Iran: Gay Man Behead by Fay Alleged Homophobic 'Honor Killg'

gay honor killings

Ali Fazeli Monfared was allegedly killed by fay members who found out he was gay after he received a rd exemptg him om ary service.

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

* gay honor killings *

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. ”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.

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.

Alireza Monfared, a 20-year-old Iranian gay man, was allegedly killed by fay members, days before he uld leave to seek asylum. * gay honor killings *

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.

GAY MEN AND HONOUR KILLGS: 'THE INVISIBLE CRIME'

A new film, "Wele to Chechnya," documents the torture, disappearanc, and extrajudicial killgs of gay men the Rsian republic. * gay honor killings *

"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.

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. (AP/Matt Slocum)The Current21:25A young gay man fears the threat of honour killg - Jan 14, 2015Today, we brg you the documentary story of a young man who feared for his life at the hands of his own father bee of his sexualy.

"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 ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY FAY DAYS BEFORE SEEKG ASYLUM

The makers of a Turkish movie spired by the honor killg of a gay man hop will help lead to legally regnized equaly the untry. * gay honor killings *

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.

"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.

WAS AHMET YILDIZ THE VICTIM OF TURKEY'S FIRST GAY HONOUR KILLG?

Ali Fazeli Monfared Iranian gay man behead honor killg after fay disowns son after beg granted exemptn om servg ary. * gay honor killings *

"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. For ee real time breakg news alerts sent straight to your box sign up to our breakg news emailsSign up to our ee breakg news emailsIn a rner of Istanbul today, the man who might be scribed as Turkey's gay poster boy will be buried – a victim, his iends believe, of the untry's epeng ictn between an creasgly liberal society and s entrenched nservative Yildiz, 26, a physics stunt who reprented his untry at an ternatnal gay gatherg San Francis last year, was shot leavg a fe near the Bosphos stra this week.

"The media ignor or lghs off vlence agast gays, " says Be Kilickaya, a member of the gay lobbyg group Pk Life, addg that Ahmet Yildiz's ath "risks beg swept unr the rpet and fotten like other s the past". " The refal of fai to bury their relativ is mon after honour-related Bagli, a Turkish soclogist who has terviewed 189 people nvicted of honour killgs, has never heard of a ath revolvg around homosexualy but has no doubt that uld be ed as jtifitn. When an Istanbul urt cid to close down the cy's largt gay rights group late this May, mentators took the cisn as evince of a crackdown on the muny spearhead by Turkey's current relig-md ernment.

GAY IRANIAN MAN AD ALLEGED ‘HONOR KILLG,’ RIGHTS GROUP SAYS

Two urt s of "gay honor killgs" Turkey reveal a siar pattern of ep-rooted prejudice and social s that overri even the clost fay bonds. * gay honor killings *

However, many gay activists are reluctant to draw a nnectn wh the lg Jtice and Development Party (AKP), notg was the first party Turkey's history to send a puty to attend a nference on gay rights. Long active more liberal parts of wtern Turkey, gay groups are even begng to meet relatively openly the nservative east of the untry where Ahmet Yildiz me acrdg to the former neighbour, the physics stunt's blank refal to hi who he was any way may have been too much for his fay.

Police timate more than a dozen honour killgs take place the UK every year, such as the btal rape and murr of 20-year-old Banaz Mahmod by her uncle and father 2006, or the murr of Rhsana Naz, strangled by her fay bee she wanted a divorce killgs have not so far really targeted gay men, although 2006 a wave of anti-gay killgs took place Iraq, rried out by fanatil Islamist ias. “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, ” executive director Shadi Am told the news outlet. “Wele to Chechnya: Insi the Rsian Republic’s Deadly War on Gays, ” which premiered at the Sundance Ftival January and airs on HBO next week, is one of the most harrowg films I have ever seen.

CHECHNYA IS TRYG TO EXTERMATE GAY PEOPLE. OUR SILENCE ONLY EMBOLNS VLADIMIR PUT AND RAMZAN KADYROV.

