Zhiar Ali Add a review

Zhiar Ali (Kurdish: Jiyar Elî; Sorani alphabet: ژیار عەلی, Kurdish pronunciation: [ʒiːɑːɾ], born September 2, 1999) is a former animal rights activist and a Kurdish advocate for LGBT rights. He presently resides in the Netherlands after having been based in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. In Iraqi Kurdistan, Ali is well known for his contributions to LGBT rights, including founding Yeksani, a group that works to promote LGBT rights in the Kurdistan Region. He is currently Yeksani's executive director and was a founding member of Kurdistan Vegans, Iraq's first pro-vegan animal rights group. Additionally, he has worked as a freelance journalist for news outlets, specialising in music journalism as well as political and social concerns.

In 2020 Ali was the target of a number of media campaigns that propagandised against the LGBT community. He also received threats of violence and murder. Following Ali's address on June 27, 2020, at Global Pride, which was hosted by InterPride, these assaults became more severe. Ali has been outspoken in his criticism of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for failing to appropriately address abuses of the LGBT population in the Kurdistan region.

Misperceptions that all gay individuals were sex workers, perpetuated by conservative polities and their proxy medias, served as the catalyst for the campaign against Ali and the LGBT community. In an interview with Middle East Eye, Ali sought to clarify this misconception and pointed out that some members of the LGBT community in the Kurdistan region may be driven into sex work due to lack of economic opportunities and blamed the KRG for not addressing this issue. He emphasised that prostitution is often a last resort for many individuals to earn a living.

Ali has currently released 4 singles, his publishing representative is Sentric Music, and is signed with performing rights organisation BMI.