Israel sure knows how to mark ‘Pride Month’. Tel Aviv’s annual celebration of gayness has once again turned into an opportunity to bomb one of the world’s most viciously anti-gay regimes, the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has a dreadful record of abuse not only of homosexuals but also of women, non-Muslims, and of course Jews.

Gay Pride has become a tiresome and hollow celebration of ultra-sexualised behaviour in public places

Gay Pride has become a tiresome and hollow celebration of ultra-sexualised behaviour in public places. The once understandable movement, focused on achieving fair and equal treatment of homosexuals, has transformed into a counter-productive circus of debauchery. Worse, it has now been turned into a month-long festival, as opposed to a single day parade or protest. In some cities it feels almost inescapable, and in most it is now almost completely devoid of any meaningful ideological principle.

Last year I found myself in Tel Aviv covering the tensions in the region as the multicoloured flags were being hoisted up every streetlamp in the city. As I strolled along the beachfront, I observed the erection of a massive stage, ready for the region’s largest (only?) celebration of all things ‘queer’.

“I can’t see how this will go ahead,” I grumbled as I watched workers trashing the lawn of the usually tranquil Charles Clore Park overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

Tensions had been building through May and early June, with the international community condemning Iran’s failure to abide by nuclear agreements and diplomatic efforts stalling. The city’s Pride parade that year was set to be the first since before 7 October 2023. None other than the world’s most famous transexual, Caitlyn Jenner, had travelled to Israel to be the guest of honour, arriving earlier in the week.

But no sooner had Charles Clore’s erection gone up, it came right down, prematurely. Israel launched “Operation Rising Lion” overnight on 12 June, striking several Iranian nuclear sites. Jenner was stranded in the Holy Land as commercial flights were cancelled and 200 Israeli fighter jets hit over a hundred targets, killing top IRGC military leaders and damaging Iran’s primary uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. They ended up smuggling poor Caitlyn out through Jordan later that week.

And so it is this year. On Sunday night, Israel responded to several barrages of incoming Iranian missiles with strikes on the homophobic tyrannical theocratic regime in Iran. Sure, gay rights weren’t their primary war concern, but it still seems a fitting way to inject some true meaning back into the now-hollow Pride movement.

For all the speculation and theatre surrounding America and Israel’s relations and decision making over whether to prolong the tortuously strained ceasefire with Iran, it is worth reminding ourselves just what a horrific regime the current Iranian one is. And in honour of Pride month, it seems fitting to focus for a few hundred words at least on its abuse of homosexuals.

Iran’s Islamic Republic has one of the world’s harshest records on homosexuality, rooted in its Sharia-based legal system. Consensual same-sex activity is criminalised, with severe punishments including the death penalty. We are all familiar with the images of young gay men being hanged from cranes.

Under the Islamic Penal Code, notably the 2013 version, ‘Lavat’ (sodomy/penetrative male same-sex acts) is punishable by death for the passive partner in many cases. The active partner faces death if married, using coercion, or under certain religious conditions. ‘Tafkhiz’ (non-penetrative acts like thigh rubbing) is punishable with lashes, and death on the fourth conviction. Lesbians don’t escape the brutality. The crime of ‘Musaheqeh’ can earn them 100 lashes per offense, and death on the fourth conviction. Other acts such as kissing, and touching with lust are also worthy of lashes.

These derive from traditional Islamic jurisprudence, and trials often rely on confessions or judicial “knowledge,” with limited due process. Juveniles can face these penalties, as criminal responsibility starts young).

It is estimated that 4,000-6,000 executions have been carried out for homosexual acts since the 1979 Revolution, but exact numbers are hard to verify due to lack of official transparency. Charges are also often bundled with “corruption on earth” (ifsad fil-ard), rape, or political offenses.

There is widespread discrimination, harassment by morality police, family “honour” killings, and prison rape and abuse of gay detainees. Gay people have no legal protections. Pro-gay activism is suppressed, and open expression risks arrest.

Somewhat peculiarly, Iran stands out in the Muslim world for permitting and even partially subsidising so-called sex reassignment surgery, following a fatwa by Ayatollah Khomeini in the 1980s. It has one of the highest numbers of such surgeries globally, because the regime views ‘gender dysphoria’ as a medical issue solvable by surgery. Many gay and lesbian individuals face pressure from families, clerics, or authorities to undergo surgery as a cure, to avoid homosexuality charges, effectively forcing them to undergo sterilisation and genital mutilation. ‘Trans’ people still face discrimination and violence.

Rape and sexual violence have been systematically employed as tools of torture, humiliation, and political control in Iran’s prisons, particularly in notorious facilities such as Evin and Kahrizak. Human rights organisations have documented numerous credible testimonies from survivours detailing gang rapes of both male and female detainees by IRGC, Basij, and intelligence agents, often involving multiple perpetrators, batons, or other objects to inflict maximum pain and trauma. These abuses surged during crackdowns like the 2009 Green Movement protests and the 2022-2023 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising, where prisoners were subjected to sexual assault to extract confessions, break spirits, or punish perceived opposition.

Male victims frequently endure anal rape framed as domination rather than homosexuality under the regime’s Sharia-based logic, while female prisoners face vaginal and anal violations, sometimes justified through twisted religious pretexts.

Despite consistent international reporting and survivor accounts, Iranian authorities usually deny or dismiss these practices, with near-total impunity for perpetrators, underscoring the regime’s use of sexual terror as an instrument of authoritarian governance.

So while the Tel Aviv pride parade hasn’t yet been officially cancelled, I for one can see no better replacement for the traditional drug-fuelled display of sexual vulgarity than the continued thrashing of the horrific Iranian regime. I’m not sure the Gays for Palestine or Zack Polanski’s Islamist-aligned go-go dancers will agree, but this seems a far more meaningful way to stand up for non-heteronormative rights.