On International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia And Biphobia, Iran’s Persecution Of LGBTQ Citizens Continues

(New York, N.Y.) – Today, governments, the business community and individuals are marking the 16th annual International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOTB). Celebrations are underway in more than 130 countries, but not in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran is among the minority of nations worldwide where same-sex acts between consenting adults are illegal, and the regime continues its targeted campaign to isolate and persecute its own citizens in the LGBTQ community. This includes tolerating so-called “honor killings” by family members.

“Tehran’s abhorrent disregard for the human rights of its own LGBTQ citizens must be addressed, and we applaud the Biden Administration for elevating its focus on such Iranian persecution in the latest State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,” said United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace. “UANI believes the Biden Administration should continue to hold the Iranian regime accountable for its grave human rights abuses, and should uphold and expand existing U.S. sanctions imposed under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and other laws.”

The UANI resource Iran’s War on LGBT Citizens highlights how Iran oppresses LGBTQ citizens. Tehran provides no legal protections for LGBT individuals, compels LGBT children to go through brutal “conversion therapy,” and pressures gay and lesbian Iranians to undergo sex-reassignment surgery. Consequently, gay, lesbian, and bisexual Iranians are forced to hide their sexual orientation and conceal same-sex romantic relationships to avoid arrest, imprisonment, flogging, and even execution.

To read the UANI resource “Iran’s War On LGBT Citizens,” please click here.

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