The hanging of a gay man in Iran should be a wakeup call

The recent press reports, first carried by „The Jerusalem Post“, that the Iranian regime publically hanged a 31-year-old man for being gay should be a wakeup call for anyone who supports basic human rights. Politicians, the UN, democratic governments, diplomats, and good people everywhere should speak up – and loudly.

This is not the first time the Iranian regime has put a gay man to death with the usual outrageous claims of prostitution, kidnapping, or even pedophilia. And it sadly won’t be the last time they do it either. Barbaric public executions are all too common in a country where consensual homosexual relationships are criminalized and punishable by flogging and death.

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  Grenell zu Hinrichtung im Iran

  »Erhängung eines Homosexuellen sollte wachrütteln
  

  Es ist nicht das erste Mal, dass das iranische Regime einen schwulen Mann töten ließ. Und es wird nicht das letzte Mal gewesen sein.

In Iran, where children as young as nine can be sentenced to death, gay teenagers are publically hanged in order to terrify and intimidate others from coming out. Iran’s horrific actions are on par with the brutality and savagery regularly demonstrated by ISIS.

Being gay is a death sentence in eight countries and criminalized in 70 more. LGBT status or conduct means arrest, imprisonment, and violence for people who are simply dating or falling in love. Governments that are Members of the United Nations have an obligation to protect, respect, and uphold the dignity and fundamental freedoms of their people.

While a student at Evangel University, a Christian liberal arts college in Missouri, I was taught by biblical scholars that „all truth is God’s truth, no matter where it is found.” The truth for LGBT people is that we were born gay. Enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the idea that all of us are born free and equal in dignity and rights. People can disagree philosophically about homosexuality, but no person should ever be subject to criminal penalties because they are gay.

India, Trinidad and Tobago, Angola, and Belize have recently decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual conduct. But there’s still much more work to be done.

Reasonable people can help by speaking out when young gay men are publically hanged in Iran or shot in Chechnya. And government officials must work harder to demand that UN Members decriminalize homosexuality.