As we step into 2025, we pause to reflect on the incredible journey we’ve shared over the past year. 2024 was filled with challenges, triumphs, and countless acts of kindness. Together, we’ve made a difference in the lives of so many, and for that, we are deeply grateful.

To everyone who supported us—whether through donations, volunteering, or simply spreading the word—you have been the heart of our mission. Your generosity and compassion remind us that change is possible when we work hand in hand.

As we welcome the new year, our vision remains clear: to bring hope, support, and opportunity to those who need it most. In 2025, we’re excited to build on our successes, take on new challenges, and continue making a meaningful impact.

From all of us, thank you for standing by our side. Here’s to another year of kindness, community, and hope. Together, let’s make 2025 extraordinary!

With gratitude,
Raham Rafiee
Director of JoopeA Foundation

We are proud to announce a special milestone for JoopeA: the 10th anniversary of our registration in the Netherlands! While our journey began in 2009 in Iran, it was on October 13, 2014, that JoopeA took a bold step forward, registering as an organization in the Netherlands. Over the past decade, we have remained committed to our vision of “making a better future for all*.”

From the start, JoopeA has pushed boundaries, addressing taboo topics through our digital platforms, holding public events, and even organizing protests to bring attention to important issues. Our work has always been about giving voice to the voiceless, shedding light on what matters, and creating space for open conversations.

Throughout the years, we’ve witnessed the realization of many incredible projects, uniting individuals from diverse backgrounds, celebrating diversity, and encouraging people to embrace their authentic selves such as Jensiat, JAssist and Iran Pride. At the same time, we’ve had to say goodbye to certain ventures such as Ask and Homophilia, adapting and evolving as needed to stay true to our mission.

JoopeA has always been about community. Our events, whether large or small, have served as moments to come together, exchange ideas, and inspire each other. We’ve continuously provided hope and courage to those who needed it, and through our work, we’ve always aimed to build a sense of belonging.

Now, more than ever, it’s important to remind ourselves that life is precious, and it’s worth celebrating. The struggles, the triumphs, the lessons—everything we’ve experienced as a community has shaped JoopeA into what it is today.

As we reflect on this incredible journey, we are filled with gratitude for the support we’ve received from so many. Together, we have achieved remarkable things and made a difference in countless lives.

Let’s take a moment to celebrate this 10-year milestone, acknowledging the past while looking forward to the future. JoopeA is much more than a decade-old organization—it is a movement, a beacon of hope for many, and a testament to the power of coming together for a common goal.

We look forward to continuing this journey with you, striving to make the world a better place for all. Here’s to another decade of impact, innovation, and unwavering hope!

Do you like our work? Consider donating to support our work:

We’d love to hear from you! Feel free to get in touch, share your thoughts, and let us know how we can improve. Your feedback is invaluable as we continue our journey together.

Warm Regards,
E. Rafiee
Director

* When we say “making a better future for all,” we mean creating a better future first and foremost for all humankind, while also striving to extend that care to the rest of the life forms on this planet, as much as we can. We believe that by nurturing the well-being of people, we can positively impact the world around us.

For many years, JoopeA Foundation was the solo sponsor & organizer of participation of Iranian & Persian-speaking people in Queer Pride Parades -or as we call it Iran Pride- around the world.

The Iran Pride project was at heart of JoopeA’s activities since 2009 where our team organized the first ever pride parade in Tehran in 2010 under the name of the Iran Pride Day. Yes, it might be unbelievable, but we did it.

Iran Pride has grown so much since.  And now we are proud to announce that in a joint effort of four Queer organizations, Iran Pride has become an entity itself under the official name of the Pride Commission of Iran.

Iran Queer & Queer Kadeh from Canada & Azad Queer from the Netherlands joined hands with JoopeA to make Iran Pride an internationally recognizable brand in the field of Queer Rights & equality.

Let’s celebrate this new dawn of visibility for Iranian & Persian-speaking gays, lesbians, transgender & Intersex people & all queers.

For more information please visit Iran Pride website.

The famous Iraanse Boot (Iran Boat) has returned to Amsterdam Canal Pride last Sat, regardless of the sorrow of the last year.

