Baghdad, Iraq CNN —A popular Iraqi TikTok personality was shot dead on Monday in Baghdad, an Iraqi security source told CNN.
Known on social media as “Noor BM,” 23-year-old Noor Alsaffar had over 370,000 followers collectively on Instagram and TikTok.
While being queer is not explicitly banned under current Iraqi legislation, LGBTQ people are often targeted under vague morality clauses in its penal code.
Alsaffar spoke in videos about facing threats on social media over choices of dressing.
The Iraqi LGBTQ rights group, IraQueer, posted about Alsaffar’s death, adding the hashtags #Transphobia and #MuderOfTransPeople on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Persons:
Iraq CNN —, Noor, Noor Alsaffar, Alsaffar, ” Khaled Almehna, Iraq’s Al, “ I’m, I’m, Samir Jermani, “, ”, Iraq “
Organizations:
Iraq CNN, CNN, Twitter, Human Rights Watch
Locations:
Baghdad, Iraq, Iraqi, Sweden, Denmark, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia