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Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Europe and Asia

Huang Jie is Taiwan’s first openly gay national lawmaker

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(Los Angeles Blade graphic)

GERMANY

In Hamburg, Germany, on Jan. 20, 2024, several thousand people gathered to protest against right-wing extremism and the far-right German political party AfD. (AFP YouTube screenshot)

Rallies attended by hundreds of thousands have taken place in cities around Germany in recent days, after revelations by German investigative media outlet Correctiv that extremist far-right Alternative für Deutschland party, or AfD, has plans for the mass-expulsion of foreign nationals and including German citizens born from migrant parents. 

The AfD, co-chaired by lesbian German politician Alice Elisabeth Weidel along with Tino Chrupalla, held an event at headlined by Austrian neo-Nazi activist and author Martin Sellner, where plans regarding the deportation of millions of immigrants of “foreigners,” including citizens deemed not to have adequately “assimilated” into German culture, were discussed.

The AfD has sought to distance itself from the event although Roland Hartwig, a high-ranking member of the party and personal aide to Weidel was in attendance at the far-right gathering this past in November. Hartwig has since stepped down from his position after the disclosures by Correctiv.

In the Correctiv piece, their undercover journalist exhaustively recounts the chilling details of the secret meeting. The problem according to observers and German political strategists is the fact that AfD has steadily gaining influence and popularity. The Associated Press and German Media outlet Deutsche Welle both report that the recent protests also build on growing anxiety over the last year about the AfD’s rising support among the Germans.

The AP noted that the AfD was founded as a euro-skeptic party in 2013 and first entered the German Bundestag in 2017. Polling now puts it in second place nationally with around 23 percent, far above the 10.3 percent it won during the last federal election in 2021.

Last summer, candidates from the AfD won the party’s first-ever mayoral election and district council election, the first far-right party to do so since the Nazi era. And in state elections in Bavaria and Hesse, the party made significant gains.

The party leads in several states in eastern Germany, the region where its support is strongest — including three, Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia — that are slated to hold elections this fall.

Last April Germany’s domestic spy agency has classified the youth wing of the country’s far-right AfD party as an extremist entity and a threat to democracy. The decision could deal a blow to the party, which has so far failed in its legal bids to block security agencies from observing it and its affiliates, Deutsche Welle reported.

Although the AfD party co-chair is a lesbian in a state recognized “registered life partnership” as they are termed in Germany, she has stated her opposition to discussion of sexuality prior to puberty saying that “I don’t want anyone with their gender idiocy or their early sexualization classes coming near my children.”

She has also expressed her opposition to legalization of same-sex marriage, stating that she supports protection of the “traditional family” while also supporting “other lifestyles” The AfD itself is not progressive in terms of overall recognition of LGBTQ rights. Last year, the party even proposed a new sexual education curriculum that would significantly reduce the amount of information students receive on homosexuality, DW reported.

HUNGARY

Gulyás Gergely, chief of staff to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, being interviewed by a reporter for Hungarian media outlet M1 after a press conference on Jan 18, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Orbán’s office)

The Hungarian government is not going to change its draconian anti-LGBTQ policies and laws, and its treatment of asylum seekers and refugees despite the European Union freezing billions of Euros and funding because of the unwillingness of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to make changes.

In a press conference on Jan. 18, Gergely Gulyas, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff, told reporters there were “limits” to reaching an agreement with the EU Commission, its governing executive, since “modifying policies on LGBTQ+ and asylum rights would contradict the will of Hungarian voters,” Gulyas said.

“The Hungarian government is willing to reach an agreement with the commission, but in cases where people have expressed a clear opinion, it would be undemocratic and unacceptable,” Gulyas said, adding that there are “red lines” when it comes to reforms Hungary is willing to make.

“For Hungary, even despite the will of the European Commission, it is unacceptable to spread LGBTQ propaganda among children, and we also cannot abandon our position on migration issues,” he said.

Orbán in his speech at the 32nd Bálványos Summer Free University and Student Camp last July 22, castigated the EU for what Orbán defined as rejecting “Christian heritage.”

The government of the conservative ruling party of the prime minister has been feuding with the EU since passage of Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ education law in June 2021. Orbán, who has publicly proclaimed that he is a “defender of traditional family Catholic values,” has been criticized by international human rights groups as discriminating against LGBTQ people with this law which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called a “disgrace.”

