01/07/2008
Some Speculate Upcoming Executions in Iran May Be Gay Youths
UK Gay News is speculating, based on limited information out of Iran on the planned execution of two youths and the manner of the execution, that the youths may be gay:
"According to the Iranian official Quds Daily, two youths, identified as Tayab and Yazdan, had their execution confirmed by the Supreme Court on Wednesday and regional justices are preparing the execution. Also included charged in the same case were four others who are to receive 100 lashes each. The ages of the two to be executed are not given, but they were convicted, according to Quds, of 'kidnapping, mugging and raping two university students'. The gender of the two students is not known. Quds reports that the executions will be carried out by putting each youth in a sack and throwing them off the top of a cliff and into a ravine. This form of execution under Shariah law is normally reserved for those convicted of gay offences (lavat). But there is no mention of ‘lavat’ in the Quds report of this case. If a person survives this execution, then he is hanged."
While it's difficult to know whether the allegations in these kinds of cases are legitimate because sexual assault charges are often trumped up to undermine public sympathy for the offenders when the real reason behind the executions is the sexuality of those targeted, it's in any case a barbaric scenario.
More on this as it develops...
You may have missed...
Iranian Man Executed Today Without Notice for Alleged Sex Crime [tr]
Execution of Iranian Gay Man Stayed Due to International Pressure [tr]
Iranian Leader to British MPS: Gays Should Be Hanged [tr]
Ahmadinejad: "In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals" [tr]
Posted 10:20 AM EST by Andy Towle in Gay Youth, Iran, News | Permalink
Like it?
Subscribe to FREE Towleroad daily headlines with our RSS feed!
RECENT STORIES:
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
This tears me up on the inside to know that this takes place in the world.
Posted by: Paul Hunsucker | Jan 7, 2008 10:31:31 AM
Is there any way to help? What can very concerned gay and straight people do to help stop this genocide? If anyone knows please comment!
Posted by: Pugzz | Jan 7, 2008 11:15:24 AM
Some will wonder why there are so few comments on these Iran stories. It's called feeling helpless. It's like when dissedents were being murdered in China--what could be done? The US government doesn't care (at this time), so what can be done? We're not even sure about the actual sexual orientation or status of these victims of state sanctioned murder. A lot of men & boys perform homosexual sex who are not homosexual or gay. Of course, having same sex relations is no excuse for the state killing them. Hell, no. I'm just wondering if "gay identified" Iranians are "keeping their business" so hidden that they may not be the ones being executed. Still, no one should be murdered by the state, and the state shouldn't be committing murder.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | Jan 7, 2008 12:07:08 PM
We should all be standing up to protest this type of brutality taking place anywhere in the world. We get closer to this type of society right here everytime we remain silent.
If Huckabee continues his surge we will be in danger of a Christian Reconstructionist government. Don't know what this entails? Read the list of Mosaic code restrictions and punishments that these people support, including Huckabee:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_bibh2.htm
Posted by: wet | Jan 7, 2008 12:55:10 PM