On 14 March 2026, President Donald Trump sat down with influencer and boxer Jake Paul for a YouTube interview that covered boxing, war, and politics. While defending US military strikes against Iran, part of a campaign his administration calls Operation Epic Fury, Trump claimed the Iranian regime threw gay men off buildings.
“We support gays, but they throw gays off the buildings,” he said.
The trouble is, those are the actions of an entirely different group.
That was ISIS, not Iran
The rooftop executions Trump described are associated with ISIS (Islamic State), not Iran. From roughly 2014 to 2017, ISIS carried out documented killings of men accused of homosexuality by throwing them from buildings in Iraq and Syria. OutRight Action International estimated that ISIS executed at least 36 suspected gay men within its territory this way.
Researcher Charlie Winter told NBC News the method was “very obscure” and “not a traditional form of punishment” among Islamist groups, yet ISIS institutionalised it regardless, posting footage as propaganda.
There were also isolated incidents involving Shia militia groups operating in post-2003 Iraq, though those had no formal ties to the Iranian state.
What Iran actually does
Iran’s treatment of LGBTQIA+ people is appalling and well-documented. Under the country’s Islamic Penal Code (IPC), consensual sex between men is punishable by death. Gay men have been arrested, tortured, and executed. None of that is in dispute.
The method is. According to Iran Human Rights, an independent monitoring organisation, hanging has been Iran’s primary execution method, and has been for over a decade. In January 2022, two men, Mehrdad Karimpour and Farid Mohammadi, were hanged in a prison in the northwestern city of Maragheh on sodomy charges, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). There is no credible documentation of Iran throwing gay men off buildings.
The hypocricy no one is talking about
Trump’s claim came days after his administration sought to deport two gay Iranian men back to Iran, where same-sex relationships are illegal and punishable by death.
The couple had fled Iran after being arrested by morality police for alleged “homosexual conduct” and later sought asylum in the United States. Their lawyer, Bekah Wolf, told The Advocate they are “textbook asylum cases” exactly the kind of people asylum law exists to protect.
Iran’s record stands on its own. It does not need embellishment. So when the US administration tries to send gay men back there, their argument that “we support gays” becomes a hollow hypocrisy.
“They Throw Gays Off Buildings…”, Says Trump. He’s Wrong, And A Hypocrite. Here’s The Facts
On 14 March 2026, President Donald Trump sat down with influencer and boxer Jake Paul for a YouTube interview that covered boxing, war, and politics. While defending US military strikes against Iran, part of a campaign his administration calls Operation Epic Fury, Trump claimed the Iranian regime threw gay men off buildings.
The trouble is, those are the actions of an entirely different group.
That was ISIS, not Iran
The rooftop executions Trump described are associated with ISIS (Islamic State), not Iran. From roughly 2014 to 2017, ISIS carried out documented killings of men accused of homosexuality by throwing them from buildings in Iraq and Syria. OutRight Action International estimated that ISIS executed at least 36 suspected gay men within its territory this way.
Researcher Charlie Winter told NBC News the method was “very obscure” and “not a traditional form of punishment” among Islamist groups, yet ISIS institutionalised it regardless, posting footage as propaganda.
There were also isolated incidents involving Shia militia groups operating in post-2003 Iraq, though those had no formal ties to the Iranian state.
What Iran actually does
Iran’s treatment of LGBTQIA+ people is appalling and well-documented. Under the country’s Islamic Penal Code (IPC), consensual sex between men is punishable by death. Gay men have been arrested, tortured, and executed. None of that is in dispute.
The method is. According to Iran Human Rights, an independent monitoring organisation, hanging has been Iran’s primary execution method, and has been for over a decade. In January 2022, two men, Mehrdad Karimpour and Farid Mohammadi, were hanged in a prison in the northwestern city of Maragheh on sodomy charges, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). There is no credible documentation of Iran throwing gay men off buildings.
The hypocricy no one is talking about
Trump’s claim came days after his administration sought to deport two gay Iranian men back to Iran, where same-sex relationships are illegal and punishable by death.
The couple had fled Iran after being arrested by morality police for alleged “homosexual conduct” and later sought asylum in the United States. Their lawyer, Bekah Wolf, told The Advocate they are “textbook asylum cases” exactly the kind of people asylum law exists to protect.
Iran’s record stands on its own. It does not need embellishment. So when the US administration tries to send gay men back there, their argument that “we support gays” becomes a hollow hypocrisy.
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