Commentary

Petition to be Handed In
 

Matt Lucas (left) and Simon Callow are two of the stars supporting the axm/Outrage! protest in London. (photos courtesy axm magazine

LONDON, October 3  –   A number of stars have backed tomorrow’s demonstration at the Iranian Embassy in London and the international petition organised by the monthly UK gay magazine axm.

The magazine has joined forces with Outrage!, the UK gay human rights organisation, to organise the “Homophobia Kills” protest against the homophobic atrocities in Iran outside the country’s Embassy at 1pm tomorrow (Tuesday October 4).

“How can we possibly hope for world peace when acts of this nature are allowed to take place,” asked Andy Bell of the group Erasure?

“Although I won’t be in the country on Tuesday, I wanted to express my solidarity with the axm protesters – and have signed the petition.  Isn’t there enough suffering in the world already without having to resort to this kind of barbarism and taking the lives of two innocent youths who were merely expressing their love? […]  Good luck with the demo on Tuesday, I will be there in spirit.”

And Simon Callow was equally forthright.  “I unreservedly condemn this savage and barbaric treatment of homosexual men in Iran.  It is inconceivable that we should have diplomatic relations with a country which betrays its citizens in this way,” he said, adding that he was filming all day and would be unable to be at the protest.  .

But Actor Jeremy Sheffield and comedian Scott Cappurro are set to attend.

Also supporting the axm/Outrage! protest is Matt Lucas, who stars in the hit BBC comedy series Little Britain.

“Recently in Iran two teenagers were executed for being gay – just one example of the constant persecution of gay and lesbian people by the Iranian government,” he said.  “I support efforts to put pressure on the Iranian government to stop this persecution.

“While gay visibility has grown in Britain in recent years we cannot forget the plight of those in more hostile parts of the world who live with the daily risk of jail, torture and execution for no other reason than their sexuality.”

The response to the online petition was described this evening as “fantastic” by axm editor Matthew Miles.

“The protest and petition has snowballed and shows that the gay community in Britain cares,” he said.

He said that thousands had already signed the online petition.  “We are now on the final call – the petition will be online until 9am tomorrow [Tuesday October 4 – 4am Eastern time in the USA].  And we hope that anyone who is in London and has a hour to spare will come and join us.”

To sign the online petition, click HERE

■  The Iranian Embassy is at 16 Prince’s Gate, London, SW7 1PT  Getting there: The Embassy is near the Royal Albert Hall, by the junction of Kensington Road and Exhibition Road.  Nearest underground stations are South Kensington and Gloucester Road.

■  This week, Bay Windows, the gay weekly for the Boston area, has joined New York’s Gay City News in asking why American gay organizations are do relatively little about the worrying state of affairs in Iran.

“More than likely, the inaction on the ongoing anti-gay human rights abuses in Iran stems from plain old apathy,” writes Laura Kiritsy in Bay Windows under the headline: Death of activism – Where’s the outrage over Iran's treatment of gays?  She takes a similar line to that of Doug Ireland in asking why aren’t the Amercan gay human rights groups outraged and doing something (IGLHRC’s Failure to Stand Up to Anti-Gay Iran).

■ Simon Callow's latest film, Rag Trade, opens in the UK this week.

LINKS

axm website
Outrage! website
Persian Gay and Lesbian Organization website