Transgender woman's Burned & mutilated body found in 'Islamist' Turkey.

Transgender woman's Burned & mutilated body found in 'Islamist' Turkey. (Mirror).

 The badly-burned body of a young transgender woman who went missing last week has been found BURNT by the side of a road in Istanbul.

It is the latest in a series of hate crimes in Turkey shocking the LGBT and international community.
Sex worker Hande Kader was last seen getting into a client's car - and her partner raised the alarm and filed a missing persons' report when she did not return last week.

Despite being badly mutilated, the 22-year-old's body - found in the upmarket neighbourhood of Zekeriyakoy - was finally identified by prosthetics at the city morgue.

Politically active, Kader had been photographed participating in protests and demonstrations for LGBT rights.

The chilling incident comes less than two weeks after the murder and decapitation of a gay Syrian refugee just a few miles from where Kader's body was found.

Although Turkey is traditionally seen as one of the most tolerant countries in the region, a recent poll by PEW Research Centre showed that almost 80% of Turks believe homosexuality is "morally unacceptable". Hmmm....lets give those 80% = 64 Million free visa travel to Europe. Read the full story here.

Related: August 04 2016. Turkey - Gay Syrian refugee murdered and decapitated in Istanbul.

Turkey - Gay Syrian refugee murdered and decapitated in Istanbul.

Turkey - Gay Syrian refugee murdered and decapitated in Istanbul. (lgbtinewsturkey).

Syrian gay refugee Muhammed Wisam Sankari left his house in Aksaray on the night of 23 July. He was found dead in Yenikapi on 25 July. He was beheaded and his body mutilated beyond identification. Wisam’s killers have not been caught. Wisam, who was previously threatened, kidnapped by a crowded group of men, and raped, was trying to go to another country as a refugee because his life was in danger. After the murder, we listened to Wisam’s housemates Rayan, Diya and Gorkem tell us about what Wisam went through, what it is like to be an LGBTI refugee in Turkey, and the problems refugees face. They spoke to KaosGL.org about the murder that was so clearly in the making, how the authorities did not take any preventive measures, and their anxieties about “who is next”.

Rayan, who has known Wisam for a year, says “He was feeling very insecure recently. When we asked him, he would not tell us much” and explains that Wisam had been threatened and kidnapped before. He said they had difficulties even walking on the streets of Aksaray where they lived and where crowded male groups wielding knives had threatened them several times, saying they wanted to rape them. According to Rayan, Wisam experienced the following:

“We were staying in a different house before and we had to leave that house just because we are gay. People around would constantly stare at us. We did not do anything immoral? About five months ago, a group kidnapped Wisam in Fatih. They took him to a forest, beat him and raped him. They were going to kill him but Wisam saved himself by jumping at the road. We complained to the Police Headquarters but nothing happened.”

Gorkem is also Wisam’s friend and he was among the people who went to identify the body after Wisam was killed. Gorkem tells the story of Wisam’s disappearance and the news of his death in tears:

“That night Wisam left the house. We were already anxious because of the threats. We told him not to go but he said he was going out for 15-20 minutes. He didn’t come home all night. The next day, we panicked when we couldn’t reach him. We went to the Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants (ASAM). They directed us to Fatih Police Headquarters. We did not even know how to get there or what to say.
“On Sunday police called us. We went to Yenikapi with Rayan. They had cut Wisam violently. So violent that two knives had broken inside him. They had beheaded him. His upped body was beyond recognition, his internal organ were out. We could identify our friend from his pants.”

Diya says they live in fear and with the thought of “who is next” following Wisam’s death and says they are afraid to go out on the street:

“I am so scared. I feel like everyone is staring at me on the street. I was kidnapped twice before. They let me go in Cerkezkoy and I barely got home one time. I went to the UN for my identification but they did not even respond to that. No one cares about us. They just talk. I get threats over the phone. I speak calmly so something does not happen. It does not matter if you are Syrian or Turkish, if you are gay you are everyone’s target. They want sex from you and when you don’t they just tag along. I don’t have identification, who would protect me? Who is next?”

Hmmm........2013:  Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called homosexuality a “sexual preference” and said it conflicted with the “culture of Islam,”

German refugee shelters facing Sexual Assault and hate crime problem.

'I Can Hardly Breathe Here': German Refugee Shelters Face Sexual Assault Problem. (Spiegel).

Cases of sexual assault in German refugee shelters are on the rise, with women and children facing the greatest danger. Despite pleas for help from the government, Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition has done little to offer additional protections.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing coalition is failing to provide protection to exactly those people who need it most: women, children and minorities who have fled their homes.

