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Gulf Island Driftwood. Wednesday, September 5, 2007
LGBT ISSUES Iranian and Canadian activists on the human rights frontier
September 8 panel members speak about being gay.
by Rowan Percy Special to the Driftwood
“Imagine, for 24 hours every day you have to put a mask on your face. You have no friends. For example... some friends tell you about a girl. But you are gay and are not interested in relationships with girls. But now you have to start a relationship with a girl”, says Arsham Parsi, 26, an Iranian refugee, living in Toronto. He is an international activist for LGBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) human rights. Parsi’s Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO), which wants to see homosexuality decriminalized in Iran, works closely with Human Rights Watch, who reacts strenuously when the Iranian Regime persecutes LGBTs. Police entrap gay chat room subscribers and arranging a same-sex date can result in arrest, flogging and execution. Iranian lesbians are doubly constrained as arranged marriages are often enforced, and a life of “living death” ensues, according to interviews posted at irqo.net. Lesbians also endure frequent rape in the course of incarceration. Jacob Schweda, a gay man and a GISS graduate, currently studying at Pearson College with 200 students from 88 countries, says, “In Malawi and many other countries homosexuality is illegal... and in that environment ... people assume I am heterosexual.” If heterosexuality is exclusive, how do you begin to think about being homosexual? In his teens Parsi had to ask himself why he felt so different and, with help from the Internet, discovered he was gay. “I had a wonderful time then, because I found I was not alone in the world.” After Malawi and a month being in the closet, Schweda admits he could not have silenced himself for long. He was educated on Salt Spring and co-founded the Gay Straight Alliance at GISS. He speaks of the same-sex marriage debates, which occurred as he was coming out. “It was really challenging to hear Members of Parliament debate whether I as a person have the right or deserve the right to pursue love... but when the civil marriage act passed it was hugely empowering for me.” Because of his international activism, Parsi says, his family in Iran receives threats. His mother accepts his work for LGBT people, but still admonishes him to marry. Parsi tells her “that’s fine” and carries on. “What can I do?” he asks, “I have no choice. I’m working for these people because they have to have support, nobody is interested in giving them support, they commit suicide, they are my friends. It’s my responsibility to help them." Schweda also carries this sense of responsibility. He has helped educate other students at Pearson about homosexuality. What hope can he offer young gay people who are isolated in rural, under-privileged or conservative areas? “No matter what background you’re from, or however marginalized, there are always people who are willing to accept you in every way for who you are and the challenge then is to find people that will accept you, ... to let them help you,” Schweda offers encouragement. In Iran finding acceptance is very challenging. Parsi had three friends who committed suicide in Iran. Two were transgendered, one was a gay man. Their deaths were what motivated him to become an LGBT activist. “Their families could not accept them and they had many stresses in their lives and so they suicided.” Parsi describes the life trajectory of these discarded young people: “They become sex workers, and after that HIV-AIDS, and after that drugs, arrest and execution.” Schweda and Parsi both say that Iranian and Canadian society needs to address LGBT issues more seriously. Schweda says gays and lesbians are “as diverse as heterosexuals. Where’s the [media] coverage on the continuing spread of HIV/AIDS, crystal meth... Where are the real social issues? Where are the tv shows that would show parents and families how to be more accepting?” What would happen for Parsi’s family if they had to admit he is homosexual? It is too risky to find out. Parsi has stood before the UN and testified to the human rights abuses face by the LGBT community in Iran. He will shoulder the conflicts and carry on. While transsexuals in Iran are legal, they are persecuted by the public, an issue in Canada too. Speaking of the growing transgender movement, Schweda says, “It is the next challenge. [Transgenders] are not taken seriously in curriculum development, in social planning, even basic necessities like gender-neutral washrooms... It’s still a joke the same way homosexuality might have been 30 years ago. There’s so much more that can be done.” Whether it's the fundamental human right to live or love, we can bet Arsham Parsi and Jacob Schweda will be working on it.
Parsi and Schweda will speak this Saturday, September 8 on the panel, Love Beyond Borders: Human Rights in Iran and Canada at ArtSpring, Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada at 7.30 p.m. Tickets cost $15.00. Proceeds to IRQO.
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