Penalties for being Gay

[Guest fountainhall]

Being homosexual and indulging in any homosexual act (sometimes merely hand-holding) is still against the law in many countries. Closest to Thailand is Malaysia where homosexual acts are punishable by lashing and a sentence of up to 20 years. Even cruising is punishable with up to 2 years in prison. Yet, it’s not hard to spot a lot of gays in Malaysia, and KL alone has a number of gay establishments.

 

Looking through a list of countries, be found guilty of being gay in these countries and the penalty is death -

 

Afghanistan

Iraq

Mauritania

Saudi Arabia

Yemen

 

Yet, even instant death (if that indeed is what it is) may be preferable to the punishment you could receive in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Mind you, one consolation is that you may have a choice if the court does not impose one -

 

- being hanged

- stoned

- halved by a sword

- dropped from the highest perch.

 

Nice to be living in the 21^st century!

[Rogie]

Here is the latest news report I could find regarding gay men being executed in Iran.

 

Iran’s judiciary have executed three men for sodomy in a case that sheds new light on the official persecution of gay men and women in the authoritarian Islamic Republic.

 

According to a news report carried by the Iranian Student News Agency, the men were put to death by hanging on Sunday morning at Karoun prison in the south western city of Ahvaz. The agency quoted Abdolhamid Amanat, an official at the prosecutor office in Khuzestan Province, as the source of the announcement.

In total six people were executed. According to the published charges, two men were put to death for robbery and rape and one was executed for drug trafficking.

 

But in an unusual announcement the prosecutor office also admitted that three other men were sentenced for “lavat”, the phrase used in Islamic law for sodomy. The names of the three men have not been given – only their initials M.T, T.T and M.Ch.

Human rights groups have said the case is significant because gay men that come before the courts are usually charged with acts such as sexual assault and rape – crimes that convey an element of coercion rather than consensual sex between two willing participants.

The recent Ahvaz executions, however, specifically refer to sections 108 and 110 of the Iranian penal code. Section 108 defines sodomy under Iran’s interpretation of Sharia law and the latter rules that the punishment for lavat is death. Previous executions of gay men usually quote sections of the Iranian penal code that refer to “lavat leh onf” - sodomy by coercion.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, a researcher at Iran Human Rights who is investigating the executions, told The Independent: “Iranian authorities have previously presented such cases as rape, in order to make the execution more acceptable and to avoid too much international attention, but this time the news is not presented as rape.”

He added: “This case is the only one in recent years where the only basis for the death sentence has been a sexual relationship between two men, with reference to the articles 108 and 110 of the Islamic Penal Code. These articles are very clear.”

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-executes-three-men-for-sodomy-2350671.html

 

As one might well imagine, this is just one aspect of discrimination and persecution in Iran.

 

Iranian citizens who belong to ethnic or religious minority groups - such as Azeris, Kurds, Baluchis, Baha'is, Sufis, Sunnis, Ahwazis - face discrimination and persecution, as in the examples below. They are subject to suspension from universities, job dismissal, unlawful arrest, illegal search and confiscation, torture, and even the death penalty, for the crime of belonging to a particular ethnic or non-[shiite] Muslim religious group. For those who are arrested, the conditions in prison are inhuman, and they are often kept in isolation and not allowed to have contact with anyone outside the prison.

 

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/The+Iranian+Threat/Human+rights+violations/Iran_ethnic_and_religious_discrimination_and_persecution.htm

 

The political and religious leaders in Iran are not representative of their country. I haven't visited Iran but a good female friend of mine, who is extremely well-travelled - has - a few years ago she told me the 'ordinary' people she had met were the friendliest she'd ever encountered.

 

It's things like that make my blood boil when we hear about Iran being demonised for its aspirations to join the nuclear club. I believe the belligerent attitude of their political leaders is totally at odds with the wishes of Iran's ordinary citizens. You could draw a parallel with America's and Britain's leaders pronouncements before the Iraqi war.

[Guest thaiworthy]

The Middle-East has no monopoly on anti-gay legislation. Homophobia has its roots well-entenched in stupidity everywhere. Isn't Africa's Uganda anti-gay as well? Some people seem to actually enjoy being ignorant. I wish I could say this video was funny, but it's rather sad and pretty pathetic. They talk about feces on da faces, but it seems to me what they are wearing on their own faces is a lotta da egg.

 

http://youtu.be/q1wwe9-be2Y

 

Another tragedy in this piece is the fact he used a Mac to display the elements of his hate campaign!

 

Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill (often called the "Kill the Gays bill" in the media) is a legislative proposal that would broaden the criminalisation of same-sex relations by dividing homosexual behavior into two categories: "aggravated homosexuality", in which an offender would receive the death penalty, or "the offense of homosexuality" in which an offender would receive life imprisonment.

 

http://en.wikipedia....osexuality_Bill