We Stand Together and Move Forward to Exercise Our Rights

Iranian LGBTIQ (queer*) community:

In all these years, LGBTIQ community alongside with other groups, not only have been observing protests and uprising of Iranian people, but they have been part of it as well. This year, we as a group of Iranian queer community, state our full support for Iranian people and we ask all Iranian around the world not to forget to fight for equal rights in all aspects including gender equality and LGBTIQ community rights.

The article 20 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares everyone right to have freedom of peaceful assembly and association. We also recognize everyone right to have a peaceful demonstration and protests as part of efforts to achieve equality and democracy in a society. Therefore, nonviolent demonstrations are basic rights of each person which is brought into laws in international communities and Iran. However, our society continuously being pushed out and LGBTIQ activists have been hiding their identities and hence leave the country.

In the last 4 decades, Islamic Republic of Iran government not only has been playing a direct role in punishing people, but also has been very active in promoting hatred against LGBTIQ community all around the world. Iranian government officials are proud to do such activities and these pressures forces thousand Iranian people from queer community to leave Iran and seek asylum in other countries.

We, Iranian LGBTIQ activists, request support from politicians and activists in Iran and all around the world and we demand their help to improve the situation of Iranian queer community until we achieve the equal rights.

We also appeal to social activists to not forget Intersectional people rights and  to remember that students, women, teachers, workers, and minorities from different cities and villages are part of the LGBTIQ community. In Iran society, due to toxic environment against LGBTIQ community, people from different sexual orientations are not in liberty to exercise their rights and make sure their voices are heard, hence they are victims of inequality from different legal and social aspects.

We, as part of the LGBTIQ community, would like to ask all social movements especially women movements to promote gender equality goal and invite them to remember other sexual orientations in their conversations and not to encourage Heteronormative and Cisnormative dialogues.

JoopeA Foundation, Spectrum, Radio Ranginkaman

* “Queer” is used as equivalent of LGBTIQ+ (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, etc.) which is more inclusive.