In Iran, because of anti-homosexuality laws and oppressive conditions, there aren't many observable activities; however, LGBT activists have many actions for this day every year. >>>

The United Nations renewed the mandate of its human rights investigator for Iran on Thursday, but Russia and China voted against the resolution that expressed "serious concerns" about a country said to have the highest per capita execution rate in the world. >>>

In a March 17 speech that was reported by the semi-official FarsNews, Dr. Mohammad Javad Larijani, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) dismissed the Western criticism of Iran's human rights record and said, "One of the human rights violations that Iran is accused of is thecriminalization of homosexuality... Homosexuality is animalistic and we haveno place for it in our value system. We are not ashamed of rejecting homosexuality nor are we bashful of stating that our value system is notcompatible with this animalistic behavior." >>>

Saghi Ghahraman is an Iranian lesbian poet and gay rights activist who lives in Toronto. Born in 1957 in the holy city of Mashhad, she studied classic and contemporary Persian literature at Azarabadegan University in Tabriz. She left Iran in 1982 after attacks on the women's organization she worked at, and was a refugee in Turkey until 1987 when she emigrated to Canada. Ghahraman recently spoke about what life was like for her growing up as a lesbian during the Shah's regime and just after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. >>>

The U.N. Human Rights Committee has called on Iran to immediately address the long-standing, grave human rights violations it has committed against LGBT people and to finally recognize that human rights are for everyone, everywhere. >>>

Under the Islamic Penal Code of Iran, sexual activity between people of the same gender is a crime punishable by death. Human rights obligations are defined by UN treaties that States themselves ratify, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This treaty has been ratified by 167 states around the world, including Iran. >>>

National Screening of a new comedy featuring two top-selling Iranian actors has caused widespread controversy after one of the most influential Iranian clergymen ripped the movie for "promoting Hollywood-style homosexuality". >>>

Hossein Alizadeh, IGLHRC Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator issues a statement on the Concluding Observations from the 3rd UN Human Rights Committee periodic review of the Islamic Republic of Iran. >>>

The United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a groundbreaking report that puts LGBT human rights abuses in Iran in the spotlight for the first time and recommends that the government make changes. >>>

El ponente especial de N.U. hacia los derechos humanos en Irán defendió el informe crítico en el país el jueves después de ser atacado por oficiales iraníes, él continua insistiendo en que no se le permitirá la visita al país. >>>

The Iranian authorities will make a farce of a UN Committee hearing into Iran’s human rights record unless they acknowledge current and past abuses. >>>

The release of an Iranian actress sentenced to 90 lashes and a year in prison after appearing in a banned film highlights the need to release other detained filmmakers in Iran. >>>

A rapid increase of number of Iranian queer asylum-seekers and refugees continues as the political situation in Iran affects more people. >>>

The U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Iran defended his new critical report on the country Thursday after it was attacked by Iranian officials, who continue to insist he will not be allowed to visit the country. >>>

NGO Report to Committee Highlights Arbitrary Arrest and Torture of LGBT People, MSM and WSW >>>

An Iranian court has sentenced an Iranian actress to 90 lashes for her role in a new Australian-made film portraying social alienation, drug use and political oppression in Iran. >>>

Discrimination and violence against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Iran is widespread in its scope and horrific in its consequences. This report does not undertake a comprehensive analysis of this culture of violence and discrimination. It is rather restricted to raising concerns about the most serious human violations faced by LGBT persons in Iran. As such, it examine three internationally recognized human rights which are of great relevance to sexual minorities: the right to life, the right not to be tortured or subjected >>>

LGBT community in Iran took its first steps towards earning civil rights some 35 years ago, only, with a revolution gone wrong, not the community was stopped from proceeding, but it lost even its most basic human rights. >>>

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was questioned yesterday by CNN about his infamous address at Columbia University in 2007. >>>

Scott Long's paper (Routledge 2009) provides insights on Western reading or misreading of sexuality in Iran. He focused on the cases of state-defined crimes relating to same-sex behaviour in Iran. Scott Long was the director of LGBT Rights Program of Human Rights Watch. >>>