Iran LGBTQ: A rd exempted a gay man om servg the ary. It may have st him his life | CNN

Contents:

• IRAN IS THE MOST DANGERO UNTRY FOR GAY TRAVELERS - REPORT
• GAY VISORS NOT WELE IRAN - IRAN FOM
• WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY IRAN
• TRIP REPORT - GAY UPLE TRAVELLG IRAN - IRAN FOM
• TRAVEL SAFETY REPORT: 20 WORST PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2021
• A RD EXEMPTED A GAY MAN OM SERVG IRAN’S ARY. IT MAY HAVE ST HIM HIS LIFE
• GUI GAY L'IRAN
• LGBTQ TRAVEL: A FABULOUS GUI TO GAY TRAVEL 2023
• Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN
• IRAN GAY TRAVEL - LGBT RMATN AUGT 2023

IRAN IS THE MOST DANGERO UNTRY FOR GAY TRAVELERS - REPORT

The fance webse Insir Monkey listed the Islamic Republic of Iran as the most dangero untry for gay travelers followg the regime’s executn of a man last year based on an anti-gay September 13 article said that Iran topped “the list of the 15 most dangero untri for gay travelers, wh the ath penalty imposed for such acts. ”Acrdg to a 2008 Brish WikiLeaks ble examed by The Jesalem Post, Iran’s cleril regime has executed between 4, 000 and 6, 000 gays and lbians sce the untry’s Islamic revolutn Post first reported 2019 that Iran's regime publicly hanged a man for vlatg the untry's Islamic Sharia anti-gay law. Former US ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who later beme actg director of natnal telligence, lnched a global mpaign to crimalize homosexualy.

Grenell's iative has played a key role ntributg to the elimatn of pal punishment for gays and raisg awarens about lethal homophobia as a global human rights ARABIA was ranked as the send most dangero untry.

However, also has Sharia urts which n impose the ath penalty, ” noted the Yemen, “f you're unmarried and engage homosexualy, then you n receive a 100 lash and one year prison. ”The report add that “ Our list is based on the most rtrictive and dangero laws for gay travelers, taken om here, and any updat ma to this, such as the recent change law Sudan removg the ath penalty for homosexuals.

GAY VISORS NOT WELE IRAN - IRAN FOM

”The other untri that ma the top 15 most dangero natns for gay travelers were Barbados, Malawi, Malaysia, Sudan, Tanzania, Somalia, Bnei and St. By the way many gays live Iran, pecially major ci like Tehran and of urse sce 's unr Islamic ernment's le, they are not openly gay and I don't thk 's a big al sce nobody walks around here shouts and screams public " Hey fellow I'm gay or straight or Ao or Whe or Christian or Mlim. Sexual teractn between two women is punishable by vast majory of media reports about homosexualy Iran are based on acunts of torment and opprsn om gays and lbians who have fled the untry.

And while their experienc are reprentative for some of Iran's homosexuals, they are hugely different om those of the people who choose to stay the untry, or don't have the opportuny to om lower class and ral areas, where stigmatizatn is often most severe, rarely have the abily to move out of the hoe before marriage, let alone leave the untry. There is generally ltle acceptance of homosexualy, but some middle- and upper-class Iranians have the means to create parallel liv, out of sight of their relativ or iends. "Nety-five percent of gays Iran will never e out, " Saeed says over pasta at one of northern Tehran's ffee shops, where the atmosphere is relatively permissive.

| (VOCATIV/SUNE ENGEL RASMUSSEN)"The number one threat to gays and lbians Iran is the fay, " agre Hosse Alizah of the Internatnal Gay & Lbian Human Rights Commissn (IGLHRC), and himself an Iranian.

WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY IRAN

"The Iranian thori ually turn a bld eye to the gay muny's pas, but much like the telligence servic the former Soviet Unn, Iranian telligence is believed to pile large fil on many cizens, which they n e to build a legal se agast people who might be ught engagg polil activi. The park is also one of the most popular pickup spots for Tehran's gay dk, Maseratis, BMWs and the ocsnal Porsche circle the park; you don't have to wa long to spot one of them slow to a halt and pick up a sgle man cisg the g.

It also provis a temptg e, for gays and straights alike, an enomy bet by flatn and though the typ of -person enunters are a way to elu virtual spi, they are still ght wh risk. He was jt strangled to ath, " says Saeed, who has bee more ut about meetg up wh strangers bee of siar 's parks are always crowd, and particularly around dk, many of them bee popular cisg spots for gay men. | (VOCATIV/JANUS ENGEL RASMUSSEN)So naturally, when Naeem* met Behram* four years ago on gay datg se Manjan, which is also monored, he was ially hant.

Seven months later, they rented an apartment wtern Tehran; they both still live at home and when Naeem here, he tells his parents he is gog out of town wh challenge of fdg a steady partner weighs heavily on Iranian gays; many speak of prsn, lonels and paranoia as almost permanent mental stat. (In a male-domated society like Iran, homosexual women have even ls privacy than men, and often risk beg shunned by neighbors if they rent an apartment whout a hband. "I thk she tri to not watch the clip so she always chang the channel or pretends that she don't watch the TV, " he of the stigma agast homosexuals is trsic to the Persian language, which has two different words for homosexualy.

