Mehdi Kazemi is a lot like you and I. He is 19 and trying to better himself by becoming educated. He's studying English. And until recently, Mehdi had a pretty bright future. That was, until he was denied political asylum from Britain, and then the Netherlands.
Mehdi is gay and an Iranian citizen, which is apparently the worst combination a person can have. As it currently stands in Iran, being homosexual is considered a crime punishable by death. In fact, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once stated, "In our country we don't have homosexuals." Though we all know that isn't true.
Mehdi has been studying English on a student visa in the U.K. since 2005. He has friends and family in the U.K., and speaks English, reports Gay Wired.
Last week, Mehdi went to the British government and asked for political asylum. He assured them that because he was gay, he would be killed if he returned, just like his boyfriend was two years ago. After they denied hearing his case, he went to the Netherlands to beg for the same. They too denied hearing his case.
There was literally no hope for Mehdi, until the media picked up his case. After public outcry, the liberals in Britain's House of Commons and Lords petitioned that his case be heard. Then the British Home Secretary issued a statement, stating that they would review the case, even though their Supreme Court had ruled saying they wouldn't.
As of right now, he gets to wait.
Meanwhile, the British Government sorts out what the best course of action will be. The arguments against offering Mehdi asylum are pretty simple: There are others just like him.
If they offered political asylum to him, where would it end? How many other people would they have to offer this to?
Personally, I hope everyone.
When I was reading the article about Mehdi, I stumbled upon another article about this exact problem — instead of talking solely about Mehdi, the author went on to find out that there are many others just like him.
Included in this article is a letter from another Iranian man identified as Sepehr (though it is noted that an alias is used), who is waiting to hear back from the Malaysian government on whether he will be granted asylum.
Sephehr writes: "… I have completed my second interview and am now awaiting the results of this process. For about eight months, I have been suffering here in Malaysia. In order to get money to eat, I went to the hospital to sell one of my kidneys but they told me that it is illegal to sell body parts in Malaysia. However, I have few options as I am not allowed to work so acquiring those basic needs for survival are therefore difficult. I sit here now in this dying body to write this letter to you.
I am praying. I am crying. I am begging my God to help me. I am planning to commit suicide but if I do that I will lose so much, over 10 years of study, hard work and self-reflection to figure out who I am. I had plans. I wanted to write books. I wanted to share my experiences.
"I wanted to help gay men to better understand who they are. I wanted to speak with people to help them to understand that I deserve to live too."
Yes, he does.
And thank God I am not alone in this thinking. The Iranian Queer Organization does exist, and it needs your help.
Ray Ceo Jr. is crying over this column. He can be contacted at: raymond.ceo@asu.edu.
