Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Iran's New Anti-LGBTQ Laws: Executions, Criminalization and Social Injustices against Homosexuality

Feb 21, 2022 | Iran executed two gay men convicted for being homosexual. Homosexuality is illegal in Iran. This execution occurred is part of the state sponsored persecution and criminalization of homosexuality and LGBTQ people.

These two men, Mehrdad Karimpour and Farid Mohammadi spent six years on death row and were hanged as punishment for “sexual intercourse between two men.”

Last July, two other men were executed for the same charges. Last year, Iran executed 299 people accused of actions that are lesbian or gay, including 4 people convicted as children.

Currently, an Iranian LGBTQ activist is being held on charges linked to her appearance in a BBC documentary on gay rights. Zahra Sedighi-Hamadan was arrested while trying to flee to neighboring Turkey. Iranian prosecutors charged her for “spreading corruption on earth” and “promoting homosexuality.”

Homosexuality is banned in Iran withers penal code explicitly criminalizing sexual behavior between people of the same sex.

UN investigators have attempted to share the information about the alarming rate Iran continues to implement the death penalty. Following strict sharia law, homosexual relations are punishable by death. Under the same laws, sodomy, rape, adultery, robbery, and murder are among crimes that lead to the death penalty.



Caution: Discretion is advised when viewing this documentary. It is not suitable for children. – Mark