The Forgotten Gays of Iran

Iran's newsworthiness may be focused on condemning their new-found nuclear capability right now, but the Islamic nation continues to drop A-bombs on human rights with the hangings of gay men for crimes of lavat (or sodomy), which according to the protection group, Human Rights Watch, is defined as penetrative and non-penetrative sexual acts between men. Penetrative lavat is punishable by death. Non-penetrative acts are punishable by lashes up to four offenses. Ironically, women engaging in "lesbianism" are subject to only (and I use the word merely as a reference to a lesser punishment) lashes up until the forth offense.

Iran's lavat laws aren't just paper deterrents of homosexual acts; the government has arrested, tortured and executed gay men under the penal code. The execution of two gay teens in 2005 captured international media attention, yet The Netherlands and Sweden were the only two countries to block the deportation of gay Iranians seeking asylum. Meanwhile, another man, Shahab Darvishi, was executed in Iran on November 14, 2006 on charges of lavat with little media coverage or political condemnation.

Pam Spaulding, from Pam's House Blend, shows her disappointment with the lack of attention the gay deaths in Iran are getting from media, "The killing of gay men continues in Iran, with little or no coverage by the MSM." Pam also published an exert from Iran Focus- one of the few news sources about the hanging,

"A gay Iranian man was hanged in public on Tuesday in the western city of Kermanshah on the charge of sodomy.

Shahab Darvishi was charged with organising a "corruption ring", deliberate assault, and "lavat", which means homosexual relationship between two men or sodomy, the official news agency IRNA reported.

Darvishi was hanged in the evening in Kermanshah's "Freedom Square" in front of hundreds of people, the report said."

Pam strikes a cord with her discontent about the lack of real concern over the gay killings in Iran. The harshness of Iran's treatment towards glbt people has brought some international outrage, but not enough. Not only does the world and media continue to sweep Iran's human rights issues under the rug, but there seems to be an extreme dichotomy when it comes human rights policing.

About Agnosticism/Atheism Guide Austin Cline notes the U.S. government's policies towards human rights in Iran versus Iraq. "Bush has claimed off and on that the invasion of Iraq was necessary to save its citizens from a brutal government, but is there any chance that he would invade Iran to save gay people from the brutal government in that nation? Probably not — I doubt that his Christian base of supporters would also support such an action."

Our religions, our cultures, our ethnicities all vie for either dominance or the eradication of those who do not share the same commonalities-- deciding which live are more valuable than others in the most heinous of acts. Will we ever, as a global community, step up and send a message that the rights of all people deserve protection? Who will be there for the gays and lesbians in Iran?

Resources:
Where is Iran?
Fleeing Gay Iran
Al-Fatiha Foundation: GLBT Muslims

Sodomy:
The Story of Sodom and Gomorrah is Being Mis-used
U.S. Sodomy Laws

News:
Netherlands: Asylum Rights Granted to Lesbian and Gay Iranians
U.S. Aligned With Iran in Anti-Gay Vote

_{Image: Flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran.}