GAY EXECUTIONS IN IRAN ? ? ? (Randy Wicker Reporting)

GAY EXECUTIONS IN IRAN ? ? ? (Randy Wicker Reporting)

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Sparks flew when a representative of Human Rights Watch and an independent Iranian-American filmmaker criticized stories in Gay City News, one of the USA's most respected journals, as being "bad reporting" which was based on second and third-hand reporting. Scott Long from Human Rights Watch said descriptions of intensified harassment of gays in Iran could not be verified. Editor Paul Schindler angrily defended articles by reporter Doug Ireland which insisted two teenagers were hung in Iran simply because of their sexual orientation and consensual sexual activities. The independent Iranian-American filmmaker angrily criticized Gay City News and the American gay press in general for covering events in Iran in a way that was "really more about what is happening in this country". He said American gays demanding American forces "protect" Iraqi gays was "the worst thing" imaginable because it caused them to become identified with the occupying forces. The arguments reflected a complex mixture of sexual & cultural global politics.