They kill gay people, don't they?

This is the last night of the "Blog against Theocracy" blogswarm, and I'm all too happy to contribute.

Well. That's not exactly right. As Dave said, this turned out to be harder than I thought. There's almost too much to say and most of it's already been said. I collected dozens of articles for the occasion, only to revisit something that's been eating at me for ages.

You see, I'm a bit naive about some things. I know homophobia still pervades and poisons our culture. Approx once every six months or so, I still find myself in vein-popping 'conversations' with people about equal marriage.

But I could hardly contain myself when I read about what the LGBT community faces in Iran. I wrote about it at the time, June 1, 2006, in celebration of Canada Day. The original piece is sadly lost to the Star archives, but you can find it reprinted here. Doug Ireland has written extensively about this too. Here is the excerpt that verily brought me to tears:

Immigration lawyer Battista understands how difficult it is for many gay people to seek asylum in Canada.
"Often, they have spent a lifetime suppressing, hiding and lying about their sexual orientation to save their lives," says the lawyer, who has spent the past 14 years assisting gays and lesbians who fear harassment, torture and even death if Canada won't let them in. "Soon after they've arrived in Canada they are at a hearing, and they are asked to prove one, that they are homosexual, and two, that they cannot return home," says Battista, who leads about 40 homosexual refugee applicants through the process each year.
"In many cases, they haven't directly experienced problems of persecution. Because the conditions are so oppressive, they are too fearful to express their sexual orientation or sexual identity in any sense."
Battista recalls one of his earliest clients being an older man from Iran who was seeking protection based on his sexual orientation. "But he couldn't even say the words. He was at the airport in tears of frustration trying to explain to the immigration officer why he was seeking asylum in Canada, and he was saying, `It's because of who I am. It's because of who I am,' and the officer was asking, `Is it political? Is it religious?'
"And finally the officer said, `Are you gay?' And the poor man burst into tears. That was the first time there had been an official recognition of who he was, his sexual orientation. That story will always stay with me."

I know it's hard to be shocked in this day & age, but I confess: I felt totally destroyed at the thought of it: state sponsored torture and execution of gays. In 2006. While everybody watches on...

I did some digging and found the website for the "Persion Gay & Lesbian Organization." The PGLO finds its headquarters in...Toronto!

Due to the existing government censorship and other limitations in Iran, PGLO became a registered organization and began its activities in Norway, but the majority of our friends and allies remain in Iran. We have now decided to register IRanian Queer Organization - IRQO in Toronto, Canada and open our main office there, and we will expand our activities from there.

{Globalgayz.com is also an important resource for news and information--including that 'lost' TorStar article!}

But not everyone believes what they read. Some need to see it with their own two eyes. At this point, I want you to take the time to watch "Out in Iran," a doc produced for CBC Sunday:

If the video fails on the CBC site then run, don't walk to Youtube and watch the film there (part I, part II, and part III).

This is what theocracy looks like. And lest you accuse me of 'picking' on Iran, do I need to remind you of this? Not close enough to home? Have a look at this...

...and go back and watch that video.

Good night & Gawd bless.