Doski Azad dared to live openly as a transgender woman in Iraqi Kurdistan, but her murder two years ago shattered the enclave’s reputation as a relatively liberal haven in a hostile region. Today, her killer remains at large and LGBTQ+ people in the mountainous, semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq say the case highlights widespread impunity as attacks go unpunished and rights defenders are censured. “Every time something like this happens, it’s a slap in the face. It brings you back to reality and it grounds you in this reality that is very hostile,” one LGBTQ+ Iraqi Kurdish man told Openly, asking to be identified only as Mohammed.