In a September 24, 2007 speech to Columbia University, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated, “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals.” Nearly two years later, Ahmadinejad was declared President for another term after a democratic election, but following this announcement, challenging candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi urged his supporters to peacefully protest a seemingly rigged election. For over a week, thousands of Iranian citizens have protested the election results, but there has been very little peace involved. Iran’s police force and militia groups the Revolutionary Guard and Basij have used violence to quell the voices of those who oppose Ahmadinejad, leading to 17 deaths and many more injuries resulting from gunfire, baton beatings and tear gas.

If anything, this suppression signifies a regime that will take any action to stay in power and enforce unfair treatment of its female and queer citizens while putting on a facade of democracy to keep citizens from rebelling. Even worse, other nations who support these protesters have been criticized for influencing the outcry and supposedly worsening the situation. This is simply a tactic of intimidation because we know that we cannot turn a blind eye to this problem and hope it is settled solely by the Iranian government. In a country that maintains laws punishing consensual homosexual acts between adults with death, we need to work to settle this dispute to have any success of rectifying the deplorable state in which LGBT individuals are made to live.

In London last Thursday, a protest of 700 people at the Iranian Embassy welcomed LGBT supporters who showed solidarity with the current unrest in Iran. We need to continue to show our presence in helping the people of Iran, whether through social networks, blogs and news articles or by organizing protests and calling on our government to speak out about this very important moment. We also must remain vigilant; supporting justice for an entire country of people is necessary and especially pertinent in this context, but supporting justice for a minority community will remain a secondary issue unless we continue to speak out against discrimination and violence against the LGBT community worldwide. Show solidarity now and demand solidarity always.