Iran Pride Day, National Day of Iranian LGBTs, or National Day Of Sexual Minorities is an annual LGBT pride event held on the fourth Friday of July (first Friday of the

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

month of

Mordad Mordad ( fa, Mordād, ) is the fifth month of the Solar Hijri calendar, the official calendar of Iran and Afghanistan. Mordad has thirty-one days, beginning in July and ending in August of the Gregorian calendar. It is the second month of summer ...

) in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

since 2010.

Background

In Iran, same-sex sexual activity is illegal and could be punishable by the death penalty. According to Omar Kuddus, a UK-based gay rights activist, the Iranian government also uses

trumped-up charges A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Inno ...

to execute and persecute gay people while disguising their actions from the international community. In 2007, at a forum Monday at Columbia University, former Iranian President

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),

said "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country. In Iran, we do not have this phenomenon".

History

A small group of 20 to 30 LGBT activists, calling themselves " Rainbow es (, ''Renginkâmaniha''), has been celebrating a Pride Day since 2010.The day was first announced by a group of Iranian LGBT activists on a blog in July 2010. Every year, Iranian LGBT activists gathered around the capital,

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, and secretly took pictures of themselves holding

rainbow flags A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the spectral colors of the visible light spectrum. The Rainbow flag (LGBT), LGBT flag introduced in 1978 is ...

and written slogans. They had to hide their faces to avoid

police harassment The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...

and possible prosecution. Activists have taken photos of the event in other cities, including

Kerman Kerman ( fa, كرمان, Kermân ; also romanization of Persian, romanized as Kermun and Karmana), known in ancient times as the satrapy of Carmania, is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 821,394, in ...

, as well. In 2017, for the first time, the organizers decided to hold the event in the open when they were offered the first float in the

Amsterdam Gay Pride Amsterdam Pride, Amsterdam Gay Pride or Pride Amsterdam is a citywide queer-festival held annually at the center of Amsterdam during the first weekend of August. The festival attracts several hundred-thousand visitors each year and is one of ...

festival, although they had to cover their faces in order to avoid prosecution upon their return to Iran. About the 2017 event, organizers said, "Our grief is not dimmed, but we, the rainbows of Iran are screaming our happiness as a shape of resistance and we keep our euphoria alive as the torch of justice".

Coverage

A week after the first celebration in July 2010, '' Resalat'', a conservative newspaper in Iran, published an article about the event, which was also picked up by some other conservative media outlets in the country.

References

External links

iranlgbt.com

iranpride.org
LGBT rights in Iran 2010 establishments in Iran Pride parades {{LGBT-event-stub

Background

History

Coverage

See also

References

External links