From Bitch Magazine:
Stop the Deportation of Kiana Firouz
Iranian lesbian activist Kiana Firouz is currently seeking asylum in the United Kingdom after a controversy over the upcoming release of Cul de Sac. The film, which stars Firouz and includes explicit lesbian sex scenes, is based heavily on Firouz's life and struggles as a lesbian in Iran. Directors Ramin Goudarzi-Nejad and Mahshad Torkan posted the trailer on YouTube in December 2009 (below, NSFW) and since then, the Iranian government has attempted to deport Firouz back to Iran to be tried and punished for her crime of homosexuality. Firouz applied for refugee status in the UK, but was rejected.
If she is not granted asylum in the UK, she will be sent back to Iran, where the minimum punishment for homosexuality is 100 lashes. The punishment for "unrepentant" homosexuality, which Firouz's LGBTQ activism clearly demonstrates, is public execution by hanging.
There is a petition online right now that Firouz has endorsed called "
Stop Deporting Kiana Firouz, The Iranian Lesbain [sic]". Emails can be sent to the British Home Office at
public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk, but our friends over at Coilhouse blog are still trying to confirm if that email address is working, and is trying to get in personal contact with Firouz. International human rights organization EveryOne published a campaign letter on May 6 addressed to Antonio Guterre (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, among others; letters can be sent to
Minister of State (Borders and Immigration) -
Home Office, 2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
Fax: +44 870 336 9034
Secretary of State for the Home Department -
Home Office, 2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
Fax: +44 20 7035 0900