Gay Air France flight crew are being forced to fly to Iran, much to the protest of staff, who believe they should be able to opt out of flying the carrier’s new Tehran route. A change.org petition has been launched by an Air France flight attendant who believes gay crew should be allowed to refuse flying to Iran because homosexuality is punishable by death in the Islamist country. The call for opt-out rights comes just weeks after female flight attendants pressured Air France to allow them to choose whether or not they would fly to Iran, rather than wear the newly required headscarf. The change.org petition is addressed to Air France CEO Frédéric Cagey and French Transport Minister Alain Vidalies and reads, “Homosexuality is still illegal in the country,” the petition reads, noting that “punishment of homosexuals in Iran ranges between 74 lashes for a minor and the death penalty for adults”. It adds, “It is unconscionable to force somebody to go to a country where [people of the same sexual orientation] are punished for who they are.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 14th April 2016 - 2:24pm