I dont know how true it is...

I read this in Lance Bass's Myspace & I'm yet to find out more. But Since a lot of people can not access Lance's Blog I thought I would put it here too. Maybe someone would give the confirmations.
Anyhow, I'm sorry.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

This makes me sick (not for the weak of heart) I can not believe human beings can do this to one another!
July 21, 2005
IRAN EXECUTES 2 GAY TEENAGERS (updated)
Update August
14: While the following post is a bit dated, it is still relevant. However,
subsequent information received from Iran since the post below was written indicates that the charge of "rape" against the two teens was entirely trumped up by the religious authorities who control the legal system and has no basis in fact. Moreover, we have received word of two more hangings of a gay couple scheduled in Iran for August 28. So, to be up-to-date on where this story stands, make sure you check out the update links at the end of this post, as
well as my latest post on the two new scheduled executions of gays in Iran. And
watch this blog for continuing coverage of the new wave of anti-gay repression in
Iran, as we are continuing to work this story from Iranian sources and will be
posting more news from Iran as reliable information is received and confirmed. . Two gay Iranian teenagers -- one 18, the other believed to be 16 or 17, were executed this week for the "crime" of homosexuality, the Iranian Student News
Agency (ISNA) reported on July 19. (The ISNA report is in Farsi, and was
translated into English by the British gay rights group OutRage!, which released its
report today--ISNA also provided the terrifying photos of the teens' last
moments you see on this page. You can see an enlarged version of each photo
by left-clicking on them) The two youths -- identified only by their initials as
M.A. and A.M., were hanged on July 19 in Edalat (Justice) Square in the city of
Mashhad in north-eastern Iran, on the orders of Court No. 19. The hanging of the
teens was also reported by the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
And the website Iran Focus not only confirms the story but provides more details, reporting that "Members of Irans parliament from the north-eastern city of Mashad, where a minor and an 18-year-old man were publicly hanged yesterday,
vented their anger on Wednesday on foreign and domestic news outlets for reporting the ages of hanged prisoners...Ultra-conservative deputy Ali Asgari said
that the two deserved to be hanged in public, adding, 'Whatever sentence is decreed by an Islamic penal system must be approved, unless proven otherwise.' Asgari
complained of foreign and domestic reporting that the two were mere boys. 'Instead of paying tribute to the action of the judiciary, the media are mentioning the age of the hanged criminals and creating a commotion that harms the interests of the state,' the member of the Majlis Legal Affairs Committee
said. 'Even if certain websites made a reference to their age, journalists should not pursue this. These individuals were corrupt. Their sentence was carried out with the approval of the judiciary and it served them right.'
"Consensual gay sex in any form is punishable by death in the Islamic Republic
of Iran. According to the website Age of Consent, which monitors
such laws around the world, in Iran "Homosexuality is illegal, those charged with love-making are given a choice of four deathstyles: being hanged, stoned, halved by a sword, or dropped from the highest perch. According to Article 152, if two men
not related by blood are discovered naked under one cover without good reason,
both will be punished at a judge's discretion. Gay teens (Article 144) are also punished at a judge's discretion. Rubbing one's penis between the thighs without penetration (tafheed) shall be punished by 100 lashes for each offender. This act, known to the English-speaking world as 'frottage,' is punishable by death if the
'offender' is a non-Muslim. If frottage is thrice repeated and penalty-lashes
have failed to stop such repetitions, upon the fourth 'offense' both men will be
put to death. According to Article 156, a person who repents and
confesses his gay behavior prior to his identification by four witnesses, may be pardoned.
Even kissing 'with lust' (Article 155) is forbidden. This bizarre law works to
eliminate old Persian male-bonding customs, including common kissing and holding
hands in public." And Outrage, in its release about the gay teens' execution,
noted that, "according to Iranian human rights campaigners, over 4000 lesbians
and gay men have been executed since the Ayatollahs seized power in 1979. Last
August, a 16-year-old girl , [Atefeh Rajabi] was hanged [in the Caspian port of Neka] for 'acts incompatible with chastity,' [i.e., sex before marriage]."
In the case of the two teens hanged in Mashhad, "They admitted having gay sex (probably under torture) but claimed in their defense that most young boys had sex with each other and that they were not aware that homosexuality was punishable by death," according to the ISNA report as translated by OutRage.
"Prior to their execution, the gay teenagers were held in prison for 14
months and severely beaten with 228 lashes. The length of their detention
suggests that they committed the so-called offenses more than a year earlier, when they were possibly around the age of 16."
"Ruhollah Rezazadeh, the lawyer of the younger of the two boys, had appealed that he was too young to be executed and that the court should take into account his
tender age (believed to be 16 or 17). But the Supreme Court in Tehran Ordered him to be hanged." As a state party
to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Iran has undertaken not to execute anyone for an offence committed when they were under the age of 18 -- which means that by hanging the two youths Iran is in violation of international law.The Iranian authorities are putting out a cover story that the two boys had participated in the rape of a 13-year-old, but OutRage affirms from its sources
that this accusation is a smokescreen for inhuman conduct and is without foundation.
However, the Murdoch press (e.g., the Times of London) is putting about the Iranian government's story as a virtual statement of fact. But there is no mention of this Iranian government accusation in the original ISNA report, otherwise quitedetailed.-- which rather suggests it's a recent invention. Furthermore, it is hardly surprising that, at the very moment at which Iran is engaged in the most delicate negotiation with the Western powers over nuclear materials -- the outcome of which will have a profound impact on the Iranian economy --the Iranian government, when
caught in a heinous act of barbarity that is also a violation of Iran's commitments under international law -- should try to find a new excuse for the inexcusable. (Make sure to read the latest updates since this post was written, which indicate to a near certainty that the "rape" charge was fictitious and invented by the religious authorities -- see update links below). Left-click on the third photo above and look at the enlarged version, which shows the younger of the two adolescents weeping as he's carried off in a police van to the end of his young life. Then, if you would like to protest the barbaric hanging of these two lads to whom nature gave
same-sex hearts, follow the suggestion of the Human Rights Campaign which -- citing this blog -- has written to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice demanding that she formally protest these executions, which you should do as well. If you want to
protest directly to the Iranian government, be aware that, while the
U.S. has no diplomatic relations with Iran, there is an Iranian embassy in Canada. You may write, telephone, or fax the Iranian ambassador in Canada:Ambassador Seyed Mouhammad Ali Moosavi, Embassy of Iran, 245 Metcalfe
St., Ottawa, Ontario .K2P
2K2 Canada Telephone (OO1-613-
235-4726, 233-4726;
Fax, 233-5712
UPDATE JULY
27: For a commentary on
the controversy over the hangings and the "rape" charge since the above was published, see my article for the Gay City News, which you can read by clicking
here. UPDATE AUGUST 11: New reports from inside Iran and inside Mashad, where the boys were executed, strongly challenge the validity of the charge of "rape" for which the Iranian government claims the boys were hanged, and it is now virtually certain that the "rape" charge was invented by the religious authorities who control the legal system -- to read about these new reports from inside Iran, see the article I wrote for Gay City News -- the largest gay weekly in New York City -- by clicking here. Furthermore, as the new wave of anti-gay repression in Iran snowballs, we have received reports of two new Iranian executions of gays which are scheduled to take place in the city of Arak on August 28. For news of these new death sentences for homosexuality in Iran, click here. UPDATE AUGUST 17: For the Latest from Inside Iran as the Pace of the Deadly Anti-Gay CrackdownSteps Up, click here.

