At the beginning of May, a young man, Ali Fazeli Monfared was killed by family members on the basis of his homosexuality. By being an LGBTQ+ advocate in Iran, he represents the difficulty of speaking about sexuality and queerness in the Middle East. Monfared is another victim of ‘mercy killings’ in which family members or Iranians kill LGBTQ+ members in order ‘save’ the honor of the families. NBCNews expresses how ‘mercy killings’ are a popular practice that is legal in Iran, therefore protecting the assaillants from facing any legal repercussions. Monfared lost his life before leaving for Turkey, a path he had considered in order to get a better life. He had expressed receiving clear threats from his own family which encouraged his decision of fleeing Iran. It is believed that the family had found his military service exemption card which mentioned his homosexuality as the reason to not be able to do it. Homosexuality in Iran is considered to be a mental illness, therefore exempts anybody who is from mandatory military service. LGBTQ+ youth receive no protection from the government which could protect them from their families.
Iran is currently considered by the United Nations to be one of the most dangerous places for LGBTQ+ people, because of discriminations but also because being part of this community is punishable by death. This means immigration represents an important way for the queer youth in Iran to survive and flee a repressive regime. Neighboring countries represented better opportunities after queer Iranians witnessed in their home countries, yet it turned out to not be as good as anticipated. Even though homosexuality is not as badly discriminated in Turkey, Turkish citizens are not happy about the migration of queer Iranians. According to a survey made by World Values, 84% of Turkish citizens do not want to live with their queer/LGBTQ+ neighbors. This proves that even though Middle Eastern countries neighbouring Iran appear to become more tolerant, it is actually not the case and are actually hiding deeper levels of discrimination.
The events unfolding in the Middle East proves that the conditions of living for LGBTQ+ people are not stable nor safe. With constant threat of death of violence, queer Iranians have no other option than fleeing their own countries seek better treatment and opportunities. Staying in Iran represents too much of a danger to be considered an option. According to DW, the Iranian Foreign Minister defended Iran’s choice of executing homosexuals as it follows ‘moral principles’ that are aligned with the country and people’s sexuality do represent a violation of the law. This angered members of the LGBTQ+ community, especially within Iranians as the actions committed by the government represent violations of human rights. It implied the needed change for better rights in particular for homosexuals. Iran also follows Sharia law and homosexuality represents a violation of that religious law.
The migration movement known as Iranian or Persian diaspora has strengthened through the years with Iranians relocating to Europe, Turkey, the US or Canada ever since the Iranian revolution of 1979. 1979 became a turning point from Iran which became an Islamic Republic that follows Sharia law. Migration Policy emphasizes on different phases of migration Iran faced, with first ethnic minorities leaving as soon as 1979, now represented by the LGBT and other sexual minorities. Following the strict religious law imposed by the state, Iranians’ behaviors are inspected and expected to be the best in order to please God.
Internationally, the death of Monfared brought a lot of attention to Iran and criticism rose. Through social media, both individuals, politicians and activists condemned the actions of Iran towards its own population and demanded actions from the UN as well as powerful countries in order to bring a needed change in the Middle East. Iran is not the only country in which homosexuality or appartenance to the LGBTQ+ community is punishable by death.
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→ Cover picture by Markus Scholz/AFP/Getty Images found on https://slate.com/human-interest/2016/11/what-iran-can-teach-american-about-the-fight-for-lgbtq-rights.html
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