A young Iranian man was allegedly murdered by his family members for “honor” after they found out that he was gay. Alireza Fazeli Monfared was 20-year-old when he was allegedly beheaded by his half-brother and two cousins on May 4, according to reports.
Monfared was reportedly planning to permanently leave Iran because of the criminalization of homosexuality in the country. To claim asylum somewhere else in the world, he was also awaiting an exemption from Iran’s compulsory military service. But just a few days before he was going to leave the country, his half-brother got hold of the documentation for his exemption and learned that he was gay.
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Iranian LGBTQ network 6Rang’s executive director Shadi Amin told Insider that some of his relatives could not digest that he was gay and decided to take his life. His half-brother along with two other relatives allegedly took him to a remote village where they murdered him. Monfared’s death has sparked a global outcry as celebrities like Demi Lovato also took to social media to express her grief and disgust over the tragedy. But as per Iranian human-rights activists, the alleged “honor killing” of Monfared is nothing new for Iran’s gay community members, who are mostly met with the same fate.
Okan Sengun, the executive director and co-founder of the LGBT Asylum Project, said: “The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia’ is coming up on Monday (May 17). On that day, we should speak out about this. Make sure that these laws change. That’s key.”
Who was Alireza Fazeli Monfared?
An Arab Iranian from Ahvaz, the capital of Iran’s Khuzestan province, Monfared was the only child of his mother. His father has other kids from his earlier marriage. He was active on Instagram with more than 18K followers. His posts on the social media platform show him as a lover of designer fashion. Monfared was also reportedly a lover of makeup but failed to do so in public. “Pressure means not being able to behave however you want in society. For example, I would like to walk around with a bit of makeup, but you know how Ahvaz is,” he once said in a voice recording sent to a friend.
In another voice message, he added, “I have been threatened by my father’s side of the family — murder and such. My father sided with them.” And in one of the recordings, he stated, “I’m wondering whether I should go to Sweden or Norway.” “He was not ready to continue this conflict with his family,” Amin said.
Reportedly, being gay is not allowed in Iran and punishable by death, but if someone is homosexual and wants to not do military service, the law allows them to do so. Jasmin Ramsey, the communications director for the Center for Human Rights in Iran, told Insider, “Those who have special conditions can get an exemption; if they have a particular illness, or a missing limb, or other physical issues. Homosexuality is also considered a psychological disease in Iran, and the military’s military board can exempt a gay man from service if they are deemed homosexual after an examination.”
In Monfared’s case, he was about to receive permission from the military, however, the documentation was unfortunately seen by his relative. “I think their hate of homosexuality was so huge that they decided to kill him,” Amin added. And soon his relatives picked him up from a local store, where he went to sell his mobile phone, as they told him his father wanted to speak with him urgently. However, instead of taking him to his father, they took him to a rural village, where they allegedly murdered him using a knife.
After Monfared’s death, Lovato posted a tribute for him. She wrote; “My heart is broken hearing the story of Alireza Fazeli Monfared 💔 #restinpower Repost @mattxiv: “sending the most love to my queer muslim friends. I love u — ‘no one of us can be free until everybody is free’.” Masih Alinejad, a prominent Iranian activist living in exile in New York, told Insider, “I went to look at his page and I found that he was so full of life. Immediately, I posted about his death on my social media and it went viral. I wish he had received this sort of attention while he was alive.” While Sengun confirmed to getting a number of emails from gay people in Iran that state, “’I don’t want to be the next Alireza.’”
