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Iranian Official Calls Homosexuality a "Disease"

Mohammad-javad-larijanix390

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A high-ranking Iranian human rights and government official has declared homosexuality to be a "disease."

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
reports on the remarks from Mohammad Javad Larijani, the secretary-general of the Iranian High Council for Human Rights, to a visiting German lawmaker.

"The West says that the marriage of homosexuals should be allowed under the human rights charter, however, we think it is sexual immorality and a disease," Larijani said. "Why should we see a disease as a way of life, instead of maintaining our views on homosexuality and act accordingly."

Iran is one of the few countries in the world where homosexuality is punishable by death. The country was reprimanded in a recent review by the United Nations Human Rights Committee, which listed the grievous abuses against LGBT people and called on Iran to take all "necessary steps" to ameliorate the situation.

The comments arrive one month after the United States indicated it planned to more fully integrate LGBT rights into its foreign policy. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a speech marking International Human Rights Day in Geneva with the announcement that "gay rights are human rights," and the Obama administration released an accompanying memorandum.

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Iranian Official Calls Homosexuality a "Disease"

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