“We had to finish what we have started last year.” said Raham Rafiee the organizer of the Iran Boat.

More than fifty Iranian homosexual, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people together with Human Rights activists, politicians and artists has worn white clothes and joined on the blue boat of Iran to show their true selves.

There is no wonder why the IranPride boat is the biggest group of Iranians that participated in Pride Parade so far while being queer is punishable by law in Iran and the social acceptance is very low among Iranians and Persian-speaking communities.  But the heroes of Iran made it come true.

Zojuist bekend geworden: De Iraanse boot heeft de publieksprijs gewonnen bij de Canal Parade! #pride #prideamsterdam pic.twitter.com/OMz8fYt4Bl

— Pride Amsterdam (@amsterdampride) August 5, 2018

The best boat of 2018

The Netherlands embraced the Iranian LGBTIQ with huge applause during the parade, smiles, hugs, warm wishes, and kindness. But, being chosen as the best boat in Amsterdam Pride 2018 gives us hope in our fight for LGBTIQ Rights in Iran. It is an honor that the land of freedom awarded the Publieksprijs 2018 to IranPride.

We love you and we never forget your support for the cause.

See the report on BBC Persian (FA) & Het Parool (NL)

For more pictures and news please visit IranPride website: https://pride.joopea.info/

^{Great thanks to Amsterdam Pride and Rapido Events who made the IranPride possible with their sponsorship.}

Iran Boat has pulled over by the Dutch skipper with no logical explanation during Amsterdam Canal Pride 2017¹. The boat has no technical issues nor it was over crowded². The skipper has been gone missing since. Strange ha?

Not that it wasn’t painful nor that any of those who were on the boat can forget the pain. But the future belongs to the people and their rights. We have passed a tragedy to spread our message last year and we continue our work for better future for all. We are hopeful & consistence to “Make our dream come true“. We are proud to parter with Pride Business Club to show that we are not ashamed to be part of Queer community whom were born in a Persian-speaking country or family.

We are attending Amsterdam Pride Parade 2018 proudly because “Our presence is our resistance”.

Looking forward to sail on #IraanseBoot³ in Amsterdam Pride Parade 2018 among other 79 awesome Pride boats on August 4th, 2018.

Please click here to join the movement by your donations in case you believe existence of such groups in Pride Parades is necessary.

^{1 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwH0DAu2L1s
2 – https://www.facebook.com/Raham.JoopeA/posts/500455683621302
3 – Dutch word for “Iran Boat”}

As you might hear a lot recently, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will be enforced on May 25, 2018. This regulation is known as the most restrict data & user privacy protection in 20years. It forces each and every company inside European Union or those who are in any sort of transaction with EU citizens to not to collect users data or protect them with the regulations in the law. In simple words, European Union is enforcing every entity in the world to respect user’s privacy & to do not allow personal data to be stored or tracked with easy to understand way for users to obtain or and delete their collected data in full.

Where do we stand in this?

We at JoopeA believe that these regulations are necessary and even should be enforced earlier than this.

It wasn’t difficult to implement GDPR in JoopeA since we were keen to not to be involved with users’ personal data from the beginning. However, there were parts that needed modification. This is the reason behind our recent updates in our Privacy Policy. Please read these terms that are explained in an easy summary and the advanced Full Description here:

Privacy Policy

Just to clarify more, these are the data that might be collected while you are visiting JoopeA’s websites or using it’s services including but not limited to this website, JNews or JAssist:

– Direct data collection

We don’t collect or process your personal data with exception of emails & forms that you deliberately fill out such as comments, Pride registration, direct contact to editorial or newsletter sign up. The forms collect your IP along with your data to protect us against threats & spams but nothing more. You are entitled to remove you data at any time by requesting from contact us form or sending email to info@joopea.com.

– Third parties data collection

We use services of Cloudflare, Mailchimp, Bit.ly, etc. and some of Google services such as Youtube, Analytics, AdWords, AdSence and G-Suite for Business. We have blocked all personal-level data in all these services. However, they usually collect public data such as location (regional level), browser brand & version, Operating System & it’s version, etc.

We have replaced many services to protect user data and kept those who claim their alignment with GDPR. But if you like to read more about the third party services data collection, please read the full Privacy Policy description.

