Pri is a Prott: The Stggle for Gay Rights Iran – NIAC

Contents:

• WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY IRAN
• A RD EXEMPTED A GAY MAN OM SERVG IRAN’S ARY. IT MAY HAVE ST HIM HIS LIFE
• Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN
• 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.
• IRAN IS FORCG THOANDS OF GAY PEOPLE TO HAVE GENR REASSIGNMENT SURGERY AGAST THEIR WILL OR FACE EXECUTN
• GAY IRAN: NO PLACE TO CALL HOME
• GAY IRANIAN MAN AD ALLEGED 'HONOR KILLG,' RIGHTS GROUP SAYS
• GAY IRANIAN MAN ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY FAY DAYS BEFORE SEEKG ASYLUM
• IRAN PURPORTEDLY EXECUT 2 GAY MEN OVER SODOMY CHARG
• PRI IS A PROTT: THE STGGLE FOR GAY RIGHTS IRAN
• IRAN EXECUT 2 GAY MEN OVER SODOMY CHARG, RIGHTS GROUP SAYS

WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY IRAN

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. | (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.

"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.

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. 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. "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.

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

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. 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. 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.

Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN

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. 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.

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.

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.

IRAN IS FORCG THOANDS OF GAY PEOPLE TO HAVE GENR REASSIGNMENT SURGERY AGAST THEIR WILL OR FACE EXECUTN

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. 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.

GAY IRAN: NO PLACE TO CALL HOME

There is no official dissematn of rmatn for homosexuals and the only way to reach awarens about such issu is dog personal rearch, talkg to other homosexuals, and ocsnally gettg profsnal unselg. At the same time there is more social acceptance and rpect for other mori the untri and most of them there are varyg gre of legal mechanisms for support of homosexuals and observatn of their rights. It is not necsary for all of to talk or take actn about the rights of Baha’is or homosexuals; but if someone has somethg to say or wish to take a step, we should all support him or her.

The Islamic Republic of Iran publicly hanged a 31-year-old Iranian man after he was found guilty of charg related to vlatns of Iran’s anti-gay laws, acrdg to the state-ntrolled Iranian Stunts’ News unintified man was hanged on January 10 the southwtern cy of Kazeroon based on crimal vlatns of “lavat-e be onf” – sexual terurse between two men, as well as kidnappg charg, acrdg to ISNA.

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

“Iran is not only the most dangero threat to Israel’s secury, is also a champn the state murr of actual or perceived homosexuals, ” said Volker Beck, a German Party Green Party polician and a lecturer at the Center for Studi Relig Scienc (CERES) at the Ruhr Universy Bochum. ” The statement about cizens of Kazeroon uld not be penntly 2016, The Jesalem Post reported Iran’s regime had executed a gay adolcent that year – the first nfirmed executn of someone nvicted as a juvenile the Islamic Afshar, 19, was hanged Arak Prison Iran’s Markazi Provce on July 18, 2016, after he was nvicted of “forced male-to-male anal terurse” early 2011, Iran’s regime executed three Iranian men after beg found guilty of charg related to M.

GAY IRANIAN MAN ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY FAY DAYS BEFORE SEEKG ASYLUM

Hochre, a spokman for the Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung Foundatn, which fights to advance the rights of lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people, told the Post:“Iran is one of the worst stat for the persecutn of LGBTI. Government polici persecute both homosexuals and transgenr dividuals alike for their sexualy and genr intifitn, crimalizg same-sex relatns and genr reassignment Iran has mataed and pursued polici which nmn and harshly punish homosexualy, a practice wily, and appropriately, cricized as a human rights vlatn. Iranian Treatment of HomosexualsDpe cricism om other natns and human rights anizatns, the Islamic Republic of Iran has mataed s practice of nmng same-sex relatns as illegal and morally rpt.

IRAN PURPORTEDLY EXECUT 2 GAY MEN OVER SODOMY CHARG

The Iranian Penal Co prohibs all sexual activy outsi of the stutn of marriage, same-sex relatns, and LGBT-related media, wh the ath penalty beg one form of punishment for homosexualy. Zarif argued that the moral prcipl that gui Iranian ernance nmn homosexual behavr jt as they nmn other personal actns and life choic; therefore punishment for such choic, cludg punishment by executn, is lawful and substantiated.

Michael Roth, Germany’s Mister of State the Feral Foreign Office at the time, claimed, “No relig, cultural or ethnic tradn jtifi state persecutn, let alone the executn of homosexuals.

PRI IS A PROTT: THE STGGLE FOR GAY RIGHTS IRAN

Ambassador to Germany at the time of Zarif’s remarks, joed Roth his opposn to the treatment and argued that the executns go agast the UN Universal Declaratn of Human Rights, which clearly tails crimalizatn of homosexualy as a vlatn. Grenell’s sentiments were a ntuatn of the Tmp admistratn’s mpaign which lnched Febary of 2019 to crimnalize homosexualy var natns cludg Iran and lled on global anizatns like the UN and EU ntribute to the rights have been opposn to the Iranian Penal Co sce the 1930s when Parliament passed legislatn crimalizg such relatnships, and disapproval of this discrimatn has tensified over time. Psychologil profsnals Iran unsel homosexual dividuals to treat their “sexual viancy, ” and even former print Mahmoud Ahmadejad famoly nied the existence of sexual mori Iran 2007.

IRAN EXECUT 2 GAY MEN OVER SODOMY CHARG, RIGHTS GROUP SAYS

All of this culmat to make Iran one of the most discrimatory untri toward homosexuals the world, wh Iran havg executed an timated 4, 000 to 6, 000 homosexual dividuals sce the 1979 Islamic Revolutn. Moreover, enforcement of this law is ongog, and occurs perdilly wh very publicized exampl, as January 2019, when a 31-year-old man was publicly hanged after beg nvicted guilty of homosexual relatns.

Genr Assignment IranGiven the severe and dranian ernment polici towards homosexualy Iran, is perhaps suprisg that genr reassignment and the existence of of transgenr dividuals Iran is legally supported. Though personal and societal judgement agast transgenr people Iran is - as many untri - persistant and pervasive, the broar ia of beg transgenr is not nsired a vlatn of Iranian theocratic prcipl, and the ernment do not view such dividuals as they do homosexuals.

Most relig lears only accept those non-bary dividuals who fully plete the transn operatn, while those who do not are perceived as “sick” and n still be arrted for cross-drsg and other stereotypilly homosexual practic.