(Cologne, Germany) - Around 40 people participated in a vigil to remember Gays and Lesbians murdered by the hands of religious fundamentalists in Iran. The vigil started on 19 July 2007 at 17:30 at Cologne's Memorial for Gay and Lesbian Victims of Nazism near the Hohenzollern Bridge. The event, organised by baraka, an international self-organization group of Gay, Lesbian und bisexual immigrants in Cologne, and by the Gay Homeland Foundation aimed to draw attention to the terrible conditions under which many homosexual people live in Iran and many other countries.

Jacek Marjanski (baraka), Viktor Zimmermann (GHF) and a Lesbian woman from Iran (whose name is withhold for safety reasons) spoke at the vigil.

In particular, Viktor Zimmermann said, addressing the gathering:

“On this 19 July, we would like to commemorate all those thousands of Gay and Lesbian victims of the Ayatollah regime. Not all of them were perfect, but all of them have in common that they did not deserve such a barbarian punishment. We want to remember that many Lesbians and Gays cannot lead their life freely.”

“We shall remember that in this age of Gay pride parades and pool parties, a large part of Gays and Lesbians vegetate in a state of fear of death, deprivation of any human dignity, and subject to the will of the enemy. Let each of us consider this day whether we as a community are doing enough to protect our brethren from persecution,” he continued.

“Iran must terminate the persecution of homosexuals. Those who in the year 2007 punish human beings because of their sexuality with death, have left the family of the civilized mankind,” said Zimmermann, demanding for international sanctions against the theocracy. ”The western countries can and must exercise economical and political pressure on Iran, in order to terminate persecution of homosexuals.”

19 July 2007 is the anniversary of the 2005 execution of two homosexual teenagers, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, who were believed to be lovers and were denounced to the police by a family member.

Authorities later distributed official information suggesting that the two teenagers were executed because of a rape of a 13-year old boy. In Iran, such accusations are routinely applied against homosexuals to justify a death sentence, since the regular proof by four witnesses (as prescribed by Sharia) can not be realistically supplied. “Rape“ is stated routinely, in order to discredit the victims and weaken the public response. This perfidious strategy proved successful in 2005, when some human rights organizations first showed themselves reluctant to condemn the executions because they were afraid to be put near alleged “child abusers.”

Since the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, several thousands Gays and Lesbians have been executed, many of them in extra-judicial killings by the hands of Basij, a volunteer based Iranian paramilitary force that was founded by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The Basij are subordinate to the "Revolutionary Guards" and are entrapping Gay men via Internet, them abducting, torturing and murdering them. Unable to bear the horrific pressure, many Gay men commit suicide or undergo unnecessary sex-change operations. Sex-change surgeries are a flourishing business in Iran, and many disoriented Gay men are pressured to such operations and subsequently suffer an immense identity jolt and lead a desolate life. Remarkably, this resembles the strategy used by Nazi’s who offered the “voluntary” emasculation as a way to avoid torture in concentration camps.

Recent developments in Iran reinforce the actuality of protests. A judiciary spokesman, Alireza Jamshidi, told reporters on 10 July that 20 additional executions were planned in the next time for "rape, insulting religious sanctities and laws, and homosexuality."

The ongoing executions of Gays are again putting the issue of Gay asylum seekers into the centre of discussions. Addressing the current asylum policies of the so-called “free world,” Viktor Zimmermann condemned the indifference of western countries to the problem of the worldwide persecution of Gay people and demanded a permanent solution for accommodation of Gay refugees:

“We call on the international community to immediately stop deportations of Gay and Lesbian refugees to Iran and to other persecuting states. If the international community is not willing to take care of Gay and Lesbian refugees, it should to consider the establishment of a self-administered territory for the Gay and Lesbian people.”

Vigils commemorating Iranian Gays and Lesbians also took place in San Francisco, Madrid, Moscow and Warsawa. Legendary Gay blogger Michael Petrelis helped keep accurate reporting on the worldwide events. The text of Viktor's speech can be accessed in German or in English.