Gay icon Freddie breaks free in Iran

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Gay icon Freddie breaks free in Iran
From AFP
August 25, 2004

TEHRAN: British rock band Queen, fronted by outlandish gay icon Freddie Mercury, have become the first rock band to be given the official seal of approval in Iran with the release of an album of their greatest hits.

Mercury, who died of AIDS in 1991, was proud of his Iranian ancestry and supposed Zoroastrian origins. Zoroaster was a Persian prophet who lived around 600BC and founded a religion named after him.

Mercury's link with Zoroastrianism made Queen one of the most popular bands in Iran despite Western music being largely frowned upon in the Islamic republic, where homosexuality is considered a crime. "Authorities approved of the tunes that had a social theme, leaving out the love songs," an executive in the record company releasing the album said.

The album contains smash hits such as Bohemian Rhapsody, Miracle and I Want to Break Free.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10559453%255E2703,00.html