Australia marks LGBT awareness day in Iran where gays face execution

The Australian embassy celebrated the annual LGBTIQA+ awareness day in Iran where homosexuality is strictly banned, and homosexuals face the threat of execution.

A post on the Australian embassy's Instagram page shows Ambassador Ian McConville and his colleagues celebrating the “Wear it Purple Day with a splash of purple in every corner, and some delicious cupcakes made with love."

"Today, and every day, we’re dedicated to creating a supportive environment, where everyone, especially LGBTQIA+ youth, can feel proud to be themselves. Let’s keep championing diversity and inclusion for a brighter, more inclusive future 🤝🏳️‍🌈," the Instagram post added.

The German embassy in Tehran has also joined the Australian embassy's celebration by posting purple hearts in reply to its Instagram post.

In Iran, homosexuality is punishable by death for men and by 100 lashes for women. On repeated offenses, women can be also executed under the laws of the Islamic Republic which are based on a hardline interpretation of Shia Islam.

In its latest annual report on Iran's human rights practices, the US State Department expressed concern about reports that Iran's "security forces harassed, arrested, and detained individuals they suspected or perceived as being LGBTQI+."

"In some cases, security forces raided houses and monitored internet sites for information on LGBTQI+ persons," the report said.

In 2022, the Islamic Republic sentenced LGBTQ activists Zahra Sedighi-Hamedani (31) and Elham Choubdar (24) to death on charges of "corruption on earth through the promotion of homosexuality." However, the Supreme Court overturned the sentence, and the activists were temporarily released on bail. In December 2023, it was reported that Sedighi-Hamadani had safely fled Iran for another undisclosed country. However, Choubdar was arrested in February 2024 to serve her three-year jail term.

Iran's laws allow individuals to change their gender identify markers on government-issued identification cards after gender-affirming surgery and by court permission. Many Islamic Republic apologists portray the country's "tolerance" of transgenders as an expression of liberalism.

However, the Islamic Republic seems to be exploiting the sex-reassignment surgery (SRS) as a means of purging gays and lesbians from public life, as evidenced in a 2019 article by Economist.

The Islamic Republic has allegedly executed "between 4,000 and 6,000 gay men and lesbians... for crimes related to their sexual preference since 1979," a 2008 WikiLeaks cable said citing reports by human rights activists.