The Middle East Institute (MEI) is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank and cultural center in Washington, D.C., founded in 1946. It seeks to "increase knowledge of the Middle East among the United States citizens and promote a better understanding between the people of these two areas.C.C.
While scholars have found that conflict-related victimization and exposure to violence can increase concern for the well-being of others, those effects have been largely circumscribed to in-group boundaries. Less clear is whether such empathy ‘born of suffering’ extends to stigmatized groups. We consider the case of public tolerance for LGBT+ people in Mosul Iraq, a city that experienced widespread violence under Islamic State (ISIS) occupation from 2014–2017, including targeted killings of LGBT+ people alongside other marginalized groups. Using original data from a 2021 survey experiment, we find that respondents are more supportive of protections for LGBT+ people when primed about ISIS persecution of LGBT+ groups. We observe that support also rises with experiences of personal victimization by ISIS. Our results speak to how conflict can potentially reduce out-group barriers through recognition of shared experiences of suffering, with implications for public acceptance of LGBT+-inclusive rights and protections in the aftermath of violence.
