Gays should be hanged, says Iranian minister (Iranian MP)

[seriousstan]

Source: timesonline

Homosexuals deserve to be executed or tortured and possibly both, an Iranian leader told British MPs during a private meeting at a peace conference, The Times has learnt.

Mohsen Yahyavi is the highest-ranked politician to admit that Iran believes in the death penalty for homosexuality after a spate of reports that gay youths were being hanged.

President Ahmadinejad, questioned by students in New York two months ago about the executions, dodged the issue by suggesting that there were no gays in his country.

---cut---

Minutes taken by an official describe a meeting between British and Iranian MPs at the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a peace body, in May. When the Britons raised the hangings of Asqari and Marhouni, the leader of the Iranian delegation, Mr Yahyavi, a member of his parliament’s energy committee, was unflinching. He “explained that according to Islam gays and lesbianism were not permitted”, the record states. “He said that if homosexual activity is in private there is no problem, but those in overt activity should be executed . He argued that homosexuality is against human nature and that humans are here to reproduce. Homosexuals do not reproduce.”

Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2859606.ece

[Common Sense Party]

1. Now THAT'S a theocratic police state!

Bushie? Are you taking notes?

[Ishoutandscream2]

51. Yeah, and our fundies are salivating at the thought

No difference in fundamentalist religious insanity, whether it's Islam or Christianity.

[wtmusic]

2. Being 900 years behind the curve

must suck.

[barb162]

8. It's outrageous.

Pathetic "thinking" if you could even call it that.

[arewenotdemo]

41. Yep. They're giving the Vatican a run for its money.

[Dave From Canada]

69. Really? When did the Vatican champion the hanging/execution of gays?

[arewenotdemo]

70. Behind...the...curve. On so many levels.

[Der Blaue Engel]

3. He should get along very well with some of our fundies

(Do they execute the celibate and infertile there as well, I wonder?)

[leftynyc]

18. What the hell are you talking about?

Who executes the celibate and infertile? And I'll knock our fundies any way I can but to compare them to what is state sponsored terrorism is childish and irresponsible.

[Der Blaue Engel]

22. Wow, what the hell are YOU talking about?

The Iranian MP said homosexuals should be executed because they do not reproduce. Therefore, the logical question follows, should celibate people and infertile people also be executed according to his rules?

And yes, I WILL compare fundamentalists of ALL religions. In addition, you may note that I said SOME of our fundies. If you think there are no fundamentalist Christians in this country who would like to see homosexuals executed, then you are sadly mistaken. Nowhere did I say that all fundamentalists held this view.

Please stop overreacting. DU is getting to be like some kind of bad play.

[leftynyc]

24. I'm very sorry - I misunderstood you

That said - all fundies are not created equal. When they have the power of the state behind them, as they do in Iran, they are much, much more dangerous. So, while there are probably those kind of nuts in this country, they aren't close to the seats of power let alone making the laws.

[Der Blaue Engel]

26. You're right, and it's the power of the state I worry about

What's been happening over the past 30 or so years has been a scary, incremental slide on the slippery slope, IMO.

Thank you for the apology. Things get awfully heated around here and it's nice when someone acknowledges a misunderstanding. Sorry I snapped back. :)

[leftynyc]

35. No worries

We're mostly on the same side here. I see the same slippery slope you do but I believe the numbers of those who wish to turn this into a religious state are small (loud, but small). While I consider myself a moderately religious/spiritual person, I don't expect anyone to make exceptions for me and I don't make them for others.

I still maintain that the yahoos in Iran make our religious freaks look like pikers in comparison.

[dogfacedboy]

71. Ya got that right.

Being a guy who would do anything, and I MEAN anything, to anyone, to prevent a fundamentalist/religionist State in the US, I see even the whacko half of the US christo-fascists as basically harmless, from a physical stand point. It's in the political arena that they need to be monitored and controlled. If the shit were to truly hit the fan, I don't think Betsy and Bubba Joe Baptist have anywhere near the courage of their convictions. They may be noisy on the issues, but they're surely not the "Christian Warriors" that they like to portray themselves as.

That being said, it's also unfair to compare US fundies with the psychotic swine that make up the Taliban, and other Middle East extremism groups. These characters all wanna dine on Allah's toejam, or meet the virgins-without-facial-hair, or whatever it is they live/die for, and they don't care what they have to do to achieve that end.

[SyntaxError]

44. Hmm, I tend to think we're moving forward, rather than moving backward.

While we're not moving forward as quickly as I'm sure most of us would like. I have a hard time believing that things are not better than they were 30 years ago.

