2024
Federal Iraq forbids changing biological sex based on personal desire.
What the law allows
Medical care for minorsBanned
Banned: Law 15/2024 Art. 2 Third forbids changing biological sex based on personal desire; disorders of sex development (DSD) surgery only after a court order and Ministry of Health instructions.
Ministry of Justice — Official Gazette 4781 (Law 15/2024)
Schools — curriculumSchools restriction
Schools and public speech may not promote homosexuality.
Ministry of Justice — Official Gazette 4781 (1 July 2024)
Sex definitionDefined in law
Schools and public speech may not promote homosexuality.
Ministry of Justice — Official Gazette 4781 (1 July 2024)
Key dates2024
2024: Banned: Law 15/2024 Art. 2 Third forbids changing biological sex based on personal desire; disorders of sex development (DSD) surgery only after a court order and Ministry of Health instructions.
Ministry of Justice — Official Gazette 4781 (Law 15/2024)
Official sources
Middle East. Law 15/2024 forbids changing biological sex based on personal desire; DSD correction after a court order.
- Ministry of Justice — Law 15/2024 listing (Iraqi Gazette no. 4781) →
- UK Home Office — Iraq CPIN, sexual orientation and gender identity (July 2025) →
- Library of Congress — Global Legal Monitor on Law 15/2024 →
- UK Home Office — Iraq CPIN, sexual orientation and gender identity (July 2025) →
- Ministry of Justice — Law 15/2024 listing →
Full official record
Federal Law 15 of 2024, the first amendment to the 1988 Law on Combating Prostitution, forbids changing a person’s biological sex based on personal desire or inclination. Surgical intervention to treat congenital malformations and confirm the person as male or female is excepted after a court decision, under instructions issued by the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Justice lists the law; the UK Home Office July 2025 country note records the same prohibition and the one-to-three-year imprisonment for the person and the doctor. The Kurdistan Region has not brought that amendment into force.
Federal Law 15/2024 forbids changing biological sex based on personal desire, with a court-approved pathway only for congenital sex-development conditions (DSD).
Schools detail
The same 2024 amendment forbids promoting homosexuality by any means. That promotion rule reaches school and youth materials. It is a school-content restriction.