Rallies are being held around the country today in 10 U.S. cities and 15 others around the world, on the first anniversary of the public hanging of two young men for being gay in Iran. Rally supporters will demand:
1. End all executions in Iran, especially the execution of minors. (Photo below, the teens Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, Mashad, Iran, July 19, 2005)
2. Stop the arrest, torture and imprisonment of Iranian lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and repeal the Iranian penal code's criminalization of same-sex relationships.
3. Halt the deportation to Iran of LGBT asylum seekers and other victims of Tehran's persecution.
4. Support Iranians struggling for democracy, social justice and human rights.
5. Oppose foreign military intervention in Iran; regime change must come from within – by and for the Iranian people themselves.”
Direland has a list of the vigils and the times they are taking place.