HBO's new serial killer doceri "Last Call" re-exam New York Cy’s yearslong search for a murrer who targeted gay men the early 1990s. * gay honor killings *

“Image the 21st century, a supposedly secular untry, ” says David Isteev, at the start of this acclaimed documentary, “you have s where people are killed simply bee they are homosexual — where they are maimed, where the fai of the people are urged to kill their children and siblgs. “Wele to Chechnya” follows Isteev, emergency program ordator for the Rsian LGBT Network, and his fellow activists as they risk their liv tryg to protect gay Chechens om beg targeted both by the thori and their own fai.

GAY "HONOR KILLG" MOVIE SHAK TURKEY UP

Ahmet Yildiz was shot last year outsi his apartment Istanbul, what may have been the first “honor killg” of a gay man to ga public attentn. * gay honor killings *

“We documented a large-sle, vic, anti-gay purge” marked by “torture, enforced disappearanc, and extrajudicial killgs, ” Tanya Loksha, the Rsia program director at Human Rights Watch, told me a phone terview om Mosw.

SHOCKG GAY HONOR KILLG SPIR MOVIE

“If there’s no punishment, ” says an exhsted-lookg Isteev toward the end of the film, “if LGBT people are regard as subhuman, if you n do anythg to them, means that tomorrow, anyone n fd themselv the sho of gay Chechens. REUTERS/Sara Anjargolian/CAM Film/HandoutThe ma spect the killg, a fugive still wanted by Turkish police, is Yildiz’s father, who uld not accept that his only son was a homosexual se, wily believed to be Turkey’s first gay “honor killg”, has spired a movie “Zenne”, which opened on January 13 and explor gay sexual inty and prejudice overwhelmgly Mlim Turkey.

”Yildiz was born to a wealthy relig fay the ancient cy of Sanliurfa, Turkey’s impoverished and nservative southeast, but moved to smopolan Istanbul durg his universy years, seekg more eedom as a gay Istanbul, Yildiz started a new life and ma new iends; he also began a gay relatnship and eventually moved wh his boyiend, who wnsed Yildiz’s murr om the wdow of their apartment on the Asian si of the cy divid by the Bosphos the movie, Yildiz’s character is enuraged to e out of the closet by a male belly dancer, or zenne, and a German photographer who has moved to Istanbul after a personal crisis Afghanistan, where he accintally ed the ath of several children durg a photo shoot. Both are fictnal real life, Yildiz’s g out as a gay man was seen as an afont his eply patriarchal and tribal fay, even though his parents adored him, a , Ahmet Kaya, told the Human Rights Foundatn of Turkey. ”“The one scene I wasn’t able to distance myself om the character I played as an actor was when Ahmet apologized to his father for beg gay on the phone after g out, ” Erkan Avci, a young actor who played Yildiz, told Rters.

IRANIAN GAY MAN, 20, BEHEAD HONOR KILLG AFTER FAY DISOWNS SON

It brgs to the screen some of the important issu for the LGBT e such as hate crim, the plitns for gay men to forego the mandatory ary service and g out, ” said Umut Guner, spokman for the Ankara-based Kaos GL, a LGBT group. Friends and activists, who have attend some of the heargs wearg masks bearg Yildiz’s portra, say the thori lack the will to fd the and Mehmet Bay, -directors of the movie and together as a gay uple for 14 years, said they heard their iend Yildiz receive ath threats om his fay over the filed an official plat but failed to receive any protectn, they said.