We wish you secure and data protected internet surfing experience… Always!

HIV is not a death sentence quite a sometime now.  However, HIV positive people are still facing discrimination all around the world in all aspects of their lives.

This is where the #MillionPositiveFaces campaign comes in to show the solidarity of all of us with HIV+ people. The campaign is an initiative of Hiv Vereniging in cooperation with ViiV Healthcare and het Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis.

Use this link to participate in the campaign: https://www.millionpositivefaces.nl/joopea/doemee

We at JoopeA believe in positive and hopeful future and fight side by side with every human being who fights against discrimination. This is why we as JoopeA have joined the campaign. Some of our team’s pictures are here:

On Sunday, January 28th, Amsterdam was hosting the annual True Colors event. the COC Nederland organized this annual event this year for the sixth time with participants from more than two thousand Queer Rights Activists from more than three hundred different organizations.

In the past years, known members of the COC or reputed politicians started the ceremony. But this year True Colors started with delegates from six organizations. Those organizations were selected as the headliners of Queer Rights in The Netherlands. The selection was based on their influence in The Netherlands and their mission.

We are very glad that JoopeA was among those six. The other selected organizations were: “Pos en Proud” in support of HIV positive LGBTIQs, “Roze 50+” supporters of queers who are older than 50, “Gerda Kreeft” supporters of deaf queers, “Expreszo” a publisher with more than thirty years of experience which has been running by teenage and young queers and “Trans United” which supports transgender people in The Netherlands.

JoopeA Foundation held IranPride in The Netherlands for the first time in 2017. This event was the biggest gathering of Iranians with different ethnicities, political opinions, genders and sexual orientations in support of Human Rights of LGBTIQ people. Additionally, JoopeA’s members who have a long history as human rights defenders are part of the founders and organizers of IranPride day in 2010. Iran Pride day is the last Friday of July and is being celebrated since 2010.

COC chose JoopeA as one of the most progressive groups regarding Queer Rights in The Netherlands and one of the headliners, because of the importance and difficulty of JoopeA’s activities which increases acceptance and tolerance for LGBTIQ people in societies such as Iran.

Here are some pictures from the ceremony:

We Stand Together and Move Forward to Exercise Our Rights

Iranian LGBTIQ (queer*) community:

In all these years, LGBTIQ community alongside with other groups, not only have been observing protests and uprising of Iranian people, but they have been part of it as well. This year, we as a group of Iranian queer community, state our full support for Iranian people and we ask all Iranian around the world not to forget to fight for equal rights in all aspects including gender equality and LGBTIQ community rights.

The article 20 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares everyone right to have freedom of peaceful assembly and association. We also recognize everyone right to have a peaceful demonstration and protests as part of efforts to achieve equality and democracy in a society. Therefore, nonviolent demonstrations are basic rights of each person which is brought into laws in international communities and Iran. However, our society continuously being pushed out and LGBTIQ activists have been hiding their identities and hence leave the country.

In the last 4 decades, Islamic Republic of Iran government not only has been playing a direct role in punishing people, but also has been very active in promoting hatred against LGBTIQ community all around the world. Iranian government officials are proud to do such activities and these pressures forces thousand Iranian people from queer community to leave Iran and seek asylum in other countries.

We, Iranian LGBTIQ activists, request support from politicians and activists in Iran and all around the world and we demand their help to improve the situation of Iranian queer community until we achieve the equal rights.

We also appeal to social activists to not forget Intersectional people rights and  to remember that students, women, teachers, workers, and minorities from different cities and villages are part of the LGBTIQ community. In Iran society, due to toxic environment against LGBTIQ community, people from different sexual orientations are not in liberty to exercise their rights and make sure their voices are heard, hence they are victims of inequality from different legal and social aspects.

We, as part of the LGBTIQ community, would like to ask all social movements especially women movements to promote gender equality goal and invite them to remember other sexual orientations in their conversations and not to encourage Heteronormative and Cisnormative dialogues.

JoopeA Foundation, Spectrum, Radio Ranginkaman

* “Queer” is used as equivalent of LGBTIQ+ (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, etc.) which is more inclusive.