The government's commissioner responsible for the issue of sexual violence against children, Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig, is currently dealing with 40 cases of sexual assault on children inside refugee hostels in recent months, including cases of rape and even genital mutilation performed on a small girl.

The number of unreported cases, Rörig fears, is likely much higher: He says that many refugees are afraid of approaching the authorities due to worries that doing so may adversely affect their asylum applications. "How many cases are still needed before something changes?" he asks. "Fifty? One hundred? A thousand?"

Back in 2013, the EU issued a directive to member states requiring them to "take into consideration gender and age-specific concerns and the situation of vulnerable persons in relation to applicants within the premises and accommodation centers." The directive also specifically mentioned "appropriate measures to prevent assault and gender-based violence" in addition to access to "psychological treatment or care." Thus far, however, the German government has been ignoring the directive.

It's not entirely for lack of trying. Last fall, the Family Ministry in Berlin proposed the inclusion of protections for women, children and minorities in a draft law addressing refugees and asylum-seekers in Germany. But the Interior Ministry, under the leadership of Thomas de Maizière, a member of Merkel's Christian Democrats, removed the passage prior to the law's approval early this year.

The passage was allegedly struck so as to save German states from extra work. But Interior Ministry sources say the real reason was to discourage further refugees from coming by way of more restrictive asylum policies.

In addition to women, minorities are also the victims of attacks. Boris Fadeyev relates how several men stormed into his room in a Berlin refugee hostel three months ago. One of them yelled: "Do you smell that? It stinks like shit here, you fag!" Read the full story here.

LGBT refugee shelter to open in Berlin after a considerable number of attacks against LGBT migrants.

LGBT refugee shelter to open in Berlin after a considerable number of attacks against LGBT migrants. (RT).

An LGBT-only dormitory is set to welcome 120 homo- and transsexual refugees in the Treptow-Köpenick borough of Berlin in March, local media report. The move comes amid a considerable number of attacks against LGBT migrants reported in refugee shelters.

From August to December 2015, the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany (LSVD) - the largest non-governmental lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights organization in the country - received information on 95 accounts of violence towards LGBT refugees. The majority of those cases took place in asylums, local media report.

The number of LGBT asylum seekers in Berlin is estimated to be around 3,500. They are considered to be a group in need of special protection, and are therefore supposed to be provided with accommodation in hostels. However, every second LGBT refugee is denied this opportunity, according to Joana Hassoun, a LSVD representative.

“We are sure that this dormitory is necessary,” Marcel de Groot, director of the LGTB consultancy Schwulenberatung Berlin, said, as quoted by Die Welt. His organization will be in charge of running the dormitory as soon as its construction is completed.

“We are optimistic that it will be finished in March,” a spokesperson for Berlin's Senate Department for Labor, Women's Affairs and Integration said on Monday.

The German capital will become the country’s first federal area to house this type of shelter.
A scandal over cases of sexual abuse by refugees and police cover-ups is gathering pace across Europe.


Related: Pro Turkish 'Islamist' AKP Female supporter: "LGBT shouldn't be allowed on the streets"

LGBT-Muslim Solidarity campaign in East London after suffering abuse from fellow Muslims.

LGBT-Muslim Solidarity campaign in East London after suffering abuse from fellow Muslims.(petertatchellfoundation).

Unite against all hate. Oppose homophobia. Support LGBT Muslims. Wednesday 21 October, 12 noon-2pm, Whitechapel tube station

A new LGBT-Muslim Solidarity campaign is being launched by the Peter Tatchell Foundation, to engage with Muslim & other communities. It will start with a street stall outside Whitechapel tube station, London, on Wednesday 21 October, from 12 noon - to 2pm.

The stall will include LGBT Muslims and non-Muslims and will involve direct dialogue with people in the local community. We’ll be inviting the public to stop and chat with us - and offering them leaflets about LGBT and Muslim issues, including leaflets from the LGBT Muslim organisation Imaan,Naz and Matt Foundationand from other Asian LGBT groups.

“Our initiative has been prompted by requests from East London LGBT Muslims who have suffered abuse and harassment, often from fellow Muslims. They’ve asked us to come to East London to challenge homophobic prejudice,” said Peter Tatchell, Director of the human rights organisation, the Peter Tatchell Foundation.

