Arsham Parsi

{{Infobox person

| name = Arsham Parsi

| image =

| birth_date =

| birth_place = Shiraz, Iran

| nationality = Iranian-Canadian

| citizenship = Canadian-Iranian

| known_for = LGBT activism and refugee work

| organization = International Railroad for Queer Refugees

Marjan Foundation

| notable_works = {{ubl | Leading the Iranian Queer Movement | Exiled for Love}}

| years_active = 2001–present

| title = Founder and Executive Director of the IRQR and Marjan Foundation

| movement = Iranian queer movement, Green Movement

| awards = {{ubl | Pride Toronto Award | Felipa de Souza Award | Logo TV Trailblazer Award 2015}}

| website = {{URL|www.arshamparsi.net}}

}}

Arsham Parsi is an Iranian LGBT human rights activist living in exile in Canada. He is the founder and head of the International Railroad for Queer Refugees.

Personal life

Parsi was born in Shiraz, Iran. As a gay Iranian, he felt alone until, at age 15, he discovered solace in the Internet. Parsi began volunteering for underground gay organizations.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}} At age 19; 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.{{cite news

| last =Sarra

| first =Samantha

| title =Iranian queer risk arrest, execution

| work =

| pages =

| language =

| publisher =Xtra

| date =2006-08-03

| url =http://www.xtra.ca/public/viewstory.aspx?AFF_TYPE=3&STORY_ID=1939&PUB_TEMPLATE_ID=3

| accessdate =2007-09-15

| archive-date =2012-02-07

| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120207182857/http://www.xtra.ca/public/viewstory.aspx?AFF_TYPE=3&STORY_ID=1939&PUB_TEMPLATE_ID=3

| url-status =dead

}} 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, Ontario, Canada.{{cite news|last=Jama |first=Afdhere |author-link=Afdhere Jama |title=Fighting for Tomorrow: An interview with Arsham Parsi |publisher=Huriyah |date=Fall 2006 |url=http://huriyahmag.com/member-only/fall/interview.arsham.htm |accessdate=2007-09-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002012947/http://huriyahmag.com/member-only/fall/interview.arsham.htm |archivedate=October 2, 2011 }}

Activism

In 2001, Parsi formed a small LGBT group online called Rangin Kaman (Rainbow Group), renamed Persian Gay and Lesbian Organization in 2004.{{Cite web|url=http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/279819|title=Interview: Arsham Parsi of Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees (Includes interview)|date=2009-10-05|website=www.digitaljournal.com|access-date=2019-10-14}} As the PGLO would not be recognized in Iran, a friend of Parsi's officially registered PGLO in Norway. The PGLO later became the foundation for Parsi's Toronto-based Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO) in 2006. Parsi later left IRQO and founded the International Railroad for Queer Refugees in 2008.{{cite news

| last =Simpson

| first =Johnny

| title =Arsham Parsi of Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees

| publisher =Digitaljournal.com

| date =October 2009

| url =http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/279819

| accessdate = 2009-10-09| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20091015161549/http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/279819| archivedate= 15 October 2009 | url-status= live}}

The organization's headquarters are in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and they provide services to all self-identified Iranian LGBTs worldwide.

{{cite news

|last=Salami

|first=Mahnaz

|title=Unveiling the Iranian Queer Organization: An Interview with Arsham Parsi

|publisher=Gozaar.org

|date=April 2007

|url=http://www.whrnet.org/docs/interview-cheragh-0705.html

|accessdate=2007-09-15

|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070529150913/http://www.whrnet.org/docs/interview-cheragh-0705.html

|archivedate=2007-05-29

|url-status=dead

}}

He began secretly working for the advancement of civil rights for lesbians and gays in Iran.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}} In 2003, he helped organize a clandestine Yahoo chat group for gay Iranians, called Voice Celebration. The group had 50 participants who exchanged views on achieving civil rights. Less than three years later, he was asked to speak publicly in Geneva, Switzerland, at the second session of United Nations Human Rights Council and on the fourth anniversary, all international media published some articles about Iranian gays and lesbians.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Parsi was the executive director of the Iranian Queer Organization and director of the organization's online magazine, Cheraq for several years. In October 2008, he launched International Railroad for Queer Refugees. Parsi has been working on Iranian queer asylum cases.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

He is an Iranian member of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), based in Brussels, Belgium, and ambassador of Iran to 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 founding member of the Rainbow Railroad group based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the Advisory Committee of the Hirschfeld Eddy Foundation.{{cite web

| last =Parsi

| first =Arsham

| title =Professional Memberships

| publisher =arshamparsi.net

| date =

| url =http://www.arshamparsi.net

| doi =

| accessdate =2007-09-15

| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080723182301/http://www.arshamparsi.net/

| archive-date =2008-07-23

| url-status =dead

}}

Parsi's autobiography, Exiled for Love, was written with Marc Colbourne and published by Fernwood Publishing in 2015.{{cite news

| last =Parsi

| first =Arsham

| title =Exiled for Love

| work =

| pages =228

| publisher =Roseway, Fernwood Publishing

| date =March 31, 2015

| url =http://www.arshamparsi.net/#publications_&_awards

| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080723182301/http://www.arshamparsi.net/#publications_&_awards

| archive-date =July 23, 2008

| url-status =dead

}}

International recognition

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, Parsi's work was recognized with the Pride Toronto Award for Excellence in Human Rights.{{Cite news|url=https://www.pressreader.com/canada/toronto-star/20080619/283038345298905|title=Fighting for human rights in Iran|via=PressReader

|access-date=2019-10-14}} In June 2015, Parsi was awarded by Logo TV for the International Trailblazer.{{Citation|title=Arsham Parsi Accepts The International Trailblazer Honor {{!}} 2015 Logo Trailblazer Honors| date=29 June 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOjpQQbT5X0|language=en|access-date=2019-10-14}} Parsi is being featured in two galleries of Canadian Museum for Human Rights that is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Parsi and Marina Nemat are the only two Iranians that were selected for the museum.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Documentaries

Parsi was interviewed by many major international media about the rights of LGBT people in Iran and Middle East and also featured in several documentaries including CBC Gay in Iran in 2007,{{cite web|title= Gay in Iran | website=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu_tiFZjNQY|archivedate =March 17, 2016 |url-status= dead | df =mdy-all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317042859/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu_tiFZjNQY|language=English}} A Jihad for Love by Parvez Sharma,{{cite web|title= A Jihad for Love |url=http://ajihadforlove.org/home.html| df =mdy-all|language=English}} and BBC's Iran Sex Change Solution{{cite web|title= BBC Documentary: Iran's Sex Change Solution | website=YouTube | date=13 November 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg51RnpGn9k |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Wg51RnpGn9k |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live| df =mdy-all|language=English}}{{cbignore}} by Ali Hamedani and many more.