[BOSSHOG]

4. I wonder what airport restrooms Mohsen hangs out in

So overt heterosexual activity is OK? Just what I want to see. Straight Tourists from Topeka fornicating on Bourbon Street, while bitching about what Gays do in private.

[closeupready]

11. My first thought, as well.

Same tired story, will probably end similarly.

[closeupready]

14. It's like he's saying, "look how much I hate gays; so if one day you find me in some airport

adopting a wide stance, well I hated gays more than you do, so I will have already compensated for my error."

[superconnected]

5. Unfortunately many republicans believe the same thing.

So now we have our answer... The year the Republicans and the fundamental Islamics want to put us back to is 600ad.

(Note I said "fundamental Islamics". I'm perfectly aware that progressive Islamics like Progressive Christians, have evolved.)

[leftynyc]

19. So you wont have any problem

naming a republican (who isn't considered crazy like Phelps) who calls for executing gays? I mean, as they are the same as the crazy Iranians.

[superconnected]

25. My former boss is who I'll name. I'll use his first initial and last

name.- J. Cila.

He's not the only republican I've worked with that believes gays should be excuted.

And yes they are the same as crazy iranians. BTW, are you prejudiced against all iranians or just crazy iranians? Just wondering since you seem to be unaware that we have extreme people here (that aren't clinically insane) too.

[leftynyc]

36. I never said we didn't have the crazies here also

I assume your boss is not an elected official. My beef with Iran is that this is a state sponsored problem. Gays are being executed by the government. I'm sorry if you can't see the difference. Let me know someone who even ran for office here who called for executing gays.

[MindPilot]

53. Roger Hedgecock, RW talk show host, former San Diego Mayor

Not as Mayor, but on his show he has called for the rounding up and execution of gays and atheists. The gays he says may be salvageable, but the atheists need to just be shot.

[leftynyc]

65. You just prove my case

Nobody can run for office in this country with execution of gays as a talking point. It just wont happen. Why do you just refuse to see the very obvious differences between what is state sponsored in Iran and what is considered heinous by the electorate here?

[MindPilot]

73. You asked "Let me know someone who even ran for office here who called for executing gays"

Hedgecock ran for office and actually got elected. Obviously hanging gays wasn't a talking point in his campaign, but that is not what you asked even if it was what you meant :D

I'm not refusing to see the difference--it is quite obvious as you point out. But you asked for a name, and I gave you one that fit the parameters of your question.

[dogfacedboy]

72. Are you saying that Hedgecock

is still around? That clown is one major whacko. I am shocked that he hasn't had his ass kicked, or been run over by car yet. Very dangerous dude who likes to rouse the uneducated rabble, such as the MinuteMorons, et al.

[MindPilot]

74. unfortunately yes.

He even subs for Limpballs once in while.

[SyntaxError]

45. Nahh, I don't think most are as extreme...

While there are a few nutter who call for the execution of gays, most just want to deny them their civil rights(which is like soooo much better, huh?)


Although I wonder if that would change if there wasn't a strong non-religious force keeping the "norms" more tamed... If that makes any sense.

[barb162]

6. I'm speechless about this intolerance.

[superconnected]

7. I'm not gay but this headline STILL strikes fear into my heart.

I wonder how gays feel.

[yardwork]

29. You can probably imagine.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. Good thing Iran doesn't have any.

[Baby Snooks]

10. "Death to the Shah!!!!"

"Death to the Shah!!!!" the protestors screamed in the streets of Paris and Tehran and even Beverly Hills. Some students. Some CIA agents. CIA agents sent out by their boss. George HW Bush. Another "democracy" brought to us by the Bushes.

And just where are all those torture chambers the Shah used? He must have hidden them wherever Saddam Hussein hid all his weapons of mass destruction. Sooner or later, people will wake up. Probably later. And probably too late to do anything about it.

We are next on the agenda.

[sufrommich]

48. Torture under the Shah was real and well documented,

no comparison to Saddams alleged weapons of mass destruction.

[David Zephyr]

61. The C.I.A. put the Shah in power, kept him in power. The C.I.A. did not want the Shah out of power.

The Shah's long history of torturing his own people is documented and a well-established fact.

He was a playboy who Allen Dulles, Winston Churchill and Kermit Roosevelt all participated in putting him in power after they orchestrated the coup in 1953 that overthrew the democratically elected leader in Iran.

