From discrimatn to ath – beg gay Iran | Brian Whaker | The Guardian

Contents:

• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• WHO WERE THE FIRST GAY MEN MURRED BY THE IRANIAN REGIME?
• JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE NFL ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• HORRIFIC KILLG OF YOUNG GAY MAN PUTS PLIGHT OF IRAN'S LGBT COMMUNY IN SPOTLIGHT
• IRAN’S NEW GAY EXECUTNS
• FROM DISCRIMATN TO ATH – BEG GAY IRAN
• IRAN EXECUT 2 GAY MEN ACCED OF 'FORCIBLE SODOMY,' HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP SAYS
• Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Per Outsports, Maxen is the “first publicly out male ach a major Amerin men’s pro sports league, ” wh WNBA ach Curt Miller, who publicly me out to the media as gay 2015, also a publicly out male ach an Amerin profsnal sports league. Amics at the Universy of Sydney pared the voic of gay, straight and bisexual men a study volvg 160 the rearch led by clil psychologist Jam Morandi, people were reced to analyse the voic of 60 men, 20 of whom were gay, 20 straight and 20 bisexual. ‘Voice may unter visibily many bisexuals feel’An abstract of the study, tled Can listeners tect if a man is bisexual om his voice alone, reads: “The prent study examed whether bisexual men n be intified om their voic ak to how gay men n be intified on their voice alone.

”But amics noted the rearch was limed on the grounds all men who participated the study are Atralian, which may not be reflected among wir the thors nced the study did not ntrol for the rerdg environment or microphone-to-mouth distance, which uld have affected the qualy of the voice thors said the fdgs suggted that while the voic of bisexual men the sample were perceived as more mascule and attracted to femal, listeners did not associate this imprsn wh a rult, while bisexual men may appear to be at lower risk of facg voice-based intifitn and discrimatn than gay men, they may often be mistaken as beg study was published the Journal of Sex Rearch. -- Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach major Amerin men's profsnal sports to publicly e out as gay, tellg he ma the cisn bee he didn't want to hi who he is any longer and to possibly spire others siar 's a cisn and move that drew praise and support om owner Shad Khan, who was a vol and emphatic supporter of a cy ordance that expand protectns on the grounds of sexual orientatn, genr inty and genr exprsn.

JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

One year prr to this executn, durg the last month of the Shah’s reign, a gay weddg was nducted publicly Jimmy Carter’s admistratn was qutned by human rights activists about their silence on what was gog on Iran, he answered that the US did not want to “tervene Iranian domtic polics”. 1 This note provis an asssment of the general suatn of persons who are known to be, or are likely known to be, gay men, lbian, bisexual, trans or tersex – that is those who are open, or are likely to be pelled to be open, about their sexual orientatn and/or genr inty or exprsn (SOGIE) – as well as those perceived as such bee of their appearance, attus and/or behavur.

Milary exemptn rds, an accepted form of intifitn issued to gay and trans dividuals, directly disclose the persons sexual orientatn or genr inty and may put them at further risk of vlence and discrimatn for ‘outg’ them and / or bee beg gay or trans is classed as a mental illns (see Milary exemptn, Genr reassignment surgery, Threats, harassment and vlence and Treatment by fay members). 3 The same source noted that Article 7 of the regulatns, which addrs the issue of exemptn for gay men, stat, ‘“perversns that vlate the social and ary of nduct (such as sexual perversn and homosexualy) [warrant] a six-month ferment. ‘While this provisn is discrimatory and gradg towards gay, transgenr and other genr non-nformg persons, and treats homosexualy as a form of mental illns or psychopathology spe of clear statements to the ntrary om var psychiatry bodi across the world and the World Health Organizatn, is monly ed by gay, transgenr and genr non-nformg persons Iran to seek an exemptn om pulsory ary service to protect themselv om homophobic and transphobic ab prevalent ary settgs.

