Petrelis Files

Cologne, SF Recall Iran's Gay Hangings

The Islamic Republic of Iran on July 19, 2005, hanged two gay teenagers, Ayaz Marhoni and Mahmoud Asgari, in broad daylight in the central public square in the holy city of Mashad, and to commemorate the executions, gay and Iranian activists in Cologne and San Francisco staged vigils recently and spoke out about Iran's mistreatment of LGBT people. Click here for background info and photos of the hangings.

Below are photos from the remembrance in Ross Mirkarimi's office in SF's City Hall on July 18. And after the SF photos, you find a report from the vigil in Cologne.

Ross Mirkarimi, who is Iranian-American and a member of the Board of Supervisors, spoke about the hangings, democracy and human rights for all Iranians. He reminded us that gay activists in San Francisco have staged a vigil every year for the hanged teenagers, including organizing a speak out in 2005, one week after the world learned of the barbaric executions.

Almost 20 people, of assorted ethnic heritage, gathered in Mirkarimi's office to light candles of remembrance and hold signs demanding an end to Iranian executions.

Gay American Bevan Dufty, another member of the Board of Supervisors, holding his daughter Sidney, delivered remarks about the need to support LGBT people in Iran and living in exile.

Mirkarimi thanked everyone for turning out for the vigil and promised to help LGBT Iranians in their difficult struggle for freedom and equality.

This is the report from the organizers of the July 19 action in Cologne:

The Gay Homeland Foundation, an organization dedicated to furtherance of a Gay national movement and cultural progress of the Gay-Lesbian community, and baraka, an international self-organization group of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual immigrants in Cologne, have for the second time organized a political demonstration commemorating all Gay and Lesbian victims of the Ayatollah regime in Iran in Cologne on 19 July 2008.

The action started at 17:30 with a talk on the human rights situation of Gays and Lesbians in Iran, presented by Dr. Viktor Zimmermann, and continued with a vigil at the Memorial for Lesbian and Gay victims of National Socialism in Cologne at 19:30. Jacek Marjanski from baraka, and Ensi, an Iranian Lesbian refugee from Iran, read the common statement in German and Farsi.

RUBICON, Cologne's counseling center for Gays and Lesbians, also supported the event.

19 July 2008 is the anniversary of the 2005 execution of two homosexual teenagers, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, who were believed to be lovers and were denounced to the police by a family member.

Authorities later distributed official information suggesting that the two teenagers were executed because of a rape of a 13-year old boy. In Iran, such accusations are routinely applied against homosexuals to justify a death sentence, since the regular proof by four witnesses (as prescribed by Sharia) can not be realistically supplied.

Gay Homeland Foundation greatly appreciates the accurate research performed by Simon Forbes from the British group Outrage!.

The two executed teenagers will always remind us of the fate of many of our brothers and sisters in Iran who were tortured and murdered by the Ayatollah regime and its death squads.

In today's Iran, Gays and Lesbians still suffer the worst oppression and live in daily fear of denunciation. The country's harsh Islamic regime has declared a downright war against homosexuals, reminiscent of ethnic cleansing in its perfidy: Specially trained agents routinely entrap Gay men in internet forums. In this atmosphere of constant fear, many commit suicide or undergo unnecessary sex-change operations.

The Gay Homeland Foundation (GHF) appeals to the international community to cease deporting Gay and Lesbian asylum-seekers to persecuting countries, and to consider instead the establishment of a self-administered territory for the Gay and Lesbian people.

Many thanks to all those in San Francisco and Cologne for participating in this year's vigils for the hanged gay Iranian teenagers and for working on behalf of acceptance for LGBT Iranian people everywhere.