“This bill clearly discriminates against people on the basis of their sexual orientation and it goes against all the values, the fundamental values of the European Union and this is human dignity, it is equality and is human fundamental rights, so we will not compromise on these principles,” said von der Leyen.

On the issue over asylum seekers, the AP reported that Hungary’s government has also implemented a policy of turning away asylum seekers at its borders and requiring them to begin their asylum process at Hungarian embassies in Serbia and Ukraine — a practice that was declared unlawful last year by the EU’s top court.

On Jan. 17 von der Leyen said in a statement that EU funds “will remain blocked until Hungary fulfills all the necessary conditions.”

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

(Los Angeles Blade graphic)

The European Parliament adopted a report calling on the Council of the European Union to introduce hate crime and hate speech in EU criminal law. The report was adopted on Jan. 18 with 397 votes in favor, 121 against and 26 abstentions.

EU spokesperson Kyriakos Klosidis noted that these are crimes of a particularly serious nature with a cross-border dimension, for which Parliament and council can establish minimum rules to define criminal offences and sanctions.

GCN Ireland reported that currently, each EU member state deals with hate crime and hate speech in criminal law in different ways. Some countries, including Ireland, don’t even have legislation in place to protect people from hate crime or hate speech, or have provisions that only protect certain minority groups while excluding others, such as LGBTQ people.

Klosidis in a statement said:

“Parliament calls on the commission to consider an ‘open-ended’ approach, whereby the grounds for discrimination will not be limited to a closed list, to make sure the rules cover incidents motivated by new and changing social dynamics. It underlines that freedom of expression, as critical as it is, must not be exploited as a shield for hate and stresses that misusing the internet and the business model of social media platforms contributes to spreading and amplifying hate speech.

MEPs also ask for particular consideration to be given to minors, including in bullying in schools and cyberbullying, and call for a robust framework for victims, with an intersectional approach, training for relevant professionals, and measures to ensure safe access to justice, specialized support and reparations, as well as a safe environment to increase reporting of incidents.”

The National LGBT Federation of Ireland applauded the decision by MEPs: 

“We strongly welcome today’s overwhelming vote in the European Parliament calling on hate crime and incitement to be added to EU wide laws. And for LGB and trans and other groups to be fully protected across the EU.”

During the debate prior to the vote, Spanish MEP and Rapporteur Maite Pagazaurtundua said: “In addition to lacking a comprehensive European legal framework to tackle hate speech and hate crime, we are facing new social dynamics, through which the normalization of hate evolves very quickly.”

“We must protect ourselves as a society and the people who are attacked, persecuted and harassed, while responding to the radical networks and extreme polarization that provide fertile ground for behaviors that violate fundamental rights,” Pagazaurtundua continued.

“We ask the council to finally give the green light to the legislation against hate crime and hate speech at EU level, always in accordance with the principle of proportionality and guaranteeing citizens’ freedom of expression.”

UNITED KINGDOM

Hormones and gender transition (YouTube screenshot)

The privately run Gender Plus Hormone Clinic has been approved by the Care Quality Commission, the UK’S independent regulator of health and social care, to prescribe hormones to patients aged over 16.

The clinic announced that hormone prescriptions will be available to transgender and non-binary patients aged 16 and older in line with current NHS gender service specifications for adolescents and adults.

“We are thrilled to announce that we are now Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered. We are the first independent child gender care service to achieve this and our hormone clinics are officially open. Regulation by the CQC ensures health and social care services in England are safe, effective and well-led, providing compassionate, high quality care,” the clinic said in an Instagram post.

Doctor Aidan Kelly, a clinical psychologist specializing in the area of gender identity, and the director of Gender Plus told GCN [Gay Community News- Ireland] in a November essay, “First and foremost transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people need care and compassion, to be respected and to feel heard. There are sadly a higher number of psychological and social difficulties faced by these individuals and these need to be supported, but this should not be at the expense of being able to access appropriate gender healthcare.”

PinkNewsUK reported a statement on the clinic’s website reads: “Regulation by the CQC ensures health and social care services in England are safe, effective and well-led, providing compassionate, high-quality care.” 

