Gay Homeland Foundation

The Gay Homeland Foundation and a group of Iranian Gays and Lesbians in exile will run a protest demonstration in front of the Iranian Consulate in Frankfurt on July 19, 2010 starting at 11:00. Later during the day, a vigil commemorating all Gay and Lesbian victims of the regime in Iran will be kept in Cologne/Germany together with baraka, a local self-organization group of LGBT immigrants. The vigil is scheduled to begin at 17:30 at the “Memorial for Lesbian and Gay victims of National Socialism” near the Hohenzollern bridge on the left Rhine bank in Cologne, Germany.

19 July 2010 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. 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 regime and its death squads.

In today’s Iran, Gays and Lesbians 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.

According to the recent reports of the exile Iranian LGBT organization IRQRR, a private party in a suburb called Podonak was raided on July 11, 2010. The police lead the raid, accompanied by the volunteer moral militia and revolutionary guard. It is understood that between 17 and 19 people have been arrested and taken to the local intelligent service’s detention centre.

The Gay Homeland Foundation (GHF) appeales 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.

For further event information, please contact Viktor Zimmermann:

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

tel: +49-172-2144739

Download: Flyer in German and Farsi for the vigil in Cologne, Speech at the vigil in Cologne (in German)

UPDATE: Pictures from Frankfurt