‘Acrdg to rmatn received om Iranian gay men and reports by human rights groups, seekg exemptn om ary service on the basis of their sexual orientatn or genr inty, gay, transgenr and genr non-nformg dividuals are generally forced to unrgo huiatg and gradg physil and psychologil tts, cludg anal examatns, which amount to torture, as well as terrogatns by officials durg which they are forced to answer timate qutns about their genr and sexualy such as their preferenc for sexual posns. 12 6Rang stated that the exemptn regulatn ‘… allows gay dividuals to be intified by the police, judicial thori, employers and those rponsible for tnal centr who n simply look at their ary exemptn rds, which functns as one of the few forms of acceptable IDs Iran. As one example, the former Print of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadezhad, rponse to qutns about “homosexuals” or “gays” the USA most notorly stated “we do not have the hamjensbāz (translated to dience as “homosexuals”) like you have your untry” and that “absolutely such a thg do not exist as a phenomenon” Iran.

WHO WERE THE FIRST GAY MEN MURRED BY THE IRANIAN REGIME?

The aim is to firstly raise awarens that this is the flag of “Sodomians” and puttg gay men and women potential dangers of gettg reported if they are anyway g this sign for social purpos (In Iran a large number of gay people e the flag sign orr to fd each other and socialize).

This time, the fai cludg children have participated this event and were holdg signs such as “Two people of the same sex do not make a uple”, “We are the fenrs of prophet Lut” and “homosexualy, the morn barbarism”, as well as tramplg the flag (Halalzaha, 2021). 5 Acrdg to Amnty Internatnal, wrg 2021 followg the murr of Alireza Fazeli Monfared, a gay man, ‘LGBTI people Iran face pervasive discrimatn, live the nstant fear of harassment, arrt and crimal prosecutn, and rema vulnerable to vlence and persecutn based on their real or perceived sexual orientatn and genr inty. ‘The crimalizatn of same-sex nsensual acts legimiz vlence by State actors and private dividuals, cludg the e of torture, beatgs and rape by law enforcement and vigilant… Lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr persons face regular harassment and, if arrted, are nied the right to a fair trial… The acts rema largely unrreported due to the victims’ fear of persecutn.

Mohammadi, who was arrted 2018[footnote 67], was acced of: ‘1- Assembly and lln agast natnal secury to crimalize homosexualy (Normalizg homosexualy), 2- Elimatg the ugls and famy of homosexualy, 3- Makg homosexualy acceptable, pecially llaboratn wh relig and nscience anizatns, 4- Makg the Islamic Republic of Iran rponsible for extensive human rights ab (Lack of regnn of homosexualy). 2 The USSD stated s 2020 human rights report that ‘While few tails were available for specific s, lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and tersex (LGBTI) activists exprsed ncern that the ernment executed LGBTI dividuals unr the pretext of more severe, and possibly spec, crimal charg such as rape. The report noted that the paratively high levels of executns rerd for same-sex sexual acts the years immediately followg the revolutn (144 total between 1979 and 1982[footnote 79]) ‘… may not reprent the actual number of executns, as the Iranian thori ed homosexual and other pal offenc as a ver to execute opponents.

JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE NFL ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

Once arrted, the Penal Co has a perverse effect of enuragg false accatns of rape: centivis persons alleged to have engaged nsensual acts to “acce their partner of rape to save their [own] liv”… In addn to avoidg the ath penalty, a false rape accatn may also be motivated by a sire to avoid the stigma associated wh beg gay… The Penal Co uld also disurage genue accatns of rape: victims face the risk of beg disbelieved about the ercive nature of the sexual act, which uld rult an executn. ‘6Rang’s field study on the polyclics, stutns and private clics, that have listed unsellg ‎to LGBTI people as one of the areas of their expertise, show that the centr nsir ‎homosexualy to be a disease or sexual viatn, and have ma a bs by allegg ‎their advertisements that they n cure this disease. 3 In January 2021, the UN Special Rapportr on human rights Iran exprsed ncern at reports that ‘… lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr children were subjected to electric shocks and the admistratn of hormon and strong psychoactive meditns.

