Amir Ashour

Amir Ashour (Arabic: أمير عاشور; born ) is an Iraqi LGBT rights activist who, in 2015 at age 25, founded IraQueer, a non-governmental organization that advocates for the rights of LGBT people in Iraq.

Personal life Ashour was born in Baghdad, Iraq, and raised in Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan Region. He was raised practicing Islam, though stopped following the religion in 2008, stating "Islam didn't work for me".

Ashour later moved from Sweden to New York City where he graduated in 2018 from Columbia University with a master's degree in human rights. Ashour began studying at Harvard Law School 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, and sex workers.

Ashour has been critical of the media's presentation of homophobic attacks in Iraq as being linked to the Islamic State, 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.

In 2022, Ashour criticised the Iraqi government'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, who had suggested monkeypox 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.