“The Hormone Clinic is the only English independent gender child care prescribing service to be regulated by the CQC.”

The announcement comes just a few weeks before the NHS’s only gender-identity service for trans minors in England and Wales is scheduled to shut down. 

BBC News reports that young people seeking gender-affirming care currently face a five-year wait time for their first appointment through the NHS.

TAIWAN

Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Jie, center, has become Taiwan’s first openly gay national legislator after being elected earlier this month. (Photo courtesy of Huang Jie)

A 30-year-old political independent representing the Fongshan District on the Kaohsiung City Council won election this past week to the island nation’s unicameral legislature, the Legislative Yuan, making history as Taiwan’s first openly gay legislator.

Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Jie was elected to the Legislative Yuan as a candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party to represent the sixth constituency [Legislative District] of Kaohsiung City.

Huang obtained 113,670 votes, or 51.01 percent of the vote, while her main rival, the Kuomintang’s Chen Mei-ya, a five-term city councilor, received 93,750 votes, or 42.07 percent, according to the final vote count released by the Central Election Commission.

English Language Media Outlet Focus Taiwan reported:

Thanking voters for their support and her campaign team for their hard work, the young politician said the “Kaohsiung spirit” — the willingness to give young, hardworking people opportunities to serve — had prevailed.

Winning the election is not the end, but the beginning of responsibility, she said.

“I will continue to safeguard [the wellbeing of] Kaohsiung and work to make it a place that shines internationally,” she added.

Focus Taiwan reported that in April 2023, Huang shared her coming out experience with the public. She said that she had not come out publicly when first starting her political career, but after she did, some voters had told her that she had given them courage.

Huang added that people campaigning for her recall had attacked her for being gay, which made her realize that there still needed to be advancements in Taiwan’s society in terms of ensuring equality for all and that she hoped to promote that through her involvement in politics.

NEPAL

Sunil Babu Pant in Kathmandu, Nepal, March 2023. (Photo courtesy of Sunil Babu Pant)

Sunil Babu Pant, a Nepali human rights activist, monk, and former politician who served as a member of the Nepalese Constituent Assembly, was appointed the first-ever cultural emissary for LGBTQ-inclusive tourism in Nepal by Nepal Tourism Board at an event held at its office in the capital city on Jan. 19.

In a statement issued by the Nepal Tourism Board announcing his appointment, the board said, “This title has been conferred on Pant for his continued dedication and passion for initiating inclusivity and diversity within the tourism industry in Nepal.” 

The board also noted in its certificate of appointment: “Pant’s role as cultural emissary holds significance in advocating for LGBTIQA+ tourism. By taking on this position, you have the opportunity to create a positive impact on both local and international levels, inspiring others to embrace the principle of equality and acceptance.”

“As a cultural emissary, we believe you will raise more awareness about the LGBTIQA+ issues, encourage LGBTIQA+ friendly policies and promote LGBTIQA+ friendly destinations and experiences,” the board stated.

“Your expertise and influence will undoubtedly contribute to the growth of pink tourism and help create a more inclusive and diverse travel industry,” the board added.

“I am grateful to the NTB for this opportunity,” Pant told the Himalayan News Service. “I will promote Pink Tourism along with justice and equality for the LGBTIQA+ communities in Nepal, in Asia, and around the world.”

Pant is the executive director of Mayako Pahichan Nepal and the former executive director, CEO, and founder of Blue Diamond Society, the first LGBTQ+ rights organization in Nepal.

Additional reporting by Correctiv, the Associated Press, Deutsche Welle, M1, GCN Ireland, Agence France-Presse, the BBC, PinkNewsUK, Focus Taiwan and the Himalayan News Service.

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Cuba

Cuban lawmakers to consider simplifying process for trans people to change IDs

National Assembly in July will reportedly debate proposal

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A transgender Pride flag flies over Mi Cayito, a beach east of Havana. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Cuban lawmakers are reportedly poised to consider a proposal that would allow transgender people to legally change the gender marker on their ID documents without surgery.

Cubadebate, a government-run website, on May 11 referenced the proposal in an article about an International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia march in Havana that the National Center for Sexual Education organized.

