Good news for a change....

(Berlin) A German court ruled on Monday that an Iranian lesbian cannot be deported because she risks a death sentence because of her sexuality.

The 27-year-old woman, whose name was not released, traveled to Germany in September 2003 and applied for asylum.

She argued that she would be persecuted if returned to Iran but was turned down by German immigration officials. She appealed, telling the court that she felt excluded from society in the Islamic republic and wanted to "live out her homosexuality openly without having to fear persecution."

The Stuttgart administrative court ordered the government to grant her request for asylum.

[snip]

According to Iranian human rights campaigners, over 4,000 lesbians and gay men have been executed since the Ayatollahs came to power in 1979. [emphasis mine]

That's an average of 160 LGBT people executed per year!

Horrific!!!

Thank goodness the woman has been granted asylum.

Story here.