Edalat Square World Tour

                                                                                                                                                         ISNA

On 19 July 2005, teenage boys Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni were executed for the crime of lavat, or sex between two men according to Shari'a (Islamic law), in Edalat Square in the northeastern city of Mashhad, Iran. Though there are different reports on the charges, it is widely accepted that the boys were minors at the time of their torture and execution. More than 4,000 people have been executed for lavat since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Edalat Square: Opera in One Act is an award-winning (First Place, 2007 Opera Vista Festival & Competition) 45-minute music-theatre production that addresses the case of Mahmoud and Ayaz: a case that put the plight of gays in Iran in the international spotlight. By combining worldwide performances of Edalat with a multi-lateral action plan, Soulbird seeks to not only raise the international community's consciousness of this issue through an artistic-emotional experience, but also to work with key human rights organizations, as well as other arts organizations, artists, and activists, to problem-solve and to act urgently, whether with our contacts in Iran, or with our global action network, in order to raise the voices of LGBT people who face imprisonment, torture, and death in Iran.

New collaborations and creative forces will spark grassroots movements worldwide. Singers, conductors, and musicians will become community organizers. Edalat will mobilize our villages.