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• Arsham's Communiverse

Details

• I am a:

  Gay Male

• Nationality:

  Iranian

• Currently in:

  Toronto, Canada

About Me

My name is Arsham Parsi. While living in Shiraz and after coming to terms with my sexual identity, I began to do advocacy work for the queer community in Iran. Part of this work consisted of helping a doctor and his research assistants in a study of HIV in the local queer community. My advocacy work earned me the attention of the Iranian authorities, and I was forced to flee Iran on 4 March, 2005. My flight took me first to Turkey, where I was able to register as a refugee at the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Ankara. I was one of the fortunate few whose case was actually accepted by the Commissioner. Three months after arriving in Turkey my case was accepted, and two months later I was invited to Canadian Embassy in Ankara. Eight months later, here I’m in Canada.