An Iranian actor has been questioned by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and forced to apologize after he tweeted his support for same-sex marriage, reports GayExpress.
Bahram Raden tweeted “The US supreme court's ruling that same-sex marriage is legal was historic, perhaps on the scale of the end of slavery…from Lincoln to Obama.”
Raden – “the Iranian Brad Pitt” – was later bombarded with homophobic abuse and has since deleted the tweets.
A letter of apology published in Iran's national daily newspaper Keyhan read:
“What was published on the internet as my opinion about the US supreme court's ruling on gay marriage was a mistake and does not reflect the dignity of the Iranian people, for which I apologise.
“We're living in a country which celebrates marriage as a tradition of the prophet. American laws have no bearing on the Islamic republic and gay marriage is reprehensible under our social and religious laws and according to our social values.”
The director of the ultra-conservative Keyhan is appointed directly by the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Until recently, anal sex between men was punishable by death. Under new amendments, the person who takes the “active” role will be flogged 100 times, while the one in the “passive” role will be put to death. Women engaging in gay sex face 100 lashes.
Earlier this year, Iran cracked down on Western “homosexual” and “devil worshiping” hairstyles for men.
(Image via Twitter)
