Growg up gay Iran | Iran | The Guardian

Contents:

• TWO GAY MEN ARE HANGED IRAN SIX YEARS AFTER THEY WERE JAILED ON 'SODOMY' CHARG
• ALIREZA FAZELI MONFARED WANTED TO LIVE AS A EE GAY MAN THE WT. HIS FAY IRAN BEHEAD HIM DAYS BEFORE HIS DREAM ME TE, SAY ACTIVISTS.
• WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY IRAN
• THE GAY PEOPLE PHED TO CHANGE THEIR GENR
• Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN
• GAY IRANIAN MAN ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY FAY DAYS BEFORE SEEKG ASYLUM
• HORRIFIC KILLG OF YOUNG GAY MAN PUTS PLIGHT OF IRAN'S LGBT COMMUNY IN SPOTLIGHT
• GAY IRAN: NO PLACE TO CALL HOME
• GAY IRANIAN MAN AD ALLEGED 'HONOR KILLG,' RIGHTS GROUP SAYS
• GROWG UP GAY IRAN
• 1 OUT OF 3 YOUNG IRANIAN MEN "GAY"?

TWO GAY MEN ARE HANGED IRAN SIX YEARS AFTER THEY WERE JAILED ON 'SODOMY' CHARG

The two men were sentenced to ath for 'forced sexual terurse between two men' and died the northwtern cy of MaraghehIran is nsired one of the most reprsive plac the world for lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr men's inti were nfirmed a report by the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) on add state-n outlets Iran had yet to announce the Vojoudi, who fled Iran and ped to Germany, told The Jesalem Post that the untry's prisons are 'full of people who have mted no crime'. LGBTQ+ rights mpaigner Peter Tatchell also told the publitn the executn follows 'a long-standg regime policy of the state-sanctned murr of gay men, often on disputed charg after unfair trials that have been nmned by Amnty Internatnal and Human Rights Watch' add: 'The ternatnal muny mt impose Magnsky sanctns on the regime officials, judg and prison staff who thorized the executns - and on those rponsible for the many other human rights s of abe Iran'. 'Unr Iranian law, sodomy, rape, adultery, armed robbery and murr are among crim that n lead to the ath year a UN report found that Iran 'gay, bisexual and transgenr children were subjected to electric shocks and the admistratn of hormon and strong psychoactive meditns', Pk News reported.

ALIREZA FAZELI MONFARED WANTED TO LIVE AS A EE GAY MAN THE WT. HIS FAY IRAN BEHEAD HIM DAYS BEFORE HIS DREAM ME TE, SAY ACTIVISTS.

Alireza Fazeli Monfared, 20, (pictured) was allegedly taken by the three male fay members and murredIn Febary 2021, an Iranian cleric Ayatollah Abbas Tabrizian claimed that the Covid-19 vacce turns people gay, on msagg platform Telegram, to almost 210, 000 followers.

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. The activist hop the vios rm people of queer people's liv Iran, where punishments for beg gay range om 100 lash of the whip to, the munitns director for the Center for Human Rights Iran, said homophobia was wispread 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.

"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.

WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY IRAN

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.

"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.

While the new centrist ernment unr Print Hassan Rouhani matas a siar rea as s precsor, foreign-based media outlets like BBC Persian, Rad Zaman and Voice of Ameri e non-rogatory language about homosexuals, and is slowly tricklg down to reformist outlets si the untry, and to young Iranians, says spe s often venomo rhetoric, the Iranian regime silently accepts that gays do exist, and tak a few pragmatic steps to acunt for that Quran, the foundatn of Iranian law, explicly bans homosexualy. Donya, now 33, fled to Turkey wh her son om a brief marriage, and then to Canada, where they were granted 's not official ernment policy to force gay men or women to unrgo genr reassignment but the prsure n be tense. "If I'd gone to the police and told them that I was a homosexual, my life would have been even more danger than was om my fay, " he is no reliable rmatn on the number of genr reassignment operatns rried out Iran.

THE GAY PEOPLE PHED TO CHANGE THEIR GENR

While they wa - sometim for years - they may be settled socially nservative provcial ci, where prejudice and discrimatn are Parsi, who crossed om Iran to Turkey by tra 2005, says that while livg the cy of Kayseri, central Turkey, he was beaten up, and then refed hospal treatment for a disloted shoulr, simply bee he was gay. Through onle activism, publishg poetry, lerature and artwork onle, and engagg wh global gay culture through televisn and the ter, gay Iranians are g of age, spe the myriad of rtrictns they still face Iranian society and at the hands of the state. We spoke to him about what life is like the days for gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenred Iranians, and whether is even possible to live a fulfilled, secure life as a gay person a untry such as Iran:.

Unr the current circumstanc, Iranian youth, whether gay or straight, face many different obstacl, some of which have to do wh the regime (social rtrictns and iologil and polil prsure or the enomic suatn), and some to do wh public culture (a lack of acceptance of different liftyl and closed, tradnal thkg). There will always be teractns among -workers, people on the street and the bazaar, and gathergs that will have trac of homophobia them, and which will create an unwanted distance between a homosexual and his environment.

Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN

Wh all the media attentn around this subject (pecially onle, satelle televisn programs, and foreign films and seri), homosexuals make peace wh themselv rather quickly and relatively easily, but there are problems, too. Homosexuals who live small towns, more sular environments, and those who e om lower social levels and don’t have sufficient avenu for accsg rmatn and fdg others wh siar characteristics, or fdg a more accurate unrstandg about themselv, face other problems. There are those like [Islamic philosopher Abdolkarim] Soroh, who haven’t yet thought about homosexualy; there are those like the [progrsive theologian-cleric Mohsen] Kadivar who, if we nsir him an tellectual, support Islamic punishment agast homosexualy, and others like Akbar Ganji, Ram Jahanbegloo, Arash Naraghi, and others who fend the rights of homosexuals.

Discrimatn between the active and the passive partners, opposg transsexuals, misogyny, ternalized homophobia, a tradnal and biased view towards two people’s relatnship, lack of sufficient emotnal matury, and over-emotnalism are some of the thgs that n more or ls be seen among homosexuals.

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. 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.

GAY IRANIAN MAN ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY FAY DAYS BEFORE SEEKG ASYLUM

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.

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.

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

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. 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. The Islamic Republic of Iran publicly hanged a 31-year-old Iranian man after he was found guilty of charg related to vlatns of Iran’s anti-gay laws, acrdg to the state-ntrolled Iranian Stunts’ News unintified man was hanged on January 10 the southwtern cy of Kazeroon based on crimal vlatns of “lavat-e be onf” – sexual terurse between two men, as well as kidnappg charg, acrdg to ISNA.

“Iran is not only the most dangero threat to Israel’s secury, is also a champn the state murr of actual or perceived homosexuals, ” said Volker Beck, a German Party Green Party polician and a lecturer at the Center for Studi Relig Scienc (CERES) at the Ruhr Universy Bochum. ” The statement about cizens of Kazeroon uld not be penntly 2016, The Jesalem Post reported Iran’s regime had executed a gay adolcent that year – the first nfirmed executn of someone nvicted as a juvenile the Islamic Afshar, 19, was hanged Arak Prison Iran’s Markazi Provce on July 18, 2016, after he was nvicted of “forced male-to-male anal terurse” early 2011, Iran’s regime executed three Iranian men after beg found guilty of charg related to M.

Hochre, a spokman for the Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung Foundatn, which fights to advance the rights of lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people, told the Post:“Iran is one of the worst stat for the persecutn of LGBTI.

GAY IRAN: NO PLACE TO CALL HOME

"Of urse the motive of such murrs by fay members is to fend the 'honor' of the tribe or fay, but we should never fet the social stigma and hatred nstantly reproduced by the social and legal nstcts agast LGBTQ members, " she this area of the world face enormo dangers for beg openly gay. We are still aaid of the regime makg a database of gay and transgenr people and puttg them unr prsure whenever they want, " Shadi Am, an LGBTQ activist based Germany, told ABC ia of receivg an exemptn rd is leavg many gay and trans Iranians worried they'd be brand and vulnerable to harassment and discrimatn.

"People hold banners prottg agast discrimatn and persecutn agast homosexuals Iran, July 28, 2007, ont of the Eiffel tower Meda/AFP via Getty Imag, File Mahdi, a 36-year-old Iranian gay man who did not want to e his full name over safety ncerns, told ABC News that hearg the news of Monfared's murr broke his heart. "Bis the immediate threat that many gay exempts face now, such way of verage and the prsure om outsi of the untry is not likely to have any impact on the illogil and nservative officials Iran, " he said.

"There's no guarantee that this won't happen aga until our society be ted and rmed, " Arsham Parsi, a Toronto-based, Iranian gay-rights activist and head of the Internatnal Railroad for Queer Refuge, told RFE/ For Beg Gay.

GAY IRANIAN MAN AD ALLEGED 'HONOR KILLG,' RIGHTS GROUP SAYS

"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.

Members of Iran's gay muny are forced to hi their sexual orientatn, often leadg double liv due to fear of persecutn by the state, which crimaliz homosexual acts, while society views homosexualy as a disease. But like the trooper he is, he’s meetg ath wh that same clary and fearlsns he’d shown when he (a published gay liberatnist) had temporarily returned to Iran spe of the fundamentalists’ threats—to vis his dyg grandmother. Fally, on Friday nights after droppg off their so-lled girliends or fishg takg re of whatever they need to do to keep their fai’ approval, they are off to some anonymo gay cisg place to experience their homoerotic feelgs.

Ali Fazeli Monfared, a 20-year-old gay Iranian man, was allegedly killed an “honor killg” by some of his male fay members after they found out he was gay, acrdg to an LGBTQ rights group Iran and Monfared, who was known as Alireza by iends and fay, lived a cy southwt Iran.

GROWG UP GAY IRAN

He had applied for an exemptn om pulsory ary service so he uld leave the untry and move to Turkey to live wh his close iend, Aghil Bayat, acrdg to 6Rang, the Iranian Lbian and Transgenr homosexual nduct is crimalized Iran, part of the ary exemptn law allows gay and transgenr people to receive a medil exemptn om service for their inty. If Fazeli Monfared’s alleged killers had ught him havg sex wh a man, then they might receive lser punishments for his is one of an timated 11 untri where same-sex sexual acts are punishable by ath, acrdg to the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn, and one of almost 70 untri where is crimalized, acrdg to Human Rights Watch, an ternatnal human rights group based New York.

"The are moral prcipl regardg the behavr of people general, ” he said at the time, acrdg to German broadster Dtsche are no statistics or rerds of the number of anti-LGBTQ “honor killgs” — which are perpetrated by relativ who feel the LGBTQ person has brought “dishonor” to the fay — that happen Iran or other untri