HONOR KILLGS HNT TURKEY'S GAY MUNY

MILITARY PRACTICESTurkey is often held as an example the Middle East for marryg Islam and mocracy, but Turkish gay activists say Ankara’s human rights rerd is far om practice particularly abhorred by rights groups is the method by which gay men n be exempted om the required 16-month ary service: they have to prove their homosexualy medil tts and are pelled to provi photos of them havg sex wh other the movie, two characters unrgog one such examatn are forced to wear make-up and drs women’s cloth, while doctors perform anal examatns. In most s, urts rced the sentenc or the perpetrators were not a report last year, Amnty Internatnal urged Ankara to draw up laws preventg discrimatn on the grounds of sexual orientatn and to punish perpetrators of homophobic EU a separate report also last year said lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr persons Turkey “ntued to suffer discrimatn, timidatn and vlent crim” activists say they get ltle sympathy om the AK Party, power for a , which has s roots polil Islam and is known for s socially nservative Aliye Kavaf, Turkey’s former Women and Fay Affairs Mister, ma wav 2010 when she said homosexualy was “a blogil disorr, a disease that needs to be treated” current terr mister acced an outlawed armed anizatn wh “engagg every kd of immoraly, cludg homosexualy”.

“The startg pot was a ar iend of ours who was murred 2008 for beg gay by his own father, ” said Mehmet Bay, producer and -director of “Zenne, ” which opens theaters across Turkey on Friday. ‘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, ’ executive director Shadi Am told the news outlet. Iran 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.

For stance, the Huda-Par Party — the offshoot of Turkish Hezbollah, an outlawed Islamist group unrelated to s Lebane namake — targeted homosexuals a prs statement October 2013: "If they try to promote mental disorrs and perverted behavr among Kurds as eedoms, they will pay the price. More than three s after a serial killer began preyg upon gay and bisexual men at bars New York Cy, the victims and their fai, as well as the activists who fought to brg the elive murrer to jtice, are the subjects of a four-part doceri that premier Sunday on HBO and Max. Rogers was acquted a nonjury trial a few months leadg their own vtigatn to the victims wh sensivy, the creative team wanted to “peel back the onn of homophobia” by creatg the faiar feelg of most te-crime documentari — and then addg a queer twist, Caronna said.

SERIAL KILLER DOCERI 'LAST CALL' RECKONS WH NYC'S HISTORY OF ANTI-GAY VLENCE

Gertler said one of the big them of “Last Call” is “the way that stutnalized homophobia and transphobia works, and that was one of the most horrifyg thgs [they disvered] when we were dog our own diggg and reportg to the circumstanc around the 1973 murr and trial and the 1988 asslt and trial. In 2017, Chechen police and ary officials round up men they spected of beg gay, tortured them wh electric vic and enuraged fay members to engage honor killgs, acrdg to The Organizatn for Secury and Co-operatn Europe. Prosecutors say his own father hunted him down, travelg more than 600 om his hometown to shoot his son an old neighborhood of Yildiz was killed 16 months ago, the victim of what soclogists say is the first gay honor killg Turkey to surface publicly.

ACTIVISTS SAY 40 DETAED AND 2 DEAD IN GAY PURGE IN CHECHNYA

But by g out as gay a patriarchal tribal fay, he had bee the ultimate afont to both relig and filial honor, even wh parents who adored Spanner for The New York Tim“Ahmet’s father had warned him to return to their village and to see a doctor and imam orr to cure him of his homosexualy and get married, but Ahmet refed, ” Mr.

While Turkey’s aspiratn to jo the European Unn is phg the Mlim-spired ernment to accept and even promote civil liberti for women and homosexuals, some tradnalists rema ill at ease wh a permissive attu toward sexualy and genr recently, so-lled honor killgs have been largely nfed to women, who face beg killed by male relativ for perceived grievanc rangg om nsensual sex outsi of marriage to stealg a glance at a boy.

A soclogist who studi honor killgs, Mazhar Bagli, at Dicle Universy Diyarbakir, the largt cy the southeast, noted that tribal Kurdish fai that kill dghters perceived to have dishonored them publicize the murrs to help cleanse their he said gay honor killgs remaed unrground bee a homosexual not only brought shame to his fay, but also tated the ncept of male inty upon which the muny’s social stcture pend. The ary, which is the guardian of Turkey’s secular state, regards homosexualy as a Spanner for The New York TimLast year, a lol Istanbul urt led favor of disbandg the offic of Lambda, the untry’s leadg gay rights group, after a plat that offend public moraly. ” Spanner for The New York TimBut Kemal, 55, a Kurdish man newly arrived to the district om the southeast who cled to give his last name, said he would disown his son if he found out he was gay.

