First of all, welcome to the Black History Month issue of DIVA! I am delighted that the amazing Emeli Sandé is our cover star this issue, sharing her inspiring coming out journey with DIVA readers.
I have just returned from Etheridge Island, a five-day music festival in Mexico can read about this disturbing news on page 53. Zahra Seddiqi Hamedani and Elham Choubdar have had the death penalty imposed by a court in Urmia, northwest Iran, having been accused of “promoting homosexuality”, “spreading corruption on Earth” and “communicating with media opposed to the Islamic Republic” – the latter charge relating to Zahra’s participation in a BBC Persian documentary in May 2021 where she discussed the abuse of LGBTQIA people.
