Arsham Parsi
Encyclopedia
Arsham Parsi is an Iranian LGBT
Human Rights
activist who lives in exile in Canada
. He is the founder and head of the Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees
(IRQR).
(IRQR). Parsi works as a queer activist to make sure Iranian gay
citizens are not being improperly treated. Parsi has faced death threats, excommunication, but he is resilient in his fight.
In 2001, Mr. Parsi had formed a small LGBT Internet group called Rangin Kaman (Rainbow Group), which was renamed as Persian Gay and Lesbian Organization in 2004. As the PGLO would not be recognized in Iran, a friend of Mr. Parsi's officially registered PGLO in Norway
. The PGLO later became the foundation for Mr. Parsi's Toronto
-based Iranian Queer Organization
(IRQO) in 2006. Parsi later left IRQO and founded the Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees
, or IRQR, in 2008.
The organization's headquarters are in Toronto, Canada, and it has branches in the Netherlands
, as well as an underground office in Iran, where it is banned.
He began secretly working for the advancement of civil rights
for lesbians and gays in Iran. In 2003, he helped organize a clandestine Yahoo chat group for gay Iranians. They called it Voice Celebration
. In total there were 50 participants, making contact with each other and exchanging views on how best to achieve civil rights. Less than 3 years later, he was asked to speak publicly in Geneva, Switzerland, at the 2nd session of United Nations Human Rights Council
and on 4th anniversary all international media published some articles about Iranian queers.
Parsi was the executive director of the Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO) and director of the organization's online magazine, Cheraq for several years. In October 2008 he decided to launch a new organization which is Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees
(IRQR). He is working on Iranian queer asylum cases since several years ago and he has been quite successful.
He is an Iranian member of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), based in Brussels
, Belgium
, and ambassador of Iran in the International Lesbian and Gay Cultural Network (ILGCN), based in Stockholm
, Sweden
. Director of the cultural committee at the Iranian Association of University of Toronto
(IAUT) in 2007, Parsi is also a member of the Rainbow Railroad group based in Toronto, Canada, and the Advisory Committee of the Hirschfeld Eddy Foundation
.
. As a gay Iranian, he felt alone until at age 15 he discovered solace in the Internet. Parsi began volunteering for underground gay organizations. At age 22, he began working for PGLO and networked with doctors to provide HIV
testing. He responded to emails from suicidal gay teenagers. The strict laws against homosexuality forced Parsi to keep his work secret from friends and family. But in March 2005, Parsi realized the police were looking for him and fled from Iran
to Turkey
, where he spent 13 months. Unable to return to Iran, Parsi lives in Toronto, Canada.
and easily you can find his interviews by searching his name. In April 2008, Iranian Queer Organization
(IRQO) which was his former organization name awarded Felipa de Souza Award in 2008 by the New York
-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
(IGLHRC). Two months later, Mr. Parsi's work was recognized with the Pride Toronto Award for Excellence in Human Rights.
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
Human Rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
activist who lives in exile in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He is the founder and head of the Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees
Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees
Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees is an advocacy group founded and headed by Executive Director Arsham Parsi on behalf of Iranian LGBTs seeking safe havens both within and without Iran. It is currently the only active Iranian NGO in the world that works on behalf of the Iranian LGBT around the...
(IRQR).
Career
Arsham Parsi is an Iranian queer activist and founder of Iranian Railroad for Queer RefugeesIranian Railroad for Queer Refugees
Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees is an advocacy group founded and headed by Executive Director Arsham Parsi on behalf of Iranian LGBTs seeking safe havens both within and without Iran. It is currently the only active Iranian NGO in the world that works on behalf of the Iranian LGBT around the...
(IRQR). Parsi works as a queer activist to make sure Iranian gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
citizens are not being improperly treated. Parsi has faced death threats, excommunication, but he is resilient in his fight.
In 2001, Mr. Parsi had formed a small LGBT Internet group called Rangin Kaman (Rainbow Group), which was renamed as Persian Gay and Lesbian Organization in 2004. As the PGLO would not be recognized in Iran, a friend of Mr. Parsi's officially registered PGLO in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The PGLO later became the foundation for Mr. Parsi's Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
-based Iranian Queer Organization
Iranian Queer Organization
The Iranian Queer Organization is an advocacy group for LGBT rights in Iran based in Toronto, Canada. The organization was founded by human rights activist Arsham Parsi and monitors violations of gay rights in Iran...