Mariela Castro, the daughter of former Cuban President Raúl Castro who spearheads LGBTQ issues on the island, is CENESEX’s director.

Cubadebate notes the National Assembly in July will consider an amendment to the country’s Civil Registry Law that “for the first time would allow citizens to determine the sex on their identification cards without the need for a court order or gender assignment surgery.”

Argentina, Uruguay, Germany, and Malta are among the countries that allow trans people to legally change their name and gender without surgery.

Cuba’s national health care system has offered free sex-reassignment surgery since 2008, but activists who are critical of Mariela Castro and CENESEX have said access to these procedures is limited. Mariela Castro, who is also a member of the National Assembly, in 2013 voted against a measure to add sexual orientation to Cuba’s labor code because it did not include gender identity.

The Cuban constitution bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, among other factors. Authorities routinely harass and detain activists who publicly criticize the government.

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Chile

Chilean lawmakers back report that calls for suspension of program for trans children

Country’s first transgender congresswoman condemned May 15 vote

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LGBTQ activists criticized Chilean lawmakers who endorsed a report that calls for the suspension of a program for transgender and nonbinary children. (Photo courtesy of Fundación Iguales)

The Chilean Chamber of Deputies on May 15 approved a report that recommends the immediate suspension of a program that provides psychosocial support to transgender and gender non-conforming children and adolescents and their parents.

The 56-31 vote in favor of the Investigation Commission No. 57’s recommendations for the Gender Identity Support Program sparked outrage among activists in Chile and around the world. Six lawmakers abstained.

The report proposes the Health Ministry issue a resolution against puberty blockers, cross-hormonalization, and other hormonal treatments for minors, regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The report also suggests Chilean educational institutions should not respect trans students’ chosen names.

The report, among other recommendations, calls for a review of the background of all minors who are currently receiving hormone treatments. The report also calls for the reformulation of hormone therapy guidelines and sending this background information to the comptroller general.

Report ‘sets an ominous precedent’

Frente Amplio Congresswoman Emilia Schneider, the first trans woman elected to the Chilean Congress and a member of the commission, sharply criticized her colleagues who voted for the report.

“Today in the Chamber of Deputies the report of hatred against trans people was approved; a report that seeks to roll back programs so relevant for children, for youth, such as the Gender Identity Support Program; a program that, in addition, comes from the government of (the late-President) Sebastián Piñera,” Schneider told the Washington Blade. ”This is unacceptable because the right-wing yields to the pressures of the ultra-right and leaves the trans community in a very complex position.”

Schneider noted “this report is not binding; that is, its recommendations do not necessarily have to be taken into account, but it sets an ominous precedent.” 

“We are going backwards on such basic issues as the recognition of the social name of trans students in educational establishments,” she said.

Ignacia Oyarzún, president of Organizing Trans Diversities, a Chilean trans rights group, echoed Schneider’s criticisms. commented to the Blade. 

“We regret today’s shameful action in the Chamber of Deputies, where the CEI-57 report issued by the Republican Party was approved in a context of lies, misinformation and misrepresentation of reality,” Oyarzún told the Blade. “This only promotes the regression of public policies and conquered rights that have managed to save the lives of thousands of children in the last time.” 

Oyarzún added the “slogan ‘children first’ proves to be an empty phrase without content used by those who today promote measures that push to suicide a significant number of children for the fact of being trans.”

The Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, a Chilean LGBTQ rights group known by the acronym Movilh also condemned the approval of the report, calling it “transphobic” and accusing the commission of omitting the opinions of organizations and families that support the current policies. 

Movilh notes lawmakers approved both the Gender Identity Law and Circular 812, which promotes respect for trans students’ rights, within the framework of an agreement with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

“The text of the approved report is scandalous, because it seeks to take away the access to health to trans minors, including denying them the psychosocial accompaniment that also includes their respective families,” said María José Cumplido, executive director of Fundación Iguales, another Chilean LGBTQ advocacy group. “Likewise, it attempts against school inclusion, since it intends to eliminate something as essential as the use of the social name in educational spaces. In short, it takes away rights and freedoms to trans people, especially to minors.”

Cumplido, like Schneider, pointed out that “although its content is not binding, we will be alert to the political and legislative consequences that it may produce and we will continue working to avoid setbacks with respect to the rights of trans people.”