What came after the Shah in Iran is the blowback of hatred and national paranoia from all those years of U.S. and British manipulation of that country.

The plight of homosexuals in Iran is just as bad in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Egypt is a really bad place for gays, too.

[supernova]

12. But, But,

there are no gays in Iran.

:sarcasm:

[Betsy Ross]

13. If that's what he says at a "peace conference"... n/t

[msongs]

15. a popular dems 2008 candidate says we must reach out to people of faith nt

[eagler]

16. If you're curious about Sharia law, this is it .

[NYVet]

17. The religion of peace and tolerance strikes again. (NT)

I hate to see what they say in private amonst themselves.

[devilgrrl]

20. Wow, he sounds just like Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Fred Phelps!!!

:popcorn:

[Judi Lynn]

40. Absolutely! Add a Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and an endless parade.

Can you imagine spending your day like this?

[humbled_opinion]

43. Those poor souls... and when it was over they ran to the nearest public restroom

where they dropped their drawers and played footsie with each other.. just as long as it was anonymous gay sex.. I guess it really doesn't count when you don't know who each other are... something like that...

[yurbud]

21. and therefore we should bomb them and steal their oil, killing more than just gays in process

[cali]

27. no of couse not. Interesting that you seem to

connect discussing a human rights abuse on DU, with the U.S. potentially attacking Iran.

[superconnected]

30. Since Iran has felt this way a long time, why are we seeing this report

when there is an invasion with iran on the table.

It will be used as propaganda for Americans to want to invade iran and "liberate" them like we "liberated" iraq.

It's also true. But it's still propaganda fodder.

[cali]

32. first of all, it's been discussed for years. Secondly,

don't you think you should give DUers a little more credit? No one here is about to be swayed to a rah rah invade bomb Iran position, because articles about Iran's treatments of gays and lesbians are discussed. You have a point regarding this and similar articles, and their impact in the wider world, but I think it's just fine that DUers discuss this and any other human rights issues, anywhere in the world.

[yurbud]

42. consider context: Bush is trying to start a war and needs an excuse

don't just be a witless accomplice to a war of aggression and mass murder.

If you were on a subway with a psychotic with a gun, you wouldn't casually point out which of the other passengers looks dangerous.

[cali]

55. *sigh*. what a simplistic analogy. Just pitiful

Some of us- obviously you're not able to- can balance and entertain complexity. Tell Human Rights Watch to shutup, and the dozens of other orgainzations that monitor human rights, including in Iran. Discussing this on DU has zilch impact on bushco. And it seems to escape you that they aren't using this as an excuse to go to war. Nor will they. Granted some right wingers will throw this into the mix- and that's undoubtedly the motive behind this article, but thinking people, and compassionate people should be able to deal with it, without silencing themselves.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

23. What he meant to say is that some gays are well hung. n/t

[Odin2005]

28. The Iran apologists probably think he was just maliciously mistranslated by the MSM and that...

...he really likes gay people. :eyes:

[Ian David]

31. But he still has the support of The Log Cabin Republicans because he's a Fiscal Conservative! n/t

[happygoluckytoyou]

33. I THINK HIS ENGLISH FAILED HIM.... HE SAID GAYS ARE WELL HUNG

[Ilsa]

34. LOL. But I shouldn't laugh at something so horrible. I was thinking

about how much this guy has in common with rethuglicans.

[Al Federfer]

37. I'd like to see him come over here and hang some. n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

75. Would you?

You don't like Giuliani, you don't like Clinton, you're in favor of a Confederate uprising...

Just out of curiousity, who are you voting for in the primary?

[JeanGrey]

38. THEY ALREADY ARE in Iran.

What else is new?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

39. Trying to whip up more support for bombing Iran, eh?

[LeftishBrit]

50. Can't one hate a politician without wishing to bomb his country?

I don't want to bomb anyone!!! But I don't like extreme-right-wing governments anywhere, and we should have the right to express our dislike! And if the Iranian governement isn't far-RW, I don't know what is.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

56. Yes

It's just that when I see these kind of stories circulating like they did about Iraq prior to the 2003 invasion, it just further fuels my suspicion that TPTB are intentionally circulating them to attempt to drum up support for attacking Iran or otherwise trying to keep the subject focused on Iran, which seems to have become the new focal point for our foreign policy now that our attention-challenged President and genocidal co-President are bored with Iraq and Afghanistan. Not only that but the fact that these stories are about gays is equally enraging because TPTB really don't care much about GLBT individuals or their concerns in THIS country and some individuals HERE in the US, albeit a small minority, already advocate dealing with GLBT individuals in a similar fashion. I'm certainly not defending the thugs running Iran and think that their human rights record is just about as abhorrent as some of our arab/muslim allies (i.e. Saudi Arabia) but I just can't shake the suspicion that stories like these are being used, albeit in a surreptitious manner, to try to drum up support for an eventual attack on Iran, particularly when viewed in the context of the current MSM focus on Iran, Bush making remarks about Iran and starting WWIII, and recent reports about interrogators in Iraq attempting to establish links between Iraqi insurgents and Iran.

