Ali Fazeli Monfared Iranian gay man beheaded in honor killing after family disowns son after being granted exemption from serving military.
A 20-year-old Iranian man was beheaded in an alleged honor killing after his family discovered he was gay, according to LGBTQ rights activists.
Ali Fazeli Monfared, who lived in Ahvaz, was reportedly killed after his relatives found out he had been exempted from serving in the military due to his sexual orientation, according to 6Rang, the Iranian Lesbian and Transgender Network.
Fazeli Monfared had applied for the status so that he could leave the country and go to Turkey to live with his close friend, Aghil Bayat, NBC News reported.
But when he received his exemption card in the mail, one of his family members found it, according to 6Rang.
Several male relatives then allegedly took Fazeli Monfared to a rural village near Ahvaz and executed him on May 4, a 6Rang executive told NBC News.
ISLAMISME☪️ET HOMOSEXUALITÉ🏳️🌈
Le 5 mai 2021, Ali Fazeli Monfared, iranien de 20 ans, a été retrouvé décapité.
Il a été tué par son demi-frère et ses cousins qui ont découvert son homosexualité après avoir ouvert l’enveloppe contenant sa carte d’exemption du service militaire.🧐 pic.twitter.com/brrKm3wPb6— M. Tout le monde (@Walkinglife007) May 12, 2021
Homosexuality as a mental illness
The exemption cards are issued through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Alireza received one by indicating that he was gay, which is permissible under Paragraph 5, Article 7 of the military exemption laws according to 6Rang. The statute deems exemption because homosexuality is deemed as a ‘mental illness’.
‘We think that because of his gender expression and his behaviors, they knew that he is homosexual, but it was proof that shows he wants to leave the country, and he is a gay man,’ executive director Shadi Amin told the news outlet.
‘We are trying to use this story to challenge the Iranian government … to remove this paragraph [in the exemption law] and the reason on the exemption cards.’
The organization described the slaying as an honor killing which is often carried out by a relative who believes a person went against conservative Islamic values on love or marriage.
Criminalization of homosexuality
Homosexuality is criminalized in Iran and same-sex sexual acts are punishable by death.
Posted a supporter of the victim on social media, ‘Cultural attitudes in society towards homosexuality are a literal life or death problem. What compounds the problem is when the laws of a state do not provide any protection.’
Iran is one of an estimated 11 countries where same-sex sexual acts are punishable by death, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, and one of almost 70 countries where it is criminalized, according to Human Rights Watch, an international human rights group based in New York. In Iran, punishments for homosexual conduct range from 31 to 100 lashes to death, according to Human Rights Watch.
All three male family members associated with the murder have since been arrested and charged with first degree murder. The victim’s mother has since been hospitalized as she continues to remain in a state of shock.
