■  Peter Tatchell (left) with Chris Bryant MP (who hosted the event) with guest speaker Azar Majedi, Chair of the Organisation for Women’s Liberation in Iran and John Hunt of OutRage! outside the Houses of Parliament yesterday. (Photo: Outrage!)

 LONDON, July 20, 2006  –  The two exiled gay Iranians who were due to be at the House of Commons yesterday evening for a “protest meeting” on homophobic and other persecutions in Iran pulled out at the last moment.

Explaining their absence, Peter Tatchell of Outrage! said that it “Spoke volumes” as to the reason for the meeting.

“One is too frightened to come this evening as he feels his attendance might adversely affect his asylum application now with the Home Office,” Mr. Tatchell said.

“The other was scared that the Iranian regime would find out he was here – and that could cause a problem for his family in Iran.”

The meeting, in the House of Commons Committee Room 12 was hosted by Chris Bryant, the Labour MP for Rhondda in Wales.

He said that there had been great strides in his lifetime on human rights for gay men and women in Great Britain – and that the same was true in most countries of the European Union.

“But out brothers and sisters still suffer in many countries,” he pointed out.

“The British Government should do mores, and take a lead.”

The House of Commons meeting was held on the first anniversary of the public execution by hanging in Mashad, Iran, of Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, two gay teenagers.

Mr. Bryant slammed the British press.  “They ignored it,” he said.

“We could do a lot more in this Parliament,” he admitted, revealing that he had earlier lodged an Early Day Motion in Parliament, “Iranian Executions”, which had been signed by 100 MPs.

Mr. Tatchell told the 50 people present that gay men and women in Iran know “that we are meeting here in Parliament” – and of all the other gatherings world-wide.

“It mean a lot to them,” he said.  “They have told me.”

Mr. Tatchell then told of an email he had received from inside Iran which said the regime has gone on the offensive  and are condemning the international day of action.

Azar Majedi, the editor in chief of Medusa and  contributor to News Channel – a current affairs broadcaster that beams its service into Iran by satellite, said that while the execution of the two gay teens was a catalyst for the meeting, ages are really irrelevant.

“We mourn the many lesbian and gay victims of Iran’s homophobic regime, and express our solidarity with all Iranians who are working for social justice, democracy and human rights.

“There have been more than 100,000 political execution in Iran,” she said.

Ms Majed told of a 16 years-old girl who had been executed for prostitution.  She had, in fact, been raped by many men – an even the night before her execution had been gang-raped in prison, with one of the rapists said to have been the judge who had passed sentence on her.

She pointed out that “at least 80 per cent of the population in Iran wanted to see the current regime toppled”.

Simon Forbes of Outrage!, who has spent a year researching the case of the two teenagers and other gay human rights abuses in Iran, said that all the evidence pointed to the fact that the teens were between 15 and 16 when their alleged crime was committed.

He said that he had been in touch with many Iranians and on the evidence he had found he was sure of the facts, despite the many variations in the details of the case made public from official sources.

Mr. Tatchell reminded the meeting that two Iranians had killed themselves in England after receiving deportation papers from the Home Office.  One had doused himself with petrol and set fire to himself, and the other shot himself.

Concluding, Mr. Bryant said:  “We shouldn’t be sending gay refuges and others who were victims of human rights abuses back to Iran.”

He urged everyone to contact their MP and mount pressure on the Government, adding that he was seeking an urgent meeting with Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary to discuss the matter.

■  Simon Forbes (left) who presented the findings of months of research into the exectutions, with guest speaker Azar Majedi, Chair of the Organisation for Women’s Liberation in Iran and Peter Tatchell, who chaired the event. (Photo: Outrage!)

■  Protests yesterday took place in more than 30 cities worldwide, including: Amsterdam, Bogata, Brussels, Chicago, Dublin, Fort Lauderdale, London, Marseilles, Mexico City, Milan, Moscow, New York, Provincetown, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Sioux Falls, Stockholm, Toronto, Tulsa, Vancouver, Vienna, Warsaw and Washington DC.

SEE ALSO

A Message To the World From Gay Men and Women in Iran.  Homosexual Ladies and Gentlemen, transsexuals and transgender, the human right activists and peace lovers along with people who love democracy and equality [...]  once more we send our support and appreciation for your protest on July 19th and we believe that freedom and democracy in Iran is achievable throughout efforts and struggles of the Iranian public and actions of different social groups. (UK Gay News, July 19, 2006)

LINK

Persian Gay and Lesbian Organisation website