A gay-owned Virgia rtrant is a dispute wh s neighbors - Washgton Post

Contents:

• GAY IRANIAN MAN ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY FAY DAYS BEFORE SEEKG ASYLUM
• GAY IRANIAN MAN AD ALLEGED 'HONOR KILLG,' RIGHTS GROUP SAYS
• ALIREZA FAZELI MONFARED WANTED TO LIVE AS A EE GAY MAN THE WT. HIS FAY IRAN BEHEAD HIM DAYS BEFORE HIS DREAM ME TE, SAY ACTIVISTS.
• Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN
• WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY IRAN
• GAY MULLAH FLE IRAN OVER SECRET SAME-SEX WEDDGS
• IRANIAN, GAY & SEEKG ASYLUM
• GAY IRAN: NO PLACE TO CALL HOME
• CANNED CKTAIL ‘GAY WATER’ AIMS TO SH ON BUD LIGHT’S DYLAN MULVANEY DISASTER
• A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.

GAY IRANIAN MAN ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY FAY DAYS BEFORE SEEKG ASYLUM

Alireza Monfared, a 20-year-old who was gay, was allegedly killed by fay members, jt days before he uld leave Iran to seek asylum, acrdg to multiple of his early May ath ma headl the U.

"I believe the exact term for this horrendo murr is gay-killg rather than the general term of honor-killg, " Ma Khani, an Iranian LGBTQ and women's rights activist based Germany, told ABC News.

"Of urse the motive of such murrs by fay members is to fend the 'honor' of the tribe or fay, but we should never fet the social stigma and hatred nstantly reproduced by the social and legal nstcts agast LGBTQ members, " she this area of the world face enormo dangers for beg openly gay.

GAY IRANIAN MAN AD ALLEGED 'HONOR KILLG,' RIGHTS GROUP SAYS

Acrdg to Human Rights Watch, nearly 15 untri the Middle East and Northern Ai crimalize homosexualy, leadg to punishments that clu prison, lash and even the ath penalty.

Iranian law stat that men over the age of 18 need to serve the ary before they may leave the untry, but homosexualy is classified unr "psychologil disorrs, " which n lead to an exemptn om service. We are still aaid of the regime makg a database of gay and transgenr people and puttg them unr prsure whenever they want, " Shadi Am, an LGBTQ activist based Germany, told ABC ia of receivg an exemptn rd is leavg many gay and trans Iranians worried they'd be brand and vulnerable to harassment and discrimatn.

ALIREZA FAZELI MONFARED WANTED TO LIVE AS A EE GAY MAN THE WT. HIS FAY IRAN BEHEAD HIM DAYS BEFORE HIS DREAM ME TE, SAY ACTIVISTS.

"People hold banners prottg agast discrimatn and persecutn agast homosexuals Iran, July 28, 2007, ont of the Eiffel tower Meda/AFP via Getty Imag, File Mahdi, a 36-year-old Iranian gay man who did not want to e his full name over safety ncerns, told ABC News that hearg the news of Monfared's murr broke his heart.

Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN

"Bis the immediate threat that many gay exempts face now, such way of verage and the prsure om outsi of the untry is not likely to have any impact on the illogil and nservative officials Iran, " he said. Ali Fazeli Monfared, a 20-year-old gay Iranian man, was allegedly killed an “honor killg” by some of his male fay members after they found out he was gay, acrdg to an LGBTQ rights group Iran and Monfared, who was known as Alireza by iends and fay, lived a cy southwt Iran. He had applied for an exemptn om pulsory ary service so he uld leave the untry and move to Turkey to live wh his close iend, Aghil Bayat, acrdg to 6Rang, the Iranian Lbian and Transgenr homosexual nduct is crimalized Iran, part of the ary exemptn law allows gay and transgenr people to receive a medil exemptn om service for their inty.

WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY IRAN

”Fazeli Monfared received an exemptn rd the mail om the Islamic Revolutnary Guard Corps after disclosg his homosexualy, but one of his male relativ found and disvered he was gay, acrdg to 6Rang. “We thk that bee of his genr exprsn and his behavrs, they knew that he is homosexual, but was proof that shows he wants to leave the untry, and he is a gay man, ” Am said. If Fazeli Monfared’s alleged killers had ught him havg sex wh a man, then they might receive lser punishments for his is one of an timated 11 untri where same-sex sexual acts are punishable by ath, acrdg to the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn, and one of almost 70 untri where is crimalized, acrdg to Human Rights Watch, an ternatnal human rights group based New York.

