On Sunday, the Iranian government publicly executed three men for having gay sex. According to Iran Human Rights, an organization that monitors state news, one Sharia judge can decide how to kill anyone who violates the anti-sodomy law.

This is not the first time that Iranian officials have been accused of executing alleged homosexuals; last year, a teenager named Ebrahim Hamidri was hanged despite allegations that the charges of his homosexuality were false.

The grisly, public nature of these deaths invites the spread of fear and loathing toward Iran's LGBT citizens. Ask Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to pressure Iranian officials to relax Iran's horrifically violent anti-gay legislation.

The horrifying reports from the activist group Iran Human Rights about the three men who were publicly hanged on Sunday for alleged homosexual acts are both unbelievable and sickening. I am writing to urge you to ask the Iranian government to relax Iran's violent anti-gay legislation.

In Iran, even an accusation of sodomy can be enough to doom Iranian citizens to execution. The decision from one Sharia judge can condemn a detained man to a public hanging.

The spectacle of government-sanctioned killings does nothing but spread fear and hatred. Please intercede on behalf of Iran's LGBT citizens.