SOUL-SEARCHG TURKEY AFTER A GAY MAN IS KILLED

She said homosexualy Turkey had been tolerated sce Ottoman of Turkey’s most celebrated sgers is Bulent Ersoy, a transsexual, who was banned by the ary ernment the 1980s but has sce bee more popular as a woman than she was as a man. Yildiz’s hometown, recently fled Istanbul for the Netherlands out of fear that his own fay was huntg Erdal said his fay had learned he was gay last month after he applied for an exemptn om ary service on the grounds of his sexualy.

An official the office of the Mister of Fay and Social Polici, which is tasked wh rcg discrimatn and implementatn of social policy, cled GlobalPost's requt for an terview about the purported rise gay "honor killg, " cg Mister Fatma Sah's "full schle nowadays. "We basilly try to get hold of plats, " says Nev Oztop, 25, spokperson and magaze edor at Kaos GL one of Turkey's first gay rights groups, "which don't happen often, as people are aaid of beg huiated. ”An award-wng film partly spired by Yildiz’s story, which opened dozens of cemas across Turkey last week, is puttg the spotlight on gays a Mlim untry that is seekg European Unn membership but remas fluenced by nservative and relig film “Zenne Dancer” — or male belly dancer — is not the natn’s first gay-themed movie but is the first to explore the ltle-known phenomenon of men killed by fay members for beg gay.

“Our ma aim was to nvey Ahmet’s story, but by dog so we also wanted to expose the prsure the (gay and lbian muny) fac om their fay, the society and the state, ” said Mehmet Bay, who -directed and produced the film wh his partner, Caner Alper. The father, who has been on the n for three years, is believed to be hidg northern, who was a close iend of Bay and Alper, me om the nservative, mostly-Kurdish Sanliurfa provce, where homosexualy is taboo and where officials have been stgglg to stem the practice of honor killgs of women. But Yildiz’s murr was the first Turkey to be reported by thori as a gay honor said Yildiz’s fay spected his homosexualy but believed he uld be treated by imams and were prsurg him to return to Sanliurfa.

TURKISH FILM HIGHLIGHTS GAY HONOR KILLG

Gay sex is not nsired a crime the untry, and some bars and clubs major ci openly ter to a majory of gays still choose to hi their liftyle a untry where liberal views have yet to make roads ral areas and many urban year, a former ernment mister scribed homosexualy as a blogil disorr that needs to be treated, while municipali have some leeway to troduce laws safeguardg “moraly, ” which gay activists view as a potential threat to their eedom. Zenne dancg self harks back to the Ottoman Empire, a time when there was a gree of tolerance toward gay sex among some sectors of the LGTB, a gay and lbian group based the nservative cy Diyarbakir that neighbors Sanliurfa, scribed the film as an opportuny to break graed attus toward gays tradnal areas.

NewsSutedPOLITICSBin WorldElectnsOpnNatnal SecuryCongrsPay DirtThe New AbnormalTmplandCOUPONSVistaprt CouponsUlta CouponsOffice Depot CouponsAdidas Promo CosWalmart Promo CosH&M CouponsSpanx Promo CosStubHub Promo CosHOMEPAGEThe Serial Killer Who Preyed Upon Gay New YorkersHBO’s doceri “Last Call” tells the chillg story of a strg of anti-LGBT murrs ’90s NYC—and manag to honor the victims the procs. However, the pellg hook of Anthony Caronna and Howard Gertler’s four-part HBO vtigatn (July 9) is that ’s both a whodun and a soclogil crique of the era and environment which s tale took place: early 1990s New York Cy, whose climate of homophobia facilated s villa’s homicis.