(IRQO) in 2006. Parsi later left IRQO and founded the Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees
Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees
Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees is an advocacy group founded and headed by Executive Director Arsham Parsi on behalf of Iranian LGBTs seeking safe havens both within and without Iran. It is currently the only active Iranian NGO in the world that works on behalf of the Iranian LGBT around the...
, or IRQR, in 2008.
The organization's headquarters are in Toronto, Canada, and it has branches in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, as well as an underground office in Iran, where it is banned.
He began secretly working for the advancement of civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
for lesbians and gays in Iran. In 2003, he helped organize a clandestine Yahoo chat group for gay Iranians. They called it Voice Celebration
Voice Celebration
Iranian Queer Voice Celebration is an especial day for all Iranian Homosexual, Bisexual and Transgendered that many of them still remember those days and they want to commemorate it every year.-History:...
. In total there were 50 participants, making contact with each other and exchanging views on how best to achieve civil rights. Less than 3 years later, he was asked to speak publicly in Geneva, Switzerland, at the 2nd session of United Nations Human Rights Council
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations System. The UNHRC is the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights , and is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly...
and on 4th anniversary all international media published some articles about Iranian queers.
Parsi was the executive director of the Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO) and director of the organization's online magazine, Cheraq for several years. In October 2008 he decided to launch a new organization which is Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees
Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees
Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees is an advocacy group founded and headed by Executive Director Arsham Parsi on behalf of Iranian LGBTs seeking safe havens both within and without Iran. It is currently the only active Iranian NGO in the world that works on behalf of the Iranian LGBT around the...
(IRQR). He is working on Iranian queer asylum cases since several years ago and he has been quite successful.
He is an Iranian member of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), based in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, and ambassador of Iran in the International Lesbian and Gay Cultural Network (ILGCN), based in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Director of the cultural committee at the Iranian Association of University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
(IAUT) in 2007, Parsi is also a member of the Rainbow Railroad group based in Toronto, Canada, and the Advisory Committee of the Hirschfeld Eddy Foundation
Hirschfeld Eddy Foundation
The Hirschfeld-Eddy Foundation was founded in Berlin in June 2007. It is a foundation focused on human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.-Name origin:...
.
Personal life
Parsi was born in Shiraz, IranShiraz, Iran
Shiraz is the sixth most populous city in Iran and is the capital of Fars Province, the city's 2009 population was 1,455,073. Shiraz is located in the southwest of Iran on the Roodkhaneye Khoshk seasonal river...
. As a gay Iranian, he felt alone until at age 15 he discovered solace in the Internet. Parsi began volunteering for underground gay organizations. At age 22, he began working for PGLO and networked with doctors to provide HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
testing. He responded to emails from suicidal gay teenagers. The strict laws against homosexuality forced Parsi to keep his work secret from friends and family. But in March 2005, Parsi realized the police were looking for him and fled from Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
to Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, where he spent 13 months. Unable to return to Iran, Parsi lives in Toronto, Canada.
International Recognitions
Arsham Parsi has been interviewed by most of international major mediaNews media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
and easily you can find his interviews by searching his name. In April 2008, Iranian Queer Organization
Iranian Queer Organization
The Iranian Queer Organization is an advocacy group for LGBT rights in Iran based in Toronto, Canada. The organization was founded by human rights activist Arsham Parsi and monitors violations of gay rights in Iran...
(IRQO) which was his former organization name awarded Felipa de Souza Award in 2008 by the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is a US-based international non-governmental organization that addresses human rights violations against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, intersexuals, transgender people and people with HIV/AIDS...
(IGLHRC). Two months later, Mr. Parsi's work was recognized with the Pride Toronto Award for Excellence in Human Rights.
Book
Arsham Parsi is working on his first book with Marc Colbourne as co-writer. The name of the book is "I have a dream, too."External links
- Arsham Parsi's official website
- IRQR's official website
- Arsham Parsi's Speech at the ILGA's Panel at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva
- Interview: Arsham Parsi of Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees on Digital Journal
- "Queering Freedom House"
- Youtube Video: Arsham Parsi's speech at ILGA panel, UNHRC