Gay Iranian granted asylum reprieve | Rters

Contents:

• AN AWARD-WNG PHOTOGRAPHER LEFT IRAN TO BE GAY. TWO MONTHS AFTER FDG LOVE, HE DIED OF CORONAVIS.
• Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN
• GAY IRANIAN GRANTED ASYLUM REPRIEVE
• CONVERSN THERAPY: A VLATN OF HUMAN RIGHTS IRANIAN GAY MEN
• THE CONSTCTN OF THE IRANIAN GAY SUBJECT OUTSI OF IRAN

AN AWARD-WNG PHOTOGRAPHER LEFT IRAN TO BE GAY. TWO MONTHS AFTER FDG LOVE, HE DIED OF CORONAVIS.

”Gleon liv Soho, central London, where Shahablou loved to spend time, fdg his own micromuny the patrons of the Kg’s Arms pub, loved by bears — bigger, hairy gay men that Shahablou also photographed. 1 This note provis an asssment of the general suatn of persons who are known to be, or are likely known to be, gay men, lbian, bisexual, trans or tersex – that is those who are open, or are likely to be pelled to be open, about their sexual orientatn and/or genr inty or exprsn (SOGIE) – as well as those perceived as such bee of their appearance, attus and/or behavur.

Milary exemptn rds, an accepted form of intifitn issued to gay and trans dividuals, directly disclose the persons sexual orientatn or genr inty and may put them at further risk of vlence and discrimatn for ‘outg’ them and / or bee beg gay or trans is classed as a mental illns (see Milary exemptn, Genr reassignment surgery, Threats, harassment and vlence and Treatment by fay members).

3 The same source noted that Article 7 of the regulatns, which addrs the issue of exemptn for gay men, stat, ‘“perversns that vlate the social and ary of nduct (such as sexual perversn and homosexualy) [warrant] a six-month ferment.

Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN

‘While this provisn is discrimatory and gradg towards gay, transgenr and other genr non-nformg persons, and treats homosexualy as a form of mental illns or psychopathology spe of clear statements to the ntrary om var psychiatry bodi across the world and the World Health Organizatn, is monly ed by gay, transgenr and genr non-nformg persons Iran to seek an exemptn om pulsory ary service to protect themselv om homophobic and transphobic ab prevalent ary settgs. 6 In s annual report for 2021, Amnty Internatnal noted that, ‘Milary exemptn rds issued to gay and transgenr dividuals directly disclosed their sexual orientatn or genr inty whout their nsent, puttg them at risk of vlence. 8 Referrg to Ali Fazeli Monfareda, known as Alireza, a gay man killed May 2021, 6Rang stated that the murr ‘… took place followg the revelatn of Alireza’s sexual orientatn.

‘Acrdg to rmatn received om Iranian gay men and reports by human rights groups, seekg exemptn om ary service on the basis of their sexual orientatn or genr inty, gay, transgenr and genr non-nformg dividuals are generally forced to unrgo huiatg and gradg physil and psychologil tts, cludg anal examatns, which amount to torture, as well as terrogatns by officials durg which they are forced to answer timate qutns about their genr and sexualy such as their preferenc for sexual posns.

GAY IRANIAN GRANTED ASYLUM REPRIEVE

12 6Rang stated that the exemptn regulatn ‘… allows gay dividuals to be intified by the police, judicial thori, employers and those rponsible for tnal centr who n simply look at their ary exemptn rds, which functns as one of the few forms of acceptable IDs Iran.

1 Acrdg to 6Rang, ‘Sce the tablishment [of] the Islamic Republic 1979, state officials Iran have nsistently portrayed homosexualy as a “viant” sexual proclivy that has a rptg effect on society. As one example, the former Print of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadezhad, rponse to qutns about “homosexuals” or “gays” the USA most notorly stated “we do not have the hamjensbāz (translated to dience as “homosexuals”) like you have your untry” and that “absolutely such a thg do not exist as a phenomenon” Iran.

CONVERSN THERAPY: A VLATN OF HUMAN RIGHTS IRANIAN GAY MEN

The aim is to firstly raise awarens that this is the flag of “Sodomians” and puttg gay men and women potential dangers of gettg reported if they are anyway g this sign for social purpos (In Iran a large number of gay people e the flag sign orr to fd each other and socialize).

This time, the fai cludg children have participated this event and were holdg signs such as “Two people of the same sex do not make a uple”, “We are the fenrs of prophet Lut” and “homosexualy, the morn barbarism”, as well as tramplg the flag (Halalzaha, 2021).

5 Acrdg to Amnty Internatnal, wrg 2021 followg the murr of Alireza Fazeli Monfared, a gay man, ‘LGBTI people Iran face pervasive discrimatn, live the nstant fear of harassment, arrt and crimal prosecutn, and rema vulnerable to vlence and persecutn based on their real or perceived sexual orientatn and genr inty. 6 In January 2021 the Special Rapportr on the suatn of human rights Iran siarly stated that, ‘… dividuals who intify as lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr experience human rights vlatns and wispread discrimatn…. ‘The crimalizatn of same-sex nsensual acts legimiz vlence by State actors and private dividuals, cludg the e of torture, beatgs and rape by law enforcement and vigilant… Lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr persons face regular harassment and, if arrted, are nied the right to a fair trial… The acts rema largely unrreported due to the victims’ fear of persecutn.

THE CONSTCTN OF THE IRANIAN GAY SUBJECT OUTSI OF IRAN

Mohammadi, who was arrted 2018[footnote 67], was acced of: ‘1- Assembly and lln agast natnal secury to crimalize homosexualy (Normalizg homosexualy), 2- Elimatg the ugls and famy of homosexualy, 3- Makg homosexualy acceptable, pecially llaboratn wh relig and nscience anizatns, 4- Makg the Islamic Republic of Iran rponsible for extensive human rights ab (Lack of regnn of homosexualy). 2 The USSD stated s 2020 human rights report that ‘While few tails were available for specific s, lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and tersex (LGBTI) activists exprsed ncern that the ernment executed LGBTI dividuals unr the pretext of more severe, and possibly spec, crimal charg such as rape. The issue is further plited as the Penal Co do not regnise rape as a separate crime: treats heterosexual and homosexual rape as forms of adultery and sodomy, rpectively.

As a rult, if a nsensual homosexual relatnship is disvered by law enforcement, the passive partner has a signifint centive to claim that he has been raped as this may be the only way to enable him to pe a ath sentence. 5 The Jesalem Post stated ‘Acrdg to a 2008 Brish WikiLeaks dispatch, Iran’s mullah regime executed “between 4, 000 and 6, 000 gays and lbians” sce the Islamic Revolutn 1979. The report noted that the paratively high levels of executns rerd for same-sex sexual acts the years immediately followg the revolutn (144 total between 1979 and 1982[footnote 79]) ‘… may not reprent the actual number of executns, as the Iranian thori ed homosexual and other pal offenc as a ver to execute opponents.