Otherwise, however, there was ltle eful physil evince procured om the ems, so ps shifted their attentn to Mulhy’s movements the days and hours leadg up to his they soon learned, Mulhy had last been seen on July 8, 1992, at midtown Manhattan’s Townhoe Bar, an upsle gay waterg hole where olr well-to-do gentlemen often met younger suors. Cops, meanwhile, found difficult to nvce people and around this tablishment to talk to them, sce 1992, the relatnship between the police and the gay muny was fed by distst, if not outright antipathy, much of born om the former’s history of prejudiced harassment and hostily.

THE SERIAL KILLER WHO PREYED UPON GAY NEW YORKERSMONSTROUSHBO’S DOCERI “LAST CALL” TELLS THE CHILLG STORY OF A STRG OF ANTI-LGBT MURRS ’90S NYC—AND MANAG TO HONOR THE VICTIMS THE PROCS.NICK SCHAGERENTERTAMENT CRICUPDATED JUL. 08, 2023 3:16AM EDT COURTY OF HBOLAST CALL: WHEN A SERIAL KILLER STALKED QUEER NEW YORK IS YET ANOTHER DISTURBG TE-CRIME DOCUMENTARY ABOUT A FIEND PREYG UPON A MARGALIZED MUNY. HOWEVER, THE PELLG HOOK OF ANTHONY CARONNA AND HOWARD GERTLER’S FOUR-PART HBO VTIGATN (JULY 9) IS THAT ’S BOTH A WHODUN AND A SOCLOGIL CRIQUE OF THE ERA AND ENVIRONMENT WHICH S TALE TOOK PLACE: EARLY 1990S NEW YORK CY, WHOSE CLIMATE OF HOMOPHOBIA FACILATED S VILLA’S HOMICIS. WH ANTI-GAY AND TRANS LEGISLATN CURRENTLY SWEEPG THE NATN, ’S AN ALL-TOO-RELEVANT STORY ABOUT PERSECUTN AND VLENCE, AND THE WAY WHICH PUBLIC RHETORIC—AND ACTN—FOSTERS FURTHER HATE.DIRECTOR CARONNA’S SERI BEGS WH THE 1992 DISVERY BY MATENANCE WORKERS OF A DISMEMBERED BODY BURLGTON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. CUT TO SEVEN PIEC, EACH OF THEM WRAPPED NEWSPAPER (AND A SHOWER CURTA) AND PACKED TO DIFFERENT TRASH BAGS, THIS DIVIDUAL WAS—VIA HIS BRIEFSE AND PERSONAL BELONGGS—SWIFTLY INTIFIED AS THOMAS MULHY, A 57-YEAR-OLD HBAND AND FATHER WHO WAS THE AREA FOR A BS MEETG. DETECTIV ALSO FOUND LATEX GLOV, A PASS SAW, AND A LEN SHEET THE PLASTIC BAGS, ONE OF WHICH WAS EVENTUALLY TRACED BACK TO STATEN ISLAND’S LONE CVS. OTHERWISE, HOWEVER, THERE WAS LTLE EFUL PHYSIL EVINCE PROCURED OM THE EMS, SO PS SHIFTED THEIR ATTENTN TO MULHY’S MOVEMENTS THE DAYS AND HOURS LEADG UP TO HIS MURR. AS THEY SOON LEARNED, MULHY HAD LAST BEEN SEEN ON JULY 8, 1992, AT MIDTOWN MANHATTAN’S TOWNHOE BAR, AN UPSLE GAY WATERG HOLE WHERE OLR WELL-TO-DO GENTLEMEN OFTEN MET YOUNGER SUORS. DOUGLAS GIBSON REMEMBERS TALKG TO MULHY THAT EVENG AND SPYG AN UNKNOWN MAN HIS VICY, BUT HE DIDN’T GET A GOOD ENOUGH LOOK AT THIS STRANGER TO PROVI AN ACTUAL SCRIPTN. COPS, MEANWHILE, FOUND DIFFICULT TO NVCE PEOPLE AND AROUND THIS TABLISHMENT TO