Pri is a Prott: The Stggle for Gay Rights Iran – NIAC

Contents:

• WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY IRAN
• Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN
• PRI IS A PROTT: THE STGGLE FOR GAY RIGHTS IRAN
• ADVOCY GROUPS: ETHPIAN ERNMENT’S ANTI-GAY RHETORIC SPURS ONLE ATTACKS

WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY IRAN

Augt 26, 2021—In a new LGBTQ Fact Sheet published today by the Center for Human Rights Iran (CHRI), the extreme rights vlatns and adly vlence perpetrated by both the state and society agast the LGBTQ muny (lbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer) Iran are highlighted a ncise, accsible format for rearchers, journalists, and policymakers. Human RightsIran mt immediately stay the executns of two women sentenced to ath for supportg the human rights of lbian, gay, bisexual, trans and genr-diverse (LGBT) people, a large group of UN-appoted pennt human rights experts said on Wednday. Homosexualy⚢✖ Illegal (ath penalty as punishment)Censorship✖ Other punishmentChangg Genr✖ Legal, but requir surgeryNon-bary genr regnn✖ Not legally regnizedDiscrimatn✖ No protectnsEmployment Discrimatn✖ No protectnsHog Discrimatn✖ No protectnsDonatg Blood✖ Banned (fe ferral)Conversn Therapy✖ Not banned.

UnregnizedUnr the Shah's le, the last monarch of the Pahlavi dynasty, homosexualy was crimalised, though was mostly tolerated even to the pot of allowg news verage of a mock same-sex weddg between two men.

Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN

However those who are acced of Polil dissince or plottg to " overthrow the Islamic Republic " uld be subjected to the ath penalty as well, of which charg are also clud wh Homosexualy. Government polici persecute both homosexuals and transgenr dividuals alike for their sexualy and genr intifitn, crimalizg same-sex relatns and genr reassignment Iran has mataed and pursued polici which nmn and harshly punish homosexualy, a practice wily, and appropriately, cricized as a human rights vlatn.

Iranian Treatment of HomosexualsDpe cricism om other natns and human rights anizatns, the Islamic Republic of Iran has mataed s practice of nmng same-sex relatns as illegal and morally rpt. The Iranian Penal Co prohibs all sexual activy outsi of the stutn of marriage, same-sex relatns, and LGBT-related media, wh the ath penalty beg one form of punishment for homosexualy.

PRI IS A PROTT: THE STGGLE FOR GAY RIGHTS IRAN

Zarif argued that the moral prcipl that gui Iranian ernance nmn homosexual behavr jt as they nmn other personal actns and life choic; therefore punishment for such choic, cludg punishment by executn, is lawful and substantiated. Michael Roth, Germany’s Mister of State the Feral Foreign Office at the time, claimed, “No relig, cultural or ethnic tradn jtifi state persecutn, let alone the executn of homosexuals. Ambassador to Germany at the time of Zarif’s remarks, joed Roth his opposn to the treatment and argued that the executns go agast the UN Universal Declaratn of Human Rights, which clearly tails crimalizatn of homosexualy as a vlatn.

Grenell’s sentiments were a ntuatn of the Tmp admistratn’s mpaign which lnched Febary of 2019 to crimnalize homosexualy var natns cludg Iran and lled on global anizatns like the UN and EU ntribute to the rights have been opposn to the Iranian Penal Co sce the 1930s when Parliament passed legislatn crimalizg such relatnships, and disapproval of this discrimatn has tensified over time. Psychologil profsnals Iran unsel homosexual dividuals to treat their “sexual viancy, ” and even former print Mahmoud Ahmadejad famoly nied the existence of sexual mori Iran 2007.

All of this culmat to make Iran one of the most discrimatory untri toward homosexuals the world, wh Iran havg executed an timated 4, 000 to 6, 000 homosexual dividuals sce the 1979 Islamic Revolutn. Moreover, enforcement of this law is ongog, and occurs perdilly wh very publicized exampl, as January 2019, when a 31-year-old man was publicly hanged after beg nvicted guilty of homosexual relatns. Sce nsensual homosexual relatnships are punishable by public executns, the measur also serve a sendary purpose for the Iranian ernment, which is to timidate cizens to not g out.