& this is my comment to the post:

Dear Mr. Bass;
I didn’t address you as Lance cos that’s how I call my favorite NSYNCer. I address you Mr. Bass for the respect I feel for you. What you mentioned here, although passing over some minor points (like the fact that they have been accused of theft, alcohol drinking, disturbing social safety beside homosexual relationship), seems to be a true story happening in my country. Iran is where I grew up & lived my whole life. & I am one of the people who face the daily life here everyday. It’s not only homosexuals they punish… the state of having sexual relations outside marriage bond is the same for hetro & homosexuals alike. They did not got hanged because they were gays (it only made it worst) but due to the fact that they were having ‘extra marital relationship’. Did you know that a woman can get killed by stones for committing adultery here?
Yes, I live in Iran. & the situation is not good. I’m not homosexual myself but I have both gay & les friends & they are happy as they are. The point is that they don’t come out like you were free to do. I know a lot of people who are what is called homophobic. They just have to get educated to learn that love is love & that there is nothing wrong with ‘strange people doing unnatural thing’.
I wish that some other people inside Iran would read your blog. I’m still trying to find reliable Farsi sources on what has exactly happened & I try to leave a comment for you if I ever find anything. & BTW, they are banning Myspace in Iran so I hope to be able to get back here.
Thanks for the concern though. & maybe one day I would tell you about how I ended up in jail for going on a vacation with my friends… how I myself been accused of committing adultery type I (something along the line of being with someone without having sexual affair) & how my friends were treated like trash. Maybe one day….

Oh I forgot...
Iranian history is full of support for Gays. Most ex-rulers of this country had 'male' lovers, who in fact were the rulers. Some of them are very famous & some of our great literature figures have some very moving poems about their gay partners.
There is even a city well known for homosexuality. We are not that bad. Don’t judge all the Iranians the same.