TALK TO THEM, SCE 1992, THE RELATNSHIP BETWEEN THE POLICE AND THE GAY MUNY WAS FED BY DISTST, IF NOT OUTRIGHT ANTIPATHY, MUCH OF BORN OM THE FORMER’S HISTORY OF PREJUDICED HARASSMENT AND HOSTILY. IF THAT PROVED A SIGNIFINT HURDLE THE SE, SO TOO WAS LAW ENFORCEMENT’S STILL-LACKG TERPARTMENTAL MUNITNS, AND WAS THIS FAILURE THAT LAYED THEIR REALIZATN THAT MULHY’S MURR WAS PART OF A GHASTLY PATTERN.A YEAR EARLIER LANSTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, THE SIARLY DISMEMBERED BODY OF PETER ANRSON HAD BEEN FOUND. LIKE MULHY, ANRSON WAS A CLOSETED GAY MAN, AND ON THE NIGHT OF HIS DISAPPEARANCE ON MAY 5, 1991, HE TOO HAD VISED THE TOWNHOE. WHEN VTIGATORS TO MULHY’S SLAYG HEARD ABOUT THIS, THEY KNEW THE TWO MURRS WERE LKED. WORSE, THEY WERE FOLLOWED BY THE NEARLY INTIL MURRS OF 44-YEAR-OLD PROSTUTE ANTHONY MARRERO ( MAY 1993) AND OF 55-YEAR-OLD GREENWICH VILLAGE RINT MICHAEL SAKARA ( JULY 1993), THE LATTER OF WHOM WAS A REGULAR AND WELL-KNOWN STAPLE AT THE FIVE OAKS BAR. CLEARLY, SOMEONE WAS KILLG GAY MEN AFTER MEETG THEM AT CLUBS, AND BEE OF HIS MOD OPERANDI, THE ASSAILANT WAS DUBBED BY THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS AS THE “LAST CALL KILLER.” STILL OM LAST CALL: WHEN A SERIAL KILLER STALKED QUEER NEW YORKHBO LAST CALL IS, ON THE ONE HAND, A TRADNAL SPENSEFUL MYSTERY, WH VAR POLICE OFFICERS DISCSG THEIR EFFORTS TO PIECE TOGETHER CLU AND UNRSTAND THEIR VICTIMS’ BACKSTORI ORR TO LOTE A SPECT. JT AS PTIVATG, THOUGH, ’S A VIVID SNAPSHOT OF S PARTICULAR MOMENT, NARRATED LARGE PART BY TWO DIVIDUALS WHO WERE ON THE ONTL OF THE FIGHT FOR EQUAL LGTBQ+ RIGHTS: THE NEW YORK GAY & LBIAN ANTI-VLENCE PROJECT’S BEA HANSON AND MATT FOREMAN. RELLG A TIME WHEN GAY AMERINS WERE BOTH EMERGG OM THE SHADOWS FORCE (PECIALLY NYC) AND FACG CREASED ANTAGONISM AND THREATS (CLUDG OM THE RAGG AIDS EPIMIC), HANSON AND FOREMAN OFFER TIMATE AND PASSNATE FIRST-HAND ACUNTS OF THE CULTURAL AND POLIL ATMOSPHERE OF THE EARLY ’90S. IN DOG SO, THEY HELP NTEXTUALIZE THE MURRS AS AN OUTGROWTH OF THE LONG-STANDG BTALY THAT GAY (AND TRANS) MEN AND WOMEN FACED ON A DAILY BASIS. EMPLOYG PLENTIFUL ARCHIVAL MATERIAL, LAST CALL IS A SIMULTANEOLY VIBRANT AND SORROWFUL LOOK BACKWARDS, S NOSTALGIA FOR THE BURGEONG GAY MOVEMENT LORED BY THE FEAR THAT SO MANY FELT BEE OF HOMOPHOBIA AND THE MORTAL DANGER POSED—AS WELL AS THE ANGER THAT WAS A DIRECT BYPRODUCT OF BEG IGNORED, SLANRED, AND OPPRSED. DIRECTOR CARONNA’S SERI HONTLY AND PASSNATELY REVISS THE PAST, PUTTG A NUANCED FACE ON PEOPLE WHO WERE SO OFTEN DISMISSED, DISRD, AND RCED TO UNFLATTERG STEREOTYP, CLUDG MULHY, ANRSON, MARRERO, AND