Back in September, when the United States government shamefully permitted Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — in fact a primary and aggressive enemy of the United States — to enter the United States, Ahmadinejad claimed that there are no homosexuals in Iran. He said, “In Iran we don’t have homosexuals like in your country… In Iran we do not have this phenomenon. I don’t know who’s told you that we have this.”
There’s a good reason why Iranians don’t admit to homosexuality: Iran murders homosexuals as a matter of official policy.
On March 9, the AP reported:
Mehdi Kazemi, 19, came to London to study English in 2005 but later discovered that his boyfriend had been arrested by the Iranian police, charged with sodomy and hanged.
Mr Kazemi was told by his father in Tehran that his boyfriend had been questioned about his sexual relationships before his execution in April 2006 and named him under interrogation.
Mr Kazemi claimed asylum in Britain, fearing for his life if he returned to Iran but his case was refused late last year. He fled Britain for the Netherlands, where he is now being detained.
The article notes that the fate of Kazemi is now in the hands of the Dutch courts. I find it astounding that Britain refused to offer Kazemi protection. Absent important relevant facts not revealed by the AP, Britain’s decision was inexcusable. Hopefully Kazemi will find protection elsewhere. If the United States had sensible immigration policies, he would be offered a (voluntarily funded) plane ticket to America.