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The play "Haram Iran"  by Chicago high-profile attorney and gay rights advocate Jay Paul Deratany has earned the prestigious Outstanding Los Angeles Theater Nomination in the 22nd Annual Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Awards.

 GLEE,  Lisa Kron, Sarah Ruhl,  Jonathon Tolins,  are among the GLAAD Media Awards Nominees. 

"Haram Iran"  is set in modern Tehran,  and depicts the plight of two Iranian youths charged with the "crime" of homosexuality,  and slated for execution by hanging.

 The play was performed in the Chicago and Los Angeles theater districts,  and has garnered global praise.  Its social message has been lauded by Gay Asylum UK's Omar Kuddus.  A London production is pending for next year.  

A New York state mother of a gay teen who has been battling the school district and courts since 2005 is headed back to the New York Court of Appeals. 

See : http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release-rss/north-tonawanda-mother-headed-to-state-court-of-appeals-appellate-court-denies-motions-for-reargument-153416.php

 

Omar Kuddus,  a prominent UK "GayAsylum" advocate, has praised Chicago attorney Jay Paul Deratany's 'Haram Iran'.  

See Gnosis Arts Multimedia Press Release




 

The cases of two gay teens in upstate New York so mirror each other as to make one blink in astonishment.  

GLSEN (Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network)  is informing and briefing the one;  but all stated judgments would surely apply to the other as well.  

High profile Chicago attorney  -  and politician,  human rights advocate, and playwright  -  Jay Paul Deratany is advising the Mangus case on a pro bono basis.  


Both cases involve gay teen males who had to leave upstate New York public school districts (respectively,  Mohawk and North Tonawanda)  because of bullying and death threats.

 In the North Tonawanda case,  parent Rhonda Mangus was placed in the state's data base of offenders for having removed the teen from the school in which is life was threatened in 2005.  

Gnosis Arts Multimedia press release 
 

Jay Paul Deratany:  Chicago high profile attorney,  politician, human rights advocate, and philanthropist is also a playwright who has delivered a human rights stage piece for the 21st century.

DERATANY'S TOUR DE FORCE:  HARAM IRAN

Haram Iran made its debut in the Chicago theater district in 2008,  and in March 2010 makes its west coast premier at the Celebration theater in Los Angeles.  

Based on the true story of two Iranian youth executed by hanging for the 'crime 'of male homosexuality in 2005 Tehran,  the play speaks poignantly to the issues of a shifting global community,  in which postmodern values and essential humanism collide with residual morality from antiquity.  

The play speaks to multiple layers of social and cultural conflict on an international scale,  and in addition to the sinister bigotry still prevalent regarding male homosexuality,  it addresses the light which must never be allowed to go out as it shines into the darkness of the universal human psyche.  

One would hope that the play will make its way to Provincetown,  that bastillion of gay male honor, and to New York,  because Deratany has written a play for everyman everywhere.  

A significant % of ticket proceeds will go to Amnesty International.

Watch a preview of Haram Iran on YouTube:

 
 

A New York mother who pulled her gay teen son out of North Tonawanda High School in 2005 and has battled to get herself removed from the state's data base of offenders has received a boost from high-profile Chicago attorney,  Jay Paul Deratany.  


Rhonda Mangus removed her son Michael  -  then 13  -   from the school  after he had become the target of bullying and a death threat,  due to his gay identity.   She later become embroiled in difficulties with the Niagara County Department of Social Services and the New York State Office of Family and Child Services.  

Mangus took her argument to the Supreme Court this winter, but failed to have the charge of "educational neglect "  against her remanded.  

Deratany has offered to advise her about filing a postponement with the Appellate court, and to generally be there to answer questions,  on a pro bono basis.  

Because Deratany is also a Chicago politician and plawright (see story about his play here),  Mangus believes he is a rare multi-talented individual, and views him as  a sort of 'avenging angel' in her battle.

Deratany is also representing the Duckett family in the pending lawsuit against CNN's Nancy Grace.