Two Iranian LGBT+ activists who vocally challenged gender norms are facing possible execution, alarming advocacy organisations across the world and prompting outcry from their supporters

Zahra Sedighi-Hamadani, 31, and Elham Choobdar, 24, are widely known as advocates of LGBT+ rights who were living in northwestern Iran

On Sunday, a notorious hardline revolutionary court in the northwestern city of Urmia reportedly sentenced the two to death on religiously motivated charges of “corruption on Earth”, for “spreading” homosexuality, propagating Christianity, and making contact with hostile foreign media

A news agency associated with Iran’s judiciary confirmed that the two had been placed on death row, but said they had been charged with “deceiving women and young girls and trafficking them to one of the countries of the region”

No evidence has been publicly released[…]
While little is known about Choobdar’s case, Sedighi-Hamadani has for months been the focus of efforts by activists and advocacy groups, including Amnesty International, which has described her as an “Iranian gender-nonconforming human rights defender”

The activist, a mother of two who is also known as Sareh, was reportedly arrested last October by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard while allegedly trying to cross into Turkey[…]
Legal experts are baffled at how a border-crossing charge that normally carries a fine of less than $200 (£174) somehow expanded into a death penalty case[…]
Citing no evidence, pro-regime social media channels have accused Sedighi-Hamadani of trafficking hundreds of Iranian women and girls and forcing them into sex work abroad

In April, the Revolutionary Guard-affiliated news outlet Tasnim published a propaganda video about the activist, accusing her of gambling and financial crimes, and mocking the campaign to have her released