“The aim of this campaign is to reach out, create dialogue and bring the Muslim and LGBT communities together, to oppose the prejudice, discrimination and hate crime that both communities experience. We want to support and empower LGBT Muslims, to give them a voice and visibility - and to tackle anti-LGBT prejudice in the Muslim community and anti-Muslim prejudice in the LGBT community. Our goal is unity and solidarity to oppose all hate.

This is the first phase in our LGBT-Muslim solidarity campaign, aimed at building bridges between Muslims and non-Muslims, for our common good,” he said.

Ejel Khan, a gay Muslim and social activist, and a participant next Wednesday, said:

“It is imperative that our LGBT Muslim voices are heard and that we engage with the mainstream Muslim community. I’ve spoken in some mosques on LGBT issues but many mosques still don’t acknowledge and support their LGBT worshippers. That needs to change.”

Sohail Ahmed, who is gay and from a devout Muslim family, will also be on the stall next Wednesday. He added:

"As a gay Muslim myself, I always feared that Muslims and non-Muslims alike would view me negatively for being both Muslim and gay. I thought that mentioning I'm gay would make me and my religion look bad and that everyone would judge me as being a 'fake Muslim.'

I felt so alone and thought that no one would understand me. I never told anyone. This campaign has the opportunity to change lives, and even save some. I wish I had come across something like this during my darkest moments as a young gay Muslim. No one deserves to be alone and unsupported, especially not LGBT Muslims, who often go through extreme difficulties because of their sexuality, faith and ethnicity."

Video - Hungarian Imam Ahmed Miklós Kovács: Homosexuals Are the Filthiest Creatures

During a Friday sermon on July 10, 2015, Imam Ahmed Miklós Kovács, Vice President of the Hungarian Muslim Community, stated that homosexuals are "the filthiest of Allah's creatures," and that Muslims "must never accept this disease."He instructed followers not to paint their Facebook image with rainbow colors.

Iran, EU[Rabia] Agree to Begin High-Level Talks on Energy, Human Rights.

Iran, EU[Rabia] Agree to Begin High-Level Talks on Energy, Human Rights. (SP).

Iran and the European Union are determined to begin high-level talks to discuss various issues, including energy, human rights issues, and other topics, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif said Tuesday.

“There are several topics related to the future of relations between Iran and Europe, including human rights, transportation, environment, energy, and the fight against drugs and other cooperation in various fields between Iran and the European Union,” Zarif said. Hmmmm....What a joke the EU Would sell their whole family to obtain deals and cheap gas from Iran and Turkey. Second ARAB (Islamic) Human rights are not the same as Human rights for the rest of the World...stop the pretending.

Source.

Kenyan president rebukes Pres Hussein Obama’s gay rights message.

Kenyan president rebukes Pres Hussein Obama’s gay rights message. (TheHill).


President Obama on Saturday made an personal plea for gay rights during his visit to Kenya, warning that “bad things happen” when countries discriminate against certain groups of people.

“As an African-American in the United States, I am painfully aware of the history of what happens when people are treated differently under the law,” Obama added during a joint press conference with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. “I’m unequivocal on this.”

But Obama’s call for universal gay rights was quickly dismissed by Kenyatta, who described the issue as something “our culture, our society does not accept.”

“For Kenyans today, the issue of gay rights is really a non-issue. We want to focus on other areas that are day-to-day living for our people,” he said, citing heath concerns and women’s rights.

“This issue is not really an issue that is on the foremost of mind for Kenyans, and that is a fact," he said to some applause.

Obama made clear before his trip that he planned to raise the issue of gay rights with African government officials.

Still, Obama said he recognized that “there may be people who may have different religious or cultural beliefs.” Hmmmm.......Like? Islam?.

Video - Imam Slams Homosexuals in Friday Sermon at the Hague, Adds: Unveiled Women Hurt Men's Feelings

Video - Egyptian Women's Rights Activist Nawal El Saadawi in Support of Homosexuals: They Are Very Normal

Pro Turkish 'Islamist' AKP Female supporter: "LGBT shouldn't be allowed on the streets"

Pro Turkish 'Islamist' AKP Female supporter: "LGBT shouldn't be allowed on the streets". (BB).

The AKP rejects allegations of divisiveness, saying it represents all of Turkey’s citizens, according to a response to Bloomberg questions from its media office on Wednesday. Criticism of some of the opposition parties’ individual candidates is only meant to point out contradictions and hypocrisy in their campaigns, it said.

