If you’re gay in Iran, please don’t make too much noise (per ‘gay rights’ activists)
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- On August 2, 2011
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I just received an email from Nick Cook of DNA, the largest gay magazine in Australia, saying that I have been entirely removed from a (larger) piece on the situation of gays in Iran because – get this – ‘Several of the other people [he] spoke to in the story convinced [him] to remove [me] from it because they are concerned about the gay community being linked to the political movement to overthrow the Government. Their fear is that if gays become seen as agitating for revolution, the crackdown against them will be even harsher.’
Maryam Namazie is spokesperson of One Law For All, a lobby group that campaigns against the Iranian regime. She says Sharia law, the strict Islamic code of ethics and behaviour that is in force, is the main reason Iran is so violently homophobic. “Homophobia exists everywhere, but when the state actually has a law that says gay people should be killed, it’s a very different and dangerous phenomenon. And it exists in places primarily where religion and Islam are in political power.”
Maryam disagrees. She says, “In any society, even when homophobia is banned, it still exists but a change in the law is an important first step. Changes in law help to change culture and society. In Iran, to change Sharia law one must get rid of the Islamic Republic of Iran. How can a regime that thinks gays must die, women are sub-human and children are on par with animals be reformed or remain in power?”
According to Maryam, there is a groundswell of support for democracy in Iran. “Even though 70 percent of the population in Iran were born under the Islamic regime, a large majority don’t want it. There is a huge anti-Islamic backlash in Iran. The regime wants to blame the West, but it has only itself to blame. It is antithetical with 21st Century lives.”
She says there is plenty the international gay community can do to help, including raising awareness of the issues within the wider community and galvanising support against the execution of gays and others. “We also need to show real solidarity with the movement there that is aiming to get rid of the regime.”
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