Arsham Parsi
| Arsham Parsi | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
September 20, 1981 Shiraz, Iran |
| Residence | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Nationality | Iranian-Canadian |
| Citizenship | Canadian-Iranian |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Organization | Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees |
| Known for | Iranian Queer Activist |
| Notable work | Leading the Iranian Queer Movement |
| Home town | Shiraz, Iran |
| Height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) |
| Weight | 81 Kg |
| Title | Executive Director of the IRQR |
| Movement | Iranian queer movement, Green Movement |
| Awards | Pride Toronto Award, Felipa de Souza Award, Logo TV Trailblazer Award 2015 |
| Website | www |
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).
Arsham Parsi is an Iranian queer activist and founder of Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees (IRQR). Parsi works as a queer activist to make sure Iranian gay citizens are not being improperly treated. Parsi has faced death threats and 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, Ontario, Canada and they provide services to all self-identified Iranian LGBTs worldwide.
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 , 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, Ontario, Canada, and the Advisory Committee of the Hirschfeld Eddy Foundation.
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