In Kurdish regions in the east, Erdogan strode across podiums with a Kurdish-language Koran in hand, a controversial act in a country where the president’s oath binds him to safeguard “the principles of the secular republic.” He warned crowds that opponents are anti-Muslim and worshippers of an ancient religion with origins in Iran.

“We have documents of them teaching Zoroastrianism in the mountains,” Erdogan shouted at a rally in Kars, northeast Turkey, on Tuesday, linking the HDP to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which is outlawed and listed as a terrorist organization. “These people have no relationship whatsoever with Islam. My pious Kurdish brothers won’t get behind them.”

In a speech to bus drivers at the drivers' federation in Ankara on May 28, Erdogan painted the HDP as hypocritical by pointing out that it had chosen an openly homosexual candidate for the western city of Eskisehir.

“I don’t exploit the feelings of my Kurdish brothers in the east and southeast, then clink glasses with White Turks in Istanbul,” Erdogan said. “We’re not the ones running a so-called mufti in Diyarbakir and a homosexual in Eskisehir.”

A mufti is an Islamic scholar, while the term “White Turk” generally refers to secularist, upper-class Turks. Baris Sulu, the HDP’s 37-year-old candidate in Eskisehir, said Turkey had outgrown that intolerance and such remarks were signs that the opposition was on the right path.

“Gay citizens live in this country and have for years,” Sulu, an architecture student who works for a transsexual advocacy group, said in a phone interview last week. “This is not an LGBT issue, it’s a human rights issue,” he said, using the abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.

Yet the AKP message has resonance among some Turks. Cigdem Alpaslan, a home-maker in Ankara who’s the same age as Sulu, said she agreed with the party on homosexuality.

“I swear our president and the AKP are right,” Alpaslan said. “Forget about these types getting into parliament. They shouldn’t even be out on the streets.” Hmmmm.....Has of course nothing to do with Islam.

Indonesia's highest Islamic clerical body issues Anti-LGBT Fatwa proposing death penalty.

Indonesia's highest Islamic clerical body issues Anti-LGBT Fatwa proposing death penalty.(Independent).

Indonesia's most prominent Islamic clerical body has issued a fatwa proposing a host of punishments for "homosexual crimes" - including the death penalty.

While Indonesia does not have a reputation for being particularly welcoming of the LGBT community – and same-sex marriage is not permitted - homosexual relations are not prohibited. Most individuals can go about their lives without prejudice.

But the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) views homosexuality as a sin. It issued the edict at the start of this month, according to The Jakarta Globe.

The fatwa claimed that homosexuality is a disease that needs to be cured and proposed a series of brutal penalties, ranging from caning to death.

Hasanuddin AF, the head of the MUI's fatwa commission, said: "Sodomy, homosexuals, gays and lesbians in Islamic law are forbidden and [it] is a vile act that is punishable by the death penalty."

He added: "It doesn’t matter that they love each other.

"The law still prohibits it. In Islamic law, it’s a sexual act that must be heavily punished. It would be bad if the government allows same-sex marriage." According to Detik News, the fatwa was issued as a means of "reminding the public" that homosexuality is a "deviant" behaviour that creates a "stain on the dignity of Indonesia". Read the full story here.

Video - Gay Imam Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed: "Allah Does Not Speak against Homosexuality in the Quran"

South African Gay-Friendly Mosque Closed Down After Only 3 Days in Service.

South African Gay-Friendly Mosque Closed Down After Only 3 Days in Service. (RN).

The first gay-friendly mosque in South Africa has been closed down indefinitely after only three days in service, the BBC reports.

According to a Cape Town official, the mosque violated municipal by-laws by failing to have parking spaces.

Despite criticism from members of the local Muslim community, the mosque, which intended to include all Muslims regardless of their gender, sexual orientation and sect, was opened on September 19, the Washington Post said.

“We are opening the mosque for open-minded people, not closed-minded people”, said Taj Hargey, South African-born director of the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford and founder of the mosque, as quoted by BBC.

Some Muslim leaders condemned Hargley as a “heretic”, while protesters yelled “You will go to hell” during the last week’s opening of the mosque. Yet, Hargley believes he is well qualified to represent his version of Islam. “I have a PhD in Islamic Studies from Oxford University, unlike my opponents who went to some donkey college in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia”, Hargley told reporters, as quoted by AFP.

There are estimated 800, 000 worshippers of Islam living in South Africa.

Indonesian Muslim stronghold proposes 100 lashes for gay sex.

Indonesian Muslim stronghold proposes 100 lashes for gay sex.(HD).