The report’s approval reflects a global trend that has seen neighboring Argentina, the U.S., and other countries reserve policies for trans and nonbinary young people. The Peruvian Health Ministry recently classified gender identity as a mental illness, and lawmakers have passed a law that prevents trans people from using public restrooms based on their identity.

Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last month. Argentina is among the countries that have curtailed the rights of transgender and nonbinary children. (Washington Blade
photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Experts and human rights activists warn the suspension of Chile’s Gender Identity Support Program and other programs could adversely impact the mental health of trans and nonbinary children who already face high levels of discrimination and are at heightened risk to die by suicide.

“We will defend the Gender Identity Support Program and the right to exist of trans children and youth across the country,” said Schneider. “I want to reassure the trans families of our country that we will not rest until our rights are respected and that we can continue advancing because there is still much to be conquered.”

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Iran

Underground queer network challenges Iranian regime

Homosexuality remains punishable by death in country

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(Image by Micha Klootwijk/Bigstock)

While global powers negotiate with Iran’s regime under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to curb its advancing nuclear program, the oppressed LGBTQ community is building and operating a secret underground network to resist state-coerced sex reassignment surgeries. 

These surgeries, mandated for gay and lesbian people as a state-sanctioned alternative to execution for homosexuality, are part of Iran’s penal code that criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual relations. The network provides safe houses, forged identification documents, and covert communication channels to protect members from government raids and imprisonment.

Precise data on LGBTQ people prosecuted in Iran for resisting state-coerced sex reassignment surgeries over the past decade remains elusive, as the regime’s opaque judicial system obscures such cases under vague charges like “corruption on earth” or “sodomy.” NGOs, including 6Rang, report that thousands of gay and lesbian Iranians face pressure to undergo surgeries to avoid execution for same-sex conduct, with resistance often leading to arrests or harassment for violating gender norms.

Zahra Seddiqi Hamedani and Elham Choubdar, two prominent activists, in 2022 were sentenced to death for their social media advocacy, charged with “corruption” and “human trafficking,” though their convictions were overturned in 2023. Similarly, Rezvaneh Mohammadi in 2019 received a five-year sentence for promoting “homosexual relations,” a charge hinting at resistance to the regime’s heteronormative mandates.

Arsham Parsi in 2003 escalated his clandestine fight for Iran’s LGBTQ community by launching Voice Celebration, a secret Yahoo chat group where 50 queer Iranians, using aliases, exchanged coded messages to evade the regime’s surveillance. Operating like operatives in a shadow network, participants shared text messages about human rights and survival tactics, knowing a single breach could lead to torture or execution. Parsi, then 23, orchestrated the group’s encrypted communications, building a virtual lifeline that connected isolated individuals across the country until his cover was nearly blown, forcing a desperate escape in early 2005.

Parsi in an exchange with the Washington Blade revealed a defiant undercurrent in Iran, a movement too elusive to be called traditional resistance yet pulsing with covert rebellion against the regime. 

The state’s relentless push to force gay men into coerced surgeries — marketed as a “solution” to their sexuality — seeks to erase their identities through enforced conformity. Parsi, steering the International Railroad for Queer Refugees, disclosed how queer Iranians fight back with clandestine measures: Underground education to counter state propaganda, discreet psychological support to fortify resilience, and encrypted networks to forge secret alliances. These efforts, veiled to evade regime detection, dismantle the state’s narrative with every hidden signal and guarded connection.

“We are working to create a true grassroots resistance by empowering people to understand their identity, seek safe alternatives, and reclaim their agency despite the oppressive context,” said Parsi. “The Iranian regime’s policies are built on denial of sexual orientation and a forced alignment with a binary gender model.” 

“Rather than recognizing gay, lesbian, or bisexual individuals, the system pressures them — particularly gay men — to undergo irreversible surgeries in order to be legally tolerated,” he added. “This systemic violence creates deep psychological harm and compels many to resist, even quietly, to protect their truth. The lack of legal recognition and the threat of arrest, harassment, or blackmail fuels the underground defiance we see today. It’s not only resistance for survival — it’s a rejection of state-imposed identity suppression.”

