundamental to GEM’s approach:
This version is much stronger than the first one because the 30,000+ signatures and removal of the death-penalty clause become the centerpiece of the advocacy achievement, while the quotes show what happened on the human side after the broader law passed. It tells one continuous story: evidence → mobilization → policy impact → emergency response → recovery.
Links:
https://action.allout.org/en/m/108b1e12/
https://www.instagram.com/p/DDNLIa7KkYI/?igsi=MXNxMXcxNzBhNTMzMw==
