Big trouble in gay Iran. More than eighty gay and gay-allies have been were arrested at a May 10th party in Isfahan. Men and women had traveled from all over to attend a man named Farhad’s birthday celebration. Unfortunately, someone tipped notified the police, who subsequently raised the party, beat attendants and took them off to jail, according to Toronto-based Iranian Queer Organization. One would-be partygoer, Peyman, tells IQO:
I went to buy a gift for Farhad and so I arrived late for the party.
As soon as I turned in to their street, I saw police cars parked everywhere; all my friends were arrested while seven or eight policeman beat them with batons. Fearing the usual punishments for attending a party, two had jumped from the second-floor window and were in a bad condition.
Farhad’s family were [sic] also arrested. Everyone was transported into a big car and taken into custody. All their cell phones are off and we have no information about the situation inside the jail.
Faggotry remains illegal under Iran’s Islamic law. In fact, a number of men have been executed for their gay ways, including Shahab Darvishi, who met his unjust fate last November.
UK Gay News reports that female guests have been released, but the men remain in torturous custody. Not much of a birthday present for poor Farhad. IQO has asked for a “prompt release” of all guests. Allah willing…
hass
The claim about gay executions in Iran are largely discredited.
FROM GAYCITYNEWS.com:
“Doug Ireland began a campaign in Gay City News to prove that the Mashhad case was one of consensual homosexual sex, and that the Ahmadinejad regime was carrying out a “massive pogrom,†an “intensifying crackdown.†His reporting was deeply irresponsible. His claims about Mashhad relied entirely on second-hand sources. Ireland never confirmed those reports. No one has. His main source hasn’t shared information directly, even with the Persian Gay and Lesbian Organization. Ireland proclaimed the rape charges “refuted.â€
A few Iranian exile groups saw a new audience in Western gays. They began reporting multiple executions in Iran as gay-related. Ireland was one of many drawn into Iranian exile politics with little feel for its complexities. And he leapt ahead even of his secondhand sources—for instance, suggesting a rape trial in Arak was a trial for consensual homosexual sex even though voices within Iran clearly doubted it.”
Paul Raposo
hass, instead of posting a couple of paragraphs, why don’t you post a link to the article you say those paragraphs come from? I’ve searched gaycitynews.com and I cannot find that article.
John
San Francisco City Councilmember Ross Mirkarimi, who is heterosexual and of Persian ancestry himself, has strongly condemned the Islamic Republic’s gay executions. And he has always been a fairly independent-minded person.
Does he have ties to the Iranian exile community? Yes, but so do most Iranian-Americans. Do I believe he would purposefully lie to gays about persecution in Iran? Absolutely not. Besides, what would he have to gain, as an avowed pacifist?
naprem
I don’t want to be a hater, but when you’ve had your lack of copy-editing pointed out in such a high-profile manner as you did last week, one would think you’d pay a little more attention in order to disprove the naysayers.
Please have someone read over what you’ve written before you post it – there are some really basic errors that even a cursory re-reading would point out. It would make you look a lot more professional and respectable, and stop you from being left open to easy low-blow criticisms.
Martini-boy
Thank you, naprem!
These silly errors make me rumble in my chair!
If need be, write everything in Word (and spell check there) before posting things online. Thanks, Queerty.
nystudman
I read GCN every week and never saw this. I also did a search on the site. You can go back to your work at the Iranian Mission to the U.N., “hass.”