According to multiple reports, an Iranian cleric posted a homophobic and false statement to his Telegram account on February 9th, claiming that people receiving the COVID-19 vaccination have turned “gay” afterwards.
The Iranian Ayatollah, Abbas Tabrizian, wrote: “Don’t go near those who have had the COVID vaccine. They have become homosexuals.” According to the Jerusalem Post, the cleric has nearly 210,000 followers on Telegram.
Peter Tatchell, an LGBTQ human rights activist, says Tabrizian has a history of promoting hate against the LGBTQ community and is “demonizing both the vaccination program and LGBT+ people without a shred of evidence. By seeking to scare the public into not getting vaccinated against COVID-19, he is fueling the pandemic and putting lives at risk. Typical of many Iranian religious and political leaders, his bizarre, irrational claims scapegoat LGBTs and put theological prejudice before scientific knowledge.”
The Iranian regime is estimated to have executed 4,000-6,000 gays and lesbians since its 1979 Islamic revolution.
Russian state media outlet RT promoted a meme about the cleric, which, if shared without the context about the claim being completely false, could further promote this disinformation. In March, the European Union warned that “Russian media have deployed a ‘“significant disinformation campaign’ against the West to worsen the impact of the coronavirus, generate panic and sow distrust.”