‘As same-sex timacy is crimalised Iran, the victims of same-sex rape, as well as persons blackmailed on the basis of their sexual orientatn, have ltle means of reurse – whether to the police, the Pasdaran (the “Revolutnary Guards”, a branch of the Iranian Armed Forc), or the Basij, a paraary volunteer ia actg as a “moraly police”, who have ee re to m acts of homophobic vlence a verable “Guerrilla War” agast sexual mori (Iranian Railroad for Queer Refuge, 2018). In 2017, the police on several ocsns arrted dividuals perceived to belong to sexual mori and taed them for almost seven months whout charge… Prolonged tentn and the threat of executn were ed to extract nam of other queer persons exchange for eedom: “you’re faggots, you’re homosexuals, you should be killed, your executn sentenc were already issued, you’re beg taken to the ath row soon”.

2 An undated article by 6Rang, regardg ary exemptn on the basis of a person’s sexual orientatn or genr inty, noted that ‘… gay and trans people face many difficulti fdg jobs and seekg tn’, as beg gay or trans is classed as havg a mental disorr[footnote 105]. ‘The LGBTI muny Iran experience discrimatn healthre system bee of staff unawarens and sensivy, homophobia and transphobia, heteronormative disurse, stigmatizatn, negative ments, harassment, refal of treatment, and verbal or sexual asslt.

HORRIFIC KILLG OF YOUNG GAY MAN PUTS PLIGHT OF IRAN'S LGBT COMMUNY IN SPOTLIGHT

Those who unrgo GRS report mixed rat of satisfactn, and ce graed social stigma agast gay people (often cludg om the medil profsnals performg the surgery), lack of follow up medil treatment, and sufficient funds to subsidise the procre.

IRAN’S NEW GAY EXECUTNS

‘Iran is a tradnal society that operat on a basic premise that homosexualy is an abnormaly… An extract om the work of Mehrangiz Kar nclus that “Members of the LGBT muny Iran are viewed as the on who part signifintly om mastream relig valu or social expectatns. 4 Referrg to persons intifyg as bisexual, Ahmady noted the lack of rearch this area, whilst addg there was an ‘… overridg ratnale that bisexualy Iran is a s, ’ and ‘Even homosexuals nsir bisexualy is not only an sult to heterosexualy, but is not even tegorized the Lbian-Gay bary. Acrdg to Rad, “There was huge bi-erasure and biphobia amongst LGBT+ activists the Iranian diaspora… They would absolutely promote bisexualy as a thg wh all the stigmas that everyone n image … like they’re greedy on, those who are here to abe homosexual muny, or those who don’t know what they want.

FROM DISCRIMATN TO ATH – BEG GAY IRAN

8 DFAT noted s April 2020 report on Iran, that ‘Lol sourc told DFAT that younger Iranians, particularly more progrsive parts of major ci, are creasgly more tolerant, but that, on balance, homosexualy is not openly discsed…’[footnote 129]. The same source stated that the victim had “faced years of homophobic and transphobic harassment and ath threats by several male relativ bee he did not nform to the bary soc-cultural genr stereotyp and ‘norms’ Iran”, but was aaid to report the cints to the police “out of a fear of facg vlence and prosecutn at the hands of the thori”.

2 In a qualative study of 23 gay men Iran, by Mohammadrasool Yagarfard at the School of Psychology, Universy of Bedfordshire, published May 2019, 2 participants mentned that there were ‘well-know[n] “pick-up pots” Tehran for gay men such as zeer-e-pole karim khan (unr the Karim Khan bridge). Acrdg to the article, Maxen ma his cisn to do so last year and reached out for advice om Carl Nassib, who 2021 beme the NFL’s first out gay active player as a member of the Las Vegas was Nassib who put Maxen ntact wh Outsports.

"He didn't clearly say that he had been threatened wh murr bee if he had done so I would have ntacted him privately sce we take the issu very serly, but he spoke about his fay not acceptg him and the prsure fai put on homosexuals, " Parsi told RFE/RL.

