Iranian President beaten into Submission at Pride

Amid the loud, falshy, and multi-colored assemblage that was at the San Francisco Pride Parade this past Sunday, our Iran180 float—with its 10-foot tall puppet of President Ahmadinejad stood out in the crowd. The float was accompanied by more than a dozen San Franciscans clad in Iran180-orange t-shirts who passed out stickers declaring “Gay Rights. Not Nuclear Rights.” to the thousands of spectators who had lined Embarcadero. All told, the group made quite the impression; as one spectator later tweeted, “Ahmadinejad (Pres of Iran) is marching in pride!”

“As the Iran180 float made it’s way through the parade route, spectators immediately took note of the animated performance by ‘Ahmadinejad’ and the energetic dominatrix who aggressively wrestled, whipped, and tackled him,” Director of Outreach Negin Hadaghian reports back. ”Those in the crowd, who were at first entirely shocked to see a political statement expressed in such a risque manner, were quick to take out cameras and phones to document the unforgettable sight as members of Iran180 handed out informational flyers and stickers detailing the human rights abuses of the regime. It was so meaningful to get the support of people there, to hear them cheer with us when we began chanting ‘stand with the people of Iran,’ was an experience that I don’t think any of us will ever forget.

The demonstration even made an impression on the judges, who had seen their share of extravagant and entertaining performances, as “one judge even stood up and declared, ‘This is my favorite – this is what’s meaningful, what we need to pay attention to.”

Iran180’s participation in the parade did not go unnoticed by the LGBT community, as DanNation.org, a gay blog based in San Francisco ran a piece on Iran180’s float stating, “...this float may make you giggle – while spreading a message about gay oppression we must not forget.”

We were thrilled by the warm response and proud that–on a weekend marked by so many celebrations within the LGBT community–we were able to raise awareness that, for too many people in too many places around the world, gay citizens are persecuted and risk their lives simply for being who they are.