Gay sex could be punishable by 100 lashes of the cane in Indonesia's staunchly conservative Aceh province if parliament passes a draft law that critics say violates basic human rights.
      
Aceh is the only part of the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation to enforce Islamic sharia law and has been slowly implementing it since 2001, when it gained some powers of autonomy.
      
A draft bylaw sent to AFP on Saturday outlaws anal sex between men and "the rubbing of body parts between women for stimulation", and for the first time applies Islamic laws and punishments to non-Muslims.
      
The bylaw also punishes adultery with 100 lashes of the cane.
      
The bylaw reinforces previous sharia legislation that bans alcohol consumption, gambling, fraternising between unmarried men and women, and physical displays of affection outside of marriage, such as touching and kissing.

Aceh Party's Ramli Sulaiman, who heads the commission that drafted the law, said the majority of members in the parliament appeared to support the draft and that it could be passed as early as Monday.
      
"We have studied the implementation of sharia in countries like Saudi Arabia, Brunei Darussalam and Jordan to draft this law and we are happy with it," he said.  Hmmm.... Obama: "Indonesia is an example of religious tolerance"....I guess they did not get the Memo?Read the full story here.

Over 24,000 Iranian students confess they are "homosexual", prostitution flourishing in Iran.

Over 24,000 Iranian students confess they are "homosexual", prostitution flourishing in Iran. (TAZ).

The Iranian Parliament Research Center has carried out a study, according to which more than 24,000 Iranian high school students have confessed they are homosexual.

Previously, Iran's Parliament ResearchCenter released results of a survey which was carried out in 2007 among 141,555 high school students. Some 17.5 percent of the students said they are homosexual and 74 percent said they had relationships with the opposite sex.

Some 8.2 percent of the students said they used to masturbate.

Iranian university professor and Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Mahmoud Golzari has conducted a separate study, according to which 80 percent of girls in a number of high schools in Tehran had been in relationships with boys.

Golzari earlier said that 40 percent of students have been in relationship with the opposite sex as early as 14 years of age.

Relationship between girls and boys has tripled compared to 30 years ago, and they start a relationship while they are in guidance schools, according to the minister.

Meanwhile, experts quoted reports of theIranian Parliament Research Center as saying that prostitution among married women in Iran is higher compared to single girls. Eleven percent of men in Tehran are aware that their wives are prostitutes, the study said.

The study also highlighted a report published by the Neday-e Enghelab website saying that 2,000 street girls have been caught, 600 of them said prostitution is their job, and 1,400 women said they learned to be prostitutes via social networks.

Some 280 cases of rape were reported between March 21 and July 22, 2009.

Another study was carried out among women of 15-35 years of age. Some 12.5 percent of them said they are silent when parts of their bodies are touched.

Also, 78.9 percent of girls who were caught over a one-month period due to non-observation of Islamic veil were below 15 years of age.

The Iranian Parliament Research Center has suggested that temporary marriage should be promoted in the society. Hmmm.....Must be a Zionist plot :)

Canadian Foundation Helping To Build 'Little mosque' in the Arctic.

Iqaluit Skyline

Canadian Foundation Helping To Build 'Little mosque' in the Arctic. (GMBR).

Canadian media is reporting on that a Canadian foundation is assisting in the construction of a mosque in the Arctic city of Nunavut, the largest city and territorial capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. According to a CBC news report:

May 16, 2014 A growing Muslim community in Iqaluit is getting help to build a mosque from the same foundation that helped establish mosques in Inuvik, N.W.T., and Thompson, Man.

It would be the first official Islamic place of worship in Nunavut.

‘It’s gonna be nice. It’s gonna be beautiful. It’s gonna stand out in the city as a nice new building,’ said Hussain Guisti of the Zubaidah Tallab Foundation, a Manitoba-based Islamic charity.

Hussain Guisti of the Zubaidah Tallab Foundation says his group is working with the Islamic Society of Nunavut to construct a two-storey building to be used as a mosque. (CBC)

Guisti estimates there are currently 80 Muslims living in Iqaluit, and he expects that number to quadruple in the next two decades.

‘There’s been a tremendous increase in the number of Muslims in the past 20-some years in Iqaluit, and we anticipate that number to continue to grow because Iqaluit is a booming, developing city,’ he said.Read the rest here.

In January 2013, the GMBDW reported on what is still the northernmost sighting of the Global Muslim Brotherhood when Abdullah Hakim Quick visited the Muslim community in Iqaluit. Also in January 2013, an appeal for funds to build the mosque was issued in the name of Dr. Quick who is associated with the Canadian Council of Imams.