[LeftishBrit]

59. Then as I said to another poster...

why not go directly to the websites of Amnesty International and other human rights organizations, rather than relying on the MSM?

We should not support or ignore human rights violations just because they are going on in a country friendly to Bush (e.g. Saudi Arabia); but we also shouldn't support or ignore them just because they're going on in a country that Bush hates (e.g. Iran).

[Proud Liberal Dem]

60. Couldn't agree more with your last point

The only point that I was trying to make was that the MSM appears to be as of late trying to specifically highlight Iran as a particularly egregious violator of human rights at a time that there is so much saber rattling and talk about bombing Iran and WW3 going on between US and Iran. Their abysmal human rights record should certainly NOT be overlooked just because Bush loathes them nor was I ever suggesting that it should. I just find the current MSM laserbeam focus on "everything that is wrong with Iran" to be more than just a coincidence and more likely than not being put out there to attempt to drum up support for an eventual attack (and distract from other foreign policy embarrassments like Iraq, which they're also trying to blame Iran on) but I agree that it is certainly legitimate information to know (and condemn) in its own right.

[Marrah_G]

62. It's truly sad that these monsters cannot be spoken out against without someone ....

... claiming it's all propaganda. This shit has been going on for a long time and will continue to go on.

If you somehow think treatment of GBLT folks around the world is NOT of constant issue to Liberal/Progressive Democrats then I just have to say ......WOW.

Expect people here to stand up and shine a light on human right atrocities around the world.

Somehow your hatred of all things Bush seems to have skewed your view on things that have been a part of our platforms for a long time.

[Bluebear]

46. So did Bobby Rowe, Virginia rodeo operator in "Borat"

We've got 'em here too. :(

[SyntaxError]

67. luckily they don't have much power... at least not now, and I'm sure not any time soon, if ever.

I mean people with the "execute them" view... not people who seem to think it's ok to deny civil rights to people, we seem to have a majority of them...

[BreweryYardRat]

47. Really, Mr. Minister?

Come over here and advocate that. With any luck you'd be swinging from a lamppost within the day.

[LeftishBrit]

49. What an evil man and horrible system!

A tragedy for Iran, and a horrible warning to all who wish for any sort of theocracy. Once a government place its God above humanity - this is the sort of thing that happens.

[Beerboy]

52. Tut tut. This is so much projection by the

Farsi-illiterate X-tian propagandists @ TimesonlineUK beating the drums for another neocon war.
It should be dismissed out-of-hand.

[robcon]

54. Nice fact-free slam against other DUers, Beerboy.

I think I know who the propagandist is, and it is not those critical of the Iranian government.

[Forkboy]

58. Um, where did he criticize DUers in that post.

I just read it three times and I'm not seeing it. :shrug:

[Beerboy]

63. Where the hell am I slamming DU?

The article is about fundies vs. fundies. W/ all due respect, I don't appreciate your fact-free slam against a fellow DUer, robcon.

[LeftishBrit]

57. Isn't that a bit like saying ....

that any criticism of Bush equals support for the terra-ists?

It is no doubt true that more information is provided about the evils of the governments of Bush's current 'bogeynations' than his allies; e.g. Pakistan at least until recently and Saudi Arabia. However, the solution is to recognize the evils of *all* bad governments, rather than dismiss reports of human rights violations out-of-hand.

If you don't want to trust The Times, go to the Amnesty International website.

[Maestro]

64. Disgusting!

Medieval, bassackwards, ignorant, evil, stupid, dumb, and any other assortment of adjectives to describe this.

[samsingh]

66. crazy people there too

[ileus]

68. If there are no gays like Iran's prez told us, there's no problem with the policy

Remember Iran is an enemy of GW and that's all that really matters.

[boricua79]

76. if I had a vote

I'd have these religious troglodytes hung instead.

The world would a nicer place without them.