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Demand UK Asylum for Iranian Lesbian Actress Kiana Firouz
  1. Signatures
    411 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. UK Home Office (+ 1 other)
      Petitioning
      close
      • UK Home Office
      • Director of Communication for the Home Office (Yasmin Diamond)
  2. Created By
    Michael Jones
    Boston, MA
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

The United Kingdom's Home Office has denied an asylum request for Iranian lesbian actress Kiana Firouz. Over the past few months, Firouz has been in London working on a film that exposes the deplorable state of LGBT rights in Iran. In the wake of the film's production and release, Iranian authorities even dispatched secret police to London to monitor Firouz.

By denying Firouz asylum, the UK Home Office will be deporting Firouz back to Iran, where homosexuality is punished by flogging, torture, and execution. Moreover, two filmmakers are already imprisoned in Iran for making films contrary to what the Iranian regime deems "appropriate." There's no reason to believe that Firouz won't face the same fate, or even worse, for making a film dealing with LGBT issues.

Send the UK Home Office a message that Firouz deserves asylum. It's the only way to keep her safe. As her asylum lawyer said, "She will be put in prison, she will be raped in prison. It is extremely well-documented that this happens to women." And she's likely to be killed, too.

Does the UK Home Office want to live with that on their conscience? Please take action now.

Recent Signatures

Please Reconsider Asylum Decision for Kiana Firouz

Dear UK Home Office,

The UK Home Office has turned down an asylum application for Kiana Firouz, an openly lesbian actress who stars in a recent movie, Cul De Sac, chronicling the abhorrent situation that gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people face in Iran.

Firouz has become a target for the Iranian regime, with activists and lawyers recognizing that if Firouz is sent back to Iran (as your office has ruled), she will be flogged, tortured, and potentially killed. Iran has a brutal history of cracking down on homosexuality, and has also recently started to detain filmmakers who, the Iranian regime believes, make movies that embarrass the country. Firouz's case is no different.

Please, I urge you to reconsider your asylum decision on Kiana Firouz's case. This could be a matter of life or death. And the UK Home Office shouldn't have the potential execution of an Iranian woman on their conscience.

Thanks for your time.

[Your name]

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