A teenage Iranian boy was murdered by his father over his "feminine" behavior and makeup, putting the dangerous conditions of Iran’s LGBTQIA+ community in the spotlight once again after the honor killing of Alireza Fazeli Monfared by his family members in 2021 made headlines worldwide.
An Iranian man was arrested after admitting to killing his 17-year-old son because he felt “dishonored” about the teenager’s "makeup and feminine behavior.”https://t.co/RMRjmaGWgj #truth
— IranWire (@IranWireEnglish) January 31, 2024
An Iranian man was arrested in the northwestern city of Tabriz after he allegedly murdered his 17-year-old son because his conduct greatly distressed him. Iranian news agency Rokna reported that after the father murdered his son, who was only identified as Parsa, he called the police and confessed to his murder, citing his “disgrace” as the primary motive for the crime.
In an interview with Rokna, the suspect said that he could not face his family and friends due to his son’s behavior, adding that he felt he was publicly shamed and claimed that everyone was pointing fingers at them.
Parsa, whose sexual orientation remains unclear, was sent to “psychotherapy” by his father, further claiming that living with the teenager was beyond his and his family’s endurance.
Violence against members of the LGBTQIA+ community in the Islamic Republic is not uncommon, where senior officials often use derogatory terms such as “inhuman” or “sick” to describe them, exacerbating homophobic and transphobic sentiment in the Islamic nation.
A 2020 poll published by the 6rang advocacy group revealed that 62% of LGBTQIA+ members surveyed in Iran had said they experienced one or more forms of violence from their immediate family members, with nearly 30% of them reporting they experienced sexual violence and 77% said they experienced physical violence.
The immense pressure and persecution faced by many LGBTQIA+ Iranians in the country often push them to either leave and seek asylum in other nations or undergo sex reassignment surgery (SRS), as Iran is the only country in the Muslim world that recognizes SRS.
Javid Rahman, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, criticized in a report to the UN Human Rights Council the use of "conversion therapy" against sexual minorities in Iran as torture.
The report also expressed concern regarding harmful practices against sexual minorities in Iran, such as "electroshock therapy" and "forced hormone injections or administration of strong medications" to homosexual, bisexual, and transgender children in Iran.
