A high-ranking
Iranian leader told members of United Kingdom's
parliament at a peace conference in May that gays
deserve to be executed or tortured, according to a
story in The Times of London.
Mohsen Yahyavi, a
member of Iran's parliament, is the most prominent
politician to admit that Iran enforces capital punishment
against gays, after multiple reports alleged that gay
youths in the country were being hanged.
The controversial
comments arose while delegates discussed the 2005
public hanging of Mahmoud Asqari and Ayad Marhouni, who were
both under 18 at the time of their arrest. A video of
the execution was posted on the Internet, upsetting
human rights activists.
In response,
Yahyavi "explained that according to Islam gays and
lesbianism were not permitted," according to the
meeting's minutes. "He said that if
homosexual activity is in private there is no problem, but
those in overt activity should be executed (he initially
said tortured but changed it to executed). He argued
that homosexuality is against human nature and that
humans are here to reproduce."
He also argued
that homosexuality has caused the spread of several
diseases, such as AIDS.
Ann Clwyd, a
member of the U.K. parliament, told The Times that
Yahyavi's comments caused alarm among
delegates.
"It is of
great concern that these attitudes persist, and we made it
clear what we felt," she said. (The Advocate)