ADVOCY GROUPS: ETHPIAN ERNMENT’S ANTI-GAY RHETORIC SPURS ONLE ATTACKS

Genr Assignment IranGiven the severe and dranian ernment polici towards homosexualy Iran, is perhaps suprisg that genr reassignment and the existence of of transgenr dividuals Iran is legally supported. Though personal and societal judgement agast transgenr people Iran is - as many untri - persistant and pervasive, the broar ia of beg transgenr is not nsired a vlatn of Iranian theocratic prcipl, and the ernment do not view such dividuals as they do homosexuals. Most relig lears only accept those non-bary dividuals who fully plete the transn operatn, while those who do not are perceived as “sick” and n still be arrted for cross-drsg and other stereotypilly homosexual practic.

Dpe formal support of transgenr people by the ernment, dividuals are still faced wh discrimatn and persecutn by private cizens and dividuals their personal liv, an experience siar to that of homosexuals Iran. It is clear that the support iated by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomei s ago and the advantage of the clivy of the Persian language provi foundatnal stutnal acceptance of trans cizens Iran, but there are still steps that mt be taken to promote social approval and cultural rporatn of the non-bary Intersectn of Authorized Genr Surgery and Iran’s Homosexual TreatmentWh the approach to both homosexualy and transgenr cizens Iran tablished, a rrelatn between the two to light.

Wh an tense foc on the necsy of sex-reassignment surgery, the applitn of this operatn as a solutn is often over-extend, and the ncept of genr dysphoria is prumed te of homosexual dividuals. Both homosexuals and transgenr people are viewed as havg a mental illns, a diagnosis which advot applitn of the genr reassignment operatn, even when do not rrelate wh the dividual’s intifitn.

Homosexuals phed towards this as a treatment are left wh few optns due to the legal support of hormone treatments, psychotherapy, and full transnal operatns; th, many are faced wh eher endurg the promoted medil approach or fleeg the untry to seek polil asylum a natn wh different legal thorizatn of genr reassignment reprents signifint progrs and support for the transgenr populatn, n also unfortunately be ed agast the already persecuted mographic of homosexuals Iran. Sexual teractn between two women is punishable by vast majory of media reports about homosexualy Iran are based on acunts of torment and opprsn om gays and lbians who have fled the untry. And while their experienc are reprentative for some of Iran's homosexuals, they are hugely different om those of the people who choose to stay the untry, or don't have the opportuny to om lower class and ral areas, where stigmatizatn is often most severe, rarely have the abily to move out of the hoe before marriage, let alone leave the untry.

There is generally ltle acceptance of homosexualy, but some middle- and upper-class Iranians have the means to create parallel liv, out of sight of their relativ or iends. | (VOCATIV/SUNE ENGEL RASMUSSEN)"The number one threat to gays and lbians Iran is the fay, " agre Hosse Alizah of the Internatnal Gay & Lbian Human Rights Commissn (IGLHRC), and himself an Iranian.

"The Iranian thori ually turn a bld eye to the gay muny's pas, but much like the telligence servic the former Soviet Unn, Iranian telligence is believed to pile large fil on many cizens, which they n e to build a legal se agast people who might be ught engagg polil activi. The park is also one of the most popular pickup spots for Tehran's gay dk, Maseratis, BMWs and the ocsnal Porsche circle the park; you don't have to wa long to spot one of them slow to a halt and pick up a sgle man cisg the g. It also provis a temptg e, for gays and straights alike, an enomy bet by flatn and though the typ of -person enunters are a way to elu virtual spi, they are still ght wh risk.

He was jt strangled to ath, " says Saeed, who has bee more ut about meetg up wh strangers bee of siar 's parks are always crowd, and particularly around dk, many of them bee popular cisg spots for gay men. Seven months later, they rented an apartment wtern Tehran; they both still live at home and when Naeem here, he tells his parents he is gog out of town wh challenge of fdg a steady partner weighs heavily on Iranian gays; many speak of prsn, lonels and paranoia as almost permanent mental stat.

(In a male-domated society like Iran, homosexual women have even ls privacy than men, and often risk beg shunned by neighbors if they rent an apartment whout a hband. "I thk she tri to not watch the clip so she always chang the channel or pretends that she don't watch the TV, " he of the stigma agast homosexuals is trsic to the Persian language, which has two different words for homosexualy.