IRQR, guided by Parsi, for nearly two decades has operated as a lifeline, orchestrating daring escapes and running a covert network for Iran’s hunted queer community. 

Parsi said his work relies on secret, encrypted channels — meticulously managed to avoid detection — to funnel at-risk individuals to safety, smuggle life-saving information, secure hidden safe houses, and deliver emotional support. Every operation faces threats not only from the regime’s security forces but also from Basij militia operatives who masquerade as queer individuals to infiltrate networks, heightening the peril for those marked by their identities.

Black-clad Basij militia members respond at the first signs of defiance; tearing through crowds on motorcycles with batons and guns at the ready, poised to crush any challenge to Iran’s regime. These paramilitary volunteers, bound by fierce loyalty to the Islamic Republic, serve as the state’s enforcers, their plainclothes operatives slipping into dissident networks to root out the defiant. 

The Basij fill queer Iranians with dread; their so-called morality patrols and digital traps stalking those who dare to exist outside the regime’s rigid norms.

“Their goal is not only to gather intelligence but to undermine, divide, and cancel the work of activists and organizations like ours,” said Parsi. “This divide-and-conquer strategy is designed to break solidarity and generate mistrust.” 

“We have seen numerous cases where trusted circles were compromised by these informants, and it has made our work — and survival — even more complex,” he further noted. “Despite this, we persist. Through our underground connections, we have helped thousands of queer Iranians seek safety, community, and ultimately, freedom.”

Parsi told the Blade that international support — through funding, advocacy, policy pressure, or amplifying his stories — can significantly strengthen his work to protect Iran’s persecuted queer community. He emphasized IRQR operates with limited resources, making global solidarity essential to improve outreach, enhance safety measures, and respond swiftly to those in need. Parsi underscored such support brings visibility to the crisis in Iran, reminding those at risk they are not forgotten while exerting pressure on a regime that thrives on silence and fear.

Arsham Parsi (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

One of the things that Parsi’s underground network offers is online workshops that educate queer Iranians about how they can remain beyond the regime’s reach. 

He said these sessions, designed for safety and accessibility, encompass peer support, mental health education, digital security training, and guidance on refugee pathways. Parsi explained the workshops give vulnerable Iranians the tools to navigate persecution, defy state surveillance, and pursue escape, exposing the resilience of a community under relentless scrutiny.

“Due to the high risk of persecution in Iran, traditional protests are not feasible,” said Parsi. “Instead, acts of resistance take quieter forms — like anonymous storytelling which are just as powerful in building awareness and connection within the community. While discreet, these activities help create a sense of solidarity and empowerment among queer Iranians.”

Parsi, undeterred by Iran’s unyielding regime, asserted with measured confidence that while underground acts of defiance — living authentically, supporting one another, resisting forced medicalisation — may not shift policy overnight, they are already improving lives. He stressed these quiet rebellions that queer Iranians stage challenge the regime’s narrative of shame and invisibility, forging a resilient foundation for future change. Each act, Parsi emphasized, dismantles the regime’s grip, offering hope to those navigating a landscape of relentless oppression.

“At IRQR, we view each life saved, each network built, and each truth spoken as a small but powerful act of resistance,” said Parsi. “These are the seeds of future liberation. Over time, as they multiply and gain visibility — locally and internationally — they will help reshape the landscape for queer Iranians.”

ILGA Asia Executive Director Henry Koh said queer Iranians’ underground resistance is a powerful assertion of bodily autonomy and self-determination. He described it as a deeply courageous act in a regime where visibility invites immense personal risk, from arrest to execution. 

When asked by the Blade if the Iranian regime’s punitive measures against openly queer people fuel underground resistance, Koh responded unequivocally. 

“Absolutely,” he said. “The climate of criminalization and repression leaves little safe space for queer people to live openly. This forces many into secrecy or underground networks as a means of survival, resistance, and mutual support. Such conditions are not only unjust but also profoundly harmful to the well-being of LGBTIQ+ individuals.”

“It is important to distinguish between affirming gender-affirming care and any form of coercive medical intervention,” he added. “When states or authorities mandate medical procedures as a condition for recognition or safety, it constitutes a grave violation of human rights. Gender identity is deeply personal, and no institution should override an individual’s self-defined identity.”

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