TRIP REPORT - GAY UPLE TRAVELLG IRAN - IRAN FOM

"Yet the problem for men like Naeem and Behram is there's no real outlet to bate semantics: Although homosexualy n be punished, 's not somethg that is officially regnized. While the new centrist ernment unr Print Hassan Rouhani matas a siar rea as s precsor, foreign-based media outlets like BBC Persian, Rad Zaman and Voice of Ameri e non-rogatory language about homosexuals, and is slowly tricklg down to reformist outlets si the untry, and to young Iranians, says spe s often venomo rhetoric, the Iranian regime silently accepts that gays do exist, and tak a few pragmatic steps to acunt for that Quran, the foundatn of Iranian law, explicly bans homosexualy.

If a man n get a doctor to ttify he is gay, he will be exempt om ary, the small ncsns hardly amount to any sort of tangible eedom for Iran's gays, many of whom ntue to fight their own sexualy. Sce the Fergsons’ study on the most dangero plac for gay travelers 2019, several laws have changed—some for the better (Sudan), and some for the worse (Hungary, Poland). “It was ranked so poorly largely due to the extreme penalti for simply beg gay, which clu up to 14 years prison and the ath penalty stat unr Sharia law.

TRAVEL SAFETY REPORT: 20 WORST PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2021

This Middle Eastern kgdom is another on our list which n implement the ath penalty for nsensual homosexualy unr their terpretatn of Sharia law, ” says Fergson.

A RD EXEMPTED A GAY MAN OM SERVG IRAN’S ARY. IT MAY HAVE ST HIM HIS LIFE

Unfortunately, imposed punishment for homosexualy is severe and the existence of gay people Malaysia was nied by their tourism mister as recently as March 2019, ” says Fergson.

GUI GAY L'IRAN

In fact, Jamai was lled the most homophobic place on Earth by Time magaze 2006 and LGBTQ+ people are sadly still the victims of homophobic vlence today. “This oil-rich Middle Eastern untry enforc up to three years prison, floggg, and the ath penalty unr Sharia law for any acts of homosexualy. That said, the LGBTQ+ muny is margalized this untry and there are heavy nsequenc for beg gay, which clu seven years to life prison for any same-sex act, ” says Fergson.

“Publicly, homosexualy is a taboo topic, so LGBTQ+ travelers choosg to vis Sudan should proceed wh utn and rema discreet wh regards to their sexualy. “In the Paltian terrori of Gaza and the Wt Bank, the anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment is taken very serly, wh homosexual acts rultg up to ten years prison, ” says Fergson.

LGBTQ TRAVEL: A FABULOUS GUI TO GAY TRAVEL 2023

“Groups advotg for LGBTQ+ rights are threatened by the erng thori Palte, who nsir homosexualy to be ‘a blow to, and vlatn of, the ials and valu of Paltian society. “Iran ma number 15 on the x, due part to s extreme punishments for homosexualy, which clu 100 lash for terurse or the ath penalty, and 31 lash for same-sex acts other than terurse, ” says Fergson. Unfortunately, thgs may soon be gettg even worse for the LGBTQ+ muny, as the Ugandan print has recently been rampg up the anti-gay rhetoric to help w vot an upg electn.

The Netherlands also ranked number one the latt Gallup Poll wh 92% of rponnts sayg that the cy or area where they live is a good place for gay and lbian people. “Ci like Lisbon and Porto have the bt gay scen the untry and Portugal me send place s bid to host the 2022 Europri which is the biggt event celebratg gay pri Europe.

Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN

The 20-year-old Iranian had hoped to pe the untry, where he felt stifled by the Iranian regime’s rtrictns on homosexualy, and had dreams of molg or beg a make-up artist, his partner Aghil Abiat told CNN. But on May 4, Fazeli-Monfared was killed, possibly after his extend fay disvered that he was gay through a ary service exemptn rd that arrived the mail, acrdg to Abiat and the Iranian LGBTQ anizatn 6Rang.

IRAN GAY TRAVEL - LGBT RMATN AUGT 2023

Always seethg the background, however, was buildg fay prsure and Iran’s dranian laws agast homosexualy that make same-sex relatns a potential pal offense. The most obv one is by law but there is also a lot of homophobia society pendg on where you are and which mographic you belong to … the fay n sometim be the most dangero place, ” Tara Sepehri Far, Iran rearcher at HRW.

In the 2023 edn, the rankg pared 203 untri and terrori based on the suatn of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, tersex and queer people each lotn. It is the only untry to receive a sre of 13, simultaneoly srg pots for s clive laws and rights - cludg anti-discrimatn laws, s stance on transgenr rights and the fact adoptn is allowed - as well as not losg any pots for discrimatn, such as through anti-gay laws, relig fluenc or pri beg banned.