Abdullah Hakim Quick has various ties to the Global Muslim Brotherhood including serving as a trustee of IBERR, a little known organization headquartered in South Africa founded by Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) and which distributes Islamic educational material around the world.  

In March 2010 a post reported that Dr. Quick, who had described Jews and Christians as “filthy” and advocates the execution of homosexuals, had been invited to speak before a Swedish Muslim youth organization. 

Dr. Quick has since defended his remarks on homosexuals but said his remarks on Christians and Jews referred to the  “spiritual corruption that afflicts some members of religious groups which in turn leads to injustice against innocent people. “

For a bio on Dr. Quick, go here.

Video - President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, "Gays are 'sick' but life imprisonment isn't necessary."

Interesting part Starts from minute 35.

Video - President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, "Gays are 'sick' but life imprisonment isn't necessary."(HLN) (Google translate).

Human rights groups call on 'Moderate' Iran’s regime to stop violent repression of gays

'We don't have any gays in Iran,' Iranian president Ahmadinejad.

Human rights groups call on 'Moderate' Iran’s regime to stop violent repression of gays.(Jpost).

BERLIN – Human rights activists from international organizations ramped up their pressure in a late December letter to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, calling on him to swiftly end Iran’s persecution of its lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgender community.

The letter cited the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps arresting gay Iranians at a birthday party in October as one example of a list of violent attacks against LGBT Iranians.

According to the letter, 50 members of the Nabi Akram Brigade of the Revolutionary Guards stormed the party in the city of Kermanshahin in western Iran. “Armed members of the security forces verbally abused, assaulted, and beat many of the 80 or so people attending the party, as well as waiters and other staff.”

Kermanshah Province’s Basij Forces – a state-sponsored shock troop – issued a statement that their aim was to end a “homosexual and Satan-worshiping network with dozens of [members].”

The signatories of the letter to Rouhani are from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and the Iranian Queer Organization-IRQO.

They slammed Iran for its Islamic Penal Code.

The anti-gay code “criminalizes any freely and mutually agreed same-sex relations, with punishment ranging from 100 lashes for consensual sexual relations between women (Article 239) to the death penalty for consensual sexual intercourse between men (Article 234). The law also criminalizes other acts between members of the same sex, including touching and intimate kissing, which are punishable by up to 74 lashes (Article 237).”

The human rights representatives called on Iran to repeal its anti-LGBT laws. It is unclear whether Rouhani responded to the letter.

“Nothing essential has changed. The structure is still the same. It’s a play, a comic and ugly performance. They’re relying on the naiveté of people to be able to succeed,” said the openly gay Iranian poet Payam Feili last year about Rouhani’s tenure.Read the full story here.

European Court of Justice: "Homosexuality can be grounds for asylum"

European Court of Justice: "Homosexuality can be grounds for asylum".(HD).

Refugees facing imprisonment in their home country because they are gay may have grounds to be granted asylum in the European Union, the 28-nation bloc's top court ruled Thursday.

The existence of laws imprisoning homosexuals "may constitute an act of persecution per se" if they are routinely enforced, the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice ruled.

A homosexual cannot be expected to conceal his sexual orientation in his home country to avoid persecution, since it would amount to renouncing a "characteristic fundamental to a person's identity," the court added.

International treaties say people must prove they have a "well-founded fear" of persecution for reasons of race, religion, ethnicity or political opinion if they are to obtain asylum.

The European court ruled on the cases of three people from Sierra Leone, Uganda and Senegal seeking asylum in the Netherlands.

Worldwide, more than 70 countries have laws that are used to criminalize people on the basis of sexual orientation, according to the International Commission of Jurists, an advocacy group. The laws typically prohibit either certain types of sexual activity or contain a blanket ban on intimacy and sexual activity between members of the same sex.

The human rights group Amnesty International says homosexuality is "increasingly criminalized across Africa," with 36 nations there having laws against same-sex conduct. In addition, many predominantly Muslim nations like Iran, Kuwait or Afghanistan outlaw homosexuality.

In some nations, however, the laws are rarely enforced. The court said it will be up to Europe's national authorities to determine whether the situation in an applicant's home country amounts to persecution.

Some European Union member states already accept sexual orientation as a reason for granting asylum under certain circumstances, but the ECJ's ruling clarifies that policy and makes it binding for all 28 EU nations.

It still remains unclear how national authorities should check a person's claim of being homosexual. The European Court of Justice isn't expected to rule on that issue before next year.