Gays Against Executions will hold a protest in San Francisco's Harvey Milk Plaza to condemn the public executions of two teenagers in Iran. The protest is part of a worldwide day of action to bring attention to Iran's laws regarding capital punishment.
The event, which will also include a press conference, will take place at the corner of Market and Castro Streets from 5pm to 6pm local time. The Mayor of San Francisco and members of the Board of Supervisors have been invited to speak at the press conference.
Gays who support abolishing capitol punishment and Iran's executions of teenagers, regardless of their "crimes" or sexual orientations, will be holding similar actions in Ireland, England, France and the United States.
Michael Petrelis (Web: Petrelis Files), one of the organizers of the protest and press conference, provided the following information from Outrage!, the UK Based gay human rights pressure group:
The two Iranian teenagers, Mahmoud Asgari (16) and Ayaz Marhoni (18) were hanged in Edalat (Justice) Square in the city of Mashhad on July 19, 2005. Some reports say they were hanged for gay sex. The Iranian government claims they were hanged for the rape of a 13 year old boy.
Fact: Iran executes lesbians and gays. The Iranian government has executed an estimated 4,000 LGBT people since 1979. In these circumstances, we are not prepared to give the violently homophobic Iranian government the benefit of the doubt. It has previously lied to justify public executions, noted OutRage!.
Petrelis said, "Gays must take two public stands: oppose capitol punishment as human rights activists and hold all governments accountable for their antigay human rights abuses."
For more information on the San Francisco event, contact Mr. Petrelis by clicking here.