"The are moral prcipl regardg the behavr of people general, ” he said at the time, acrdg to German broadster Dtsche are no statistics or rerds of the number of anti-LGBTQ “honor killgs” — which are perpetrated by relativ who feel the LGBTQ person has brought “dishonor” to the fay — that happen Iran or other untri that crimalize homosexualy, Tara Sepehri Far, who vtigat human rights ab Iran and Kuwa for Human Rights Watch, told NBC said Fazeli Monfared’s se highlights the importance of the role of the fay LGBTQ people’s liv when the state crimaliz who they are.

“Exposg that to the very same thori who, theory, have the thory to arrt and prosecute you is very risky, ” she said other untri should prsure Iran to remove the law crimalizg homosexualy and the ath penalty “bee this is the reason why the fai, they allow themselv to have the right to vlate their children. Alireza Fazeli Monfared, a 20-year old Iranian man, was behead what an Iranian human-rights group says was an "honor killg" by fay members after they learned he was gay. "The Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia' is g up on Monday (May 17), " Okan Sengun, the executive director and founr of the LGBT Asylum Project, said.

GAY MULLAH FLE IRAN OVER SECRET SAME-SEX WEDDGS

"Homosexualy is also nsired a psychologil disease Iran, and the ary's ary board n exempt a gay man om service if they are emed homosexual after an examatn, " she add. The activist hop the vios rm people of queer people's liv Iran, where punishments for beg gay range om 100 lash of the whip to, the munitns director for the Center for Human Rights Iran, said homophobia was wispread the untry.

IRANIAN, GAY & SEEKG ASYLUM

"In the days followg the killg, Okan Sengun of the LGBT Asylum Project said he received many emails om gay Iranians who were heartbroken by Monfared's ath. Through onle activism, publishg poetry, lerature and artwork onle, and engagg wh global gay culture through televisn and the ter, gay Iranians are g of age, spe the myriad of rtrictns they still face Iranian society and at the hands of the state.

Mehdi Hamzad is young gay man his early thirti who has recently fished higher tn; he liv Tehran, and has braved g out to his iends, though not to his fay.

GAY IRAN: NO PLACE TO CALL HOME

We spoke to him about what life is like the days for gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenred Iranians, and whether is even possible to live a fulfilled, secure life as a gay person a untry such as Iran:.

Unr the current circumstanc, Iranian youth, whether gay or straight, face many different obstacl, some of which have to do wh the regime (social rtrictns and iologil and polil prsure or the enomic suatn), and some to do wh public culture (a lack of acceptance of different liftyl and closed, tradnal thkg). There will always be teractns among -workers, people on the street and the bazaar, and gathergs that will have trac of homophobia them, and which will create an unwanted distance between a homosexual and his environment.

CANNED CKTAIL ‘GAY WATER’ AIMS TO SH ON BUD LIGHT’S DYLAN MULVANEY DISASTER

Wh all the media attentn around this subject (pecially onle, satelle televisn programs, and foreign films and seri), homosexuals make peace wh themselv rather quickly and relatively easily, but there are problems, too. One major problem is the tradnal and relig upbrgg of the society, and the patriarchal state propaganda that alienat homosexuals and acceptance of homosexualy to take a lot of time and energy. Homosexuals who live small towns, more sular environments, and those who e om lower social levels and don’t have sufficient avenu for accsg rmatn and fdg others wh siar characteristics, or fdg a more accurate unrstandg about themselv, face other problems.

In alg wh myself, I have fully accepted my homosexualy, but alg wh the outsi world, wh people and the society, I am always led to circumstanc where I am willgly or unwillgly remd of my homosexualy. In my opn, there are two ways to rce this homophobia: for people to see more and more homosexuals around themselv as cizens, and to fd more awarens about sexual orientatn.

A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.

How do you answer those iends and acquatanc who mistakenly tell you that homosexualy is not natural, and that even animals don’t do this way bee do not lead to procreatn? There are those like [Islamic philosopher Abdolkarim] Soroh, who haven’t yet thought about homosexualy; there are those like the [progrsive theologian-cleric Mohsen] Kadivar who, if we nsir him an tellectual, support Islamic punishment agast homosexualy, and others like Akbar Ganji, Ram Jahanbegloo, Arash Naraghi, and others who fend the rights of homosexuals. Discrimatn between the active and the passive partners, opposg transsexuals, misogyny, ternalized homophobia, a tradnal and biased view towards two people’s relatnship, lack of sufficient emotnal matury, and over-emotnalism are some of the thgs that n more or ls be seen among homosexuals.

Sometim the tense prsure the homosexual experienc over time ph him on a path where he may lack sufficient strength and patience to ntually evaluate himself and to ratnally manage his relatnships.