SAKARA. FEATURG TERVIEWS WH IENDS, LOVERS, AND RELATIV OF THE FOUR MEN WHOSE LIV WERE HORRIFILLY CUT SHORT BY A MADMAN, REMEMBERS—AND CELEBRAT—THEM NOT AS STATISTICS, BUT AS FLH-AND-BLOOD DIVIDUALS. STILL OM LAST CALL: WHEN A SERIAL KILLER STALKED QUEER NEW YORKHBO IN SEPARATE TERVIEWS WH DIFFERENT TECTIV, LAST CALL HIGHLIGHTS POLICE OFFICERS’ IGNORANCE ABOUT THE GAY MUNY AND THEIR RETICENCE TO RELATE TO THE MURRS. SUCH BLDNS, WHETHER WILLFUL OR NOT, FEELS AT LEAST SOMEWHAT NNECTED TO THE SERI’ OWN LIBERATE DISMISSAL OF THE FACT THAT THE KILLER—WHO, THROUGH MORN FGERPRT ANALYSIS, WAS INTIFIED AS MOUNT SAI NURSE RICHARD ROGERS JR.—WAS ALSO A GAY MAN. THERE’S A PERSISTENT SENSE, OM ALL ANGL, THAT TOLERANCE (AND FEAR OF VILIFITN) HAS REPEATEDLY TRATED ATTEMPTS TO SOLVE, AND PREHEND, THIS TRAGEDY, AND THE FACT THAT ROGERS NEVER OPENED UP ABOUT HIS MOTIVATNS ONLY FURTHER LEAV THGS FEELG PRSGLY MURKY.WHAT REMAS CLEAR, THOUGH, IS ROGERS’ GUILT. HAVG BEEN PREVLY ACQUTED OF KILLG HIS LLEGE ROOMMATE AND, YEARS LATER, OF ASSLTG ANOTHER MAN, THE QUIET AND SOFT-SPOKEN MEDIL PROFSNAL WAS UNDOUBTEDLY THE SERIAL CULPR THORI HAD SOUGHT. NO MATTER THE QUTNS ABOUT JURISDICTN THAT AROSE AT TRIAL, HE WAS JTLY SENTENCED TO TWO NSECUTIVE LIFE SENTENC, ENDG A REIGN OF TERROR THAT—DUE TO HIS HAB OF TAKG ROUTE TRIPS AROUND THE UNTRY—MAY HAVE CLUD MANY MORE UNKNOWN VICTIMS. HE WAS, BY ALL ACUNTS, A MONSTER SEEMGLY WHOUT REMORSE, AND LAST CALL IS SHARPT WHEN POSS HIM AS THE RULT OF A SOCIETY THAT MONIZ WH MALIC TENT (BE ANA BRYANT THE ’70S OR RON DESANTIS TODAY) AND, THE PROCS, SPIR EVABLE CELTY. NICK SCHAGER

Jt as ptivatg, though, ’s a vivid snapshot of s particular moment, narrated large part by two dividuals who were on the ontl of the fight for equal LGTBQ+ rights: The New York Gay & Lbian Anti-Vlence Project’s Bea Hanson and Matt Foreman. Rellg a time when gay Amerins were both emergg om the shadows force (pecially NYC) and facg creased antagonism and threats (cludg om the ragg AIDS epimic), Hanson and Foreman offer timate and passnate first-hand acunts of the cultural and polil atmosphere of the early ’90s. Employg plentiful archival material, Last Call is a simultaneoly vibrant and sorrowful look backwards, s nostalgia for the burgeong gay movement lored by the fear that so many felt bee of homophobia and the mortal danger posed—as well as the anger that was a direct byproduct of beg ignored, slanred, and opprsed.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY HONOR KILLINGS

Activists Say 40 Detaed And 2 Dead In Gay Purge In Chechnya : NPR .

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