IRAN EXECUT 2 GAY MEN ACCED OF 'FORCIBLE SODOMY,' HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP SAYS

Their aths are part of a wave of executns Iran, wh more than 400 the first half of 2014 alone, acrdg to the NGO Iran Human do not know for certa that they were executed for beg gay—one Iranian source says they were, another is vague about their “crim” but lls them “immoral villas. ” If the men were hanged for nsensual homosexualy, however, this uld be another LGBT headache for the Obama admistratn, which has been tryg to walk a tightrope between LGBT human rights on one end and ternatnal polics on the other. Jt a few weeks ago, the Hoe Foreign Affairs Commtee held a hearg on human rights Iran at which progrsiv such as Hosse Alizah of the Internatnal Gay & Lbian Human Rights Commissn ttified about Iran’s hio rerd of crimalizatn and at that same hearg, some of the most vol fens of human rights me om Robert Gee—the tellectual father of the right-wg “relig liberty” movement and, domtilly at least, a zealo opponent of LGBT equaly—and Republin Reps.

Th the admistratn is h om all sis—at a moment which is tryg to pursue s dicey diplomatic phenomenon of vokg LGBT equaly as a jtifitn for Amerin foreign polici, which theorist Jasbir Puar lls “homonatnalism, ” has been around for several years.

Ironilly, by mandg tolerance of “homosexualy, ” Amerins n hib the tolerance of forms of sexualy and genr inty that are long-standg tradns non-Wtern all the reasons, don’t expect the Obama admistratn, or the LGBT movement, to raise a hue and cry over this latt travty of jtice. They may be que pleased about avoidg the ary, though of urse 's a form of discrimatn and the downsi is that havg "sexual viant" on their exemptn certifite is likely to prevent them om gettg a has also been somethg of a pneer the field of genr reassignment operatns, which might unt s favour – except that gay men who are not transgenred n be prsurised to havg operatns orr to avoid this has led to a lot of arguments about what the LGBT suatn Iran is really like – an argument that hasn't been helped, up to now, by a lack of tailed or reliable rmatn. One thg mak very clear is that the persecutn of sexual mori Iran is not jt the flt of the regime: happens hom, schools and society at large – though of urse the law helps to rerce the the vexed qutn of how many gay or lbian people are actually executed, the report do not m self, though do expla why 's so difficult to arrive at an accurate reason is that trials on moral charg Iran are ually held private and the regime, nsc of the ternatnal outrage that s executns e, tightly ntrols prs reportg of the ath penalty.

Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN

Also, Human Rights Watch says, "the nservative nature of Iranian society and the shame associated wh homosexualy (and non-nformg sexual or genr exprsn generally) often plite any quiry to whether the dividual charged is actually an LGBT person".

Theoretilly, homosexual behavr is sharply nmned by Islam, but practice is prent, and has been the past, for the most part tolerantly treated and equently occurrg untri where Islam practice is only public transgrsn of Islamic morals that is nmned, and therefore Islamic law strs the role of eye-wns to an offense. As an ditn of how ser the suatn for gays and lbians n get some untri, AIMLGC Steerg Commtee member Mark Ungar, an assistant profsor of polil science at the Cy Universy of New York and an expert on ternatnal lbian and gay human rights issu, timat "an absolute mimum of 300 people have been executed sce 1990 Iran alone for vlatn of laws prohibg homosexualy. Acrdg to the reprentative of the Swedish Amnty Group for Gay and Lbian Concerns, a group workg wh Amnty Internatnal on gay and lbians issu, who is also an activist workg wh the Internatnal Gay and Lbian Associatn (ILGA) Swen the rmatn published by The Humanist is false (4 Feb.

In orr to risk policiary sanctns —maltreatment or a short time ctody/jail, regardls of the fact that the penalty acrdg to the law is ath or whippg — a homosexual uple mt behave wh great discretn, almost provotively, a public place. Acrdg to a soclogist specializg on Iran and chargée nférenc at the Sorbonne-Nouvelle (Paris-III), the law stipulat that people engagg sexual relatns wh a person of the same sex or homosexuals would only be put on trial if the prosecutn n produce four righteo men who wnsed the sexual act, or one of the partners adms to havg sexual relatns wh another man (28 Jan.