Iran, Sexuality, and Human Rights

Mahmoud Asgari, 16, and Ayaz Marhoni, 18, were two teenagers from the province of Khuzestan, charged with rape and sodomy in a nation where both concepts are frequently conflated by a specious justice system. They were hanged in a public execution in the city of Mashhad on July 19, 2005. Mahmoud and Ayaz were executed for same-sex practices (and deprived of their basic right to exist) as a result of a zealous government that is based not on the principles of reason but rather the tyranny of religion: Iran is a nation that has criminalized such acts since 1979, a violation of which is punishable by torture and death, according to Islamic law.

Mahmoud and Ayaz’s case is simply one of many that occur regularly in Iran (and it happened only a month before Ahmadinejad was elected president). Other such violations are broadly distributed and experienced by all sectors of Iranian society, except for the elites. For instance, the status of women in Iran continues to appalling. Such repression is to be expected from a nation in which every resource is mobilized to suppress dissent, smash same-sex practices, and oppress women.

I begin with Mahmoud and Ayaz because it is their story that compellingly illustrates the human rights violations that are regularly perpetrated by Iran. Because we inherited the knowledge of their persecution, we must do honor to their deaths by working towards a diplomatic yet unwavering solution so that others may enjoy a happier outcome.

Many have invoked rhetoric centered on human rights and freedom. Unfortunately, these values have been co-opted by some of the more extreme conservative and reactionary factions within our campus, who use such language to propel their own agendas. Such discussion undeniably comes from a place of privilege, a discourse that is bound up with the advantages of education and status—it is impossible to speak about the lack of something with which all of us have long been accustomed. To be sure, this level of engagement is neither brave nor courageous, for it is expected of our role as student leaders to endeavor to speak truth to power. However, for those factions that seek to cloak themselves in the language of liberty and human rights while pushing an agenda that will deprive many of such benefits requires as much audacity as one that would deny the occurrence of genocide. Indeed, the appropriation of the experiences of the oppressed in Iran in order to agitate for military escalation is a malicious disservice to those who have suffered under the regime. While it is expedient and useful in moments of supposed crisis to unite and come to consensus on common principles (because historically, no group on this campus operates a monopoly on civil discourse and respectful dialogue), progressives must acknowledge that we stand for the core values of liberalism and freedom—values that broadly and robustly defined, would likely earn the vitriol of both Ahmadinejad and factions on this campus, who separately but mutually advocate torture, military escalation, and the suppression of dissent and sexual practices under the banner of moral and religious zealotry.

I am profoundly disturbed by the notion that Ahmadinejad can visit our campus to enjoy the benefits and comfort of liberal society, knowing the entire time that a controversial speaker in his nation would surely be publicly hanged. Giving Ahmadinejad a soapbox from which to air his provocative rhetoric offends many of us, but the grievous denial of freedom and safety to Iranian citizens who engage in same-sex practices are just as offensive. I am immensely privileged to be able to love others and protest freely, while others in Iran have no such blessings to lose. I stand in solidarity with them in the hope that one day they can have the option to practice these desires openly and without fear for their lives.

Although our identities, values, and cultures are decidedly different from our peers in Iran, I am convinced our stakes in this struggle are one and the same.

The author is a student in the School of General Studies and a board member of Columbia Queer Alliance.