Amir Ashour (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: أمير عاشور; born ) is an Iraqi LGBT rights activist who, in 2015 at age 25, founded

IraQueer IraQueer (, ) is an Iraqi non-governmental organization based in Sweden advocating for LGBT rights in Iraq. It was founded in 2015. The organization undertakes education, advocacy, and direct services. IraQueer offers direct services that respond ...

, a non-governmental organization that advocates for the rights of LGBT people in Iraq.

Personal life

Ashour was born in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, and raised in

Sulaymaniyah Sulaymaniyah or Slemani (; ), is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and is the capital of the Sulaymaniyah Governorate. It is surrounded by the Azmar (Ezmer), Goizha (Goyje) and Qaiwan (Qeywan) Mountains in the northeast, Bara ...

in the

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous Federal regions of Iraq, federal region of the Iraq, Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurds, Kurdish-majority governorates of Arabs, Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate ...

. He was raised practicing

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, though stopped following the religion in 2008, stating "Islam didn't work for me". After being arrested twice due to his work in the human rights sector, Ashour sought asylum in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

while there on a business trip in 2014. The next year he was granted political asylum. Ashour later moved from Sweden to New York City where he graduated in 2018 from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

with a master's degree in human rights. Ashour began studying at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 2021. After graduating in May 2024 he moved back to New York where he is currently working for the international law firm, White & Case.

LGBT advocacy

Prior to leaving Iraq, Ashour spent for years working for human rights organisations advocating for the rights of LGBT people,

women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

, and sex workers. Ashour founded IraQueer in March 2015 while living in exile in Sweden, which was Iraq's first national LGBT organisation. Formed on a voluntary basis, it initially focused on publishing accounts from LGBT Iraqis, in addition to producing educational resources for Iraq's LGBT community, including guides on the law, sexual health, and security, in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, Arabic, and

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

. IraQueer subsequently went on to perform international advocacy in support of the rights of LGBT people living in Iraq, including with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, in addition to providing safe housing and medical help. Ashour left his position as executive director of IraQueer in July 2021. Ashour has been critical of the media's presentation of homophobic attacks in Iraq as being linked to the

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

, stating that anti-LGBT activity and rhetoric in the country had been prevalent for decades prior, and "deeply rooted" in Arab culture, as well as within powerful militias who supported the national government. He has called for the creation of neutral and respectful terms for LGBT people in Arabic and Kurdish, citing contemporary linguistic terms in the languages often being offensive in nature. Ashour has also called for the narrative around LGBT people in the Middle East to be changed, including acknowledging that not all LGBT people in Iraq struggle with or reject their sexuality. Ashour has also expressed doubts at Kurdish governments in Iraq and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

's attempts to present themselves as being LGBT friendly, stating that "talking is easier than action" and felt such statements were made to appease the West. He criticised security forces in Sulaymaniyah in 2021 launching an operation to arrest "suspected" LGBT people, despite the Kurdistan Region's deputy prime minister

Qubad Talabani Qubad Talabani (, ; born 21 July 1977) is an Iraqi Kurdish politician who has been the deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan Region since 2014. Formerly serving as the representative of Kurdistan to the United States, Qubad is the second son o ...

stating "all citizens, regardless of... gender (and or gender preference) ... and sexual preference" deserved equal rights in 2019. In 2022, Ashour criticised the

Iraqi government The government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution, approved in 2005, as a democratic, parliamentary republic with Islam as the official state religion. The government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branche ...

's proposed legislation that would prohibit homosexuality in the country, stating it would legalise the murders of LGBT people. Ashour criticised the influence of Iraqi politicians such as

Muqtada al-Sadr Muqtada al-Sadr (; born 4 August 1974) is an Iraqi Shia Muslim cleric, politician and militia leader. He inherited the leadership of the Sadrist Movement from his father, and founded the now dissolved Mahdi Army militia in 2003 that resisted ...

, who had suggested

monkeypox Mpox (, ; formerly known as monkeypox) is an infectious viral disease that can occur in humans and other animals. Symptoms include a rash that forms blisters and then crusts over, fever, and lymphadenopathy, swollen lymph nodes. The illness ...

was a result of homosexual behaviour, over the government, and accused them of launching public campaigns against homosexuality to avoid discussing real issues facing Iraq, such as unemployment and corruption.

Recognition

The

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from tax revenue. SBS operates six TV channels (SBS (Australian TV chann ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

called Ashour "Iraq's only gay activist", though he has been critical of this label. He has been interviewed by ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. In 2021, Ashour was inducted as a Generation Change Honoree at the

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an al ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. Ashour has been nominated for the

Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. In ...

Academy Prize and the

David Kato David Kato Kisule ( – 26 January 2011) was a Ugandan teacher and LGBT rights activist, considered a father of Uganda's gay rights movement and described as "Uganda's first openly gay man". He served as advocacy officer for Sexual Minorities ...

Voice and Vision Award. In 2022, Ashour was awarded the ''

Gay Times ''Gay Times'' (stylized in all caps), also known as ''GAY TIMES Magazine'' and as ''GT'', is a UK-based LGBTQ+ magazine established in 1984. Originally a magazine for gay and bisexual men, the company began including content for the LGBTQ+ comm ...

'' Honour for International Community Trailblazer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashour, Amir Living people Iraqi human rights activists Iraqi LGBTQ rights activists Kurdish LGBTQ people Columbia University alumni Harvard Law School alumni 1990 births

Personal life

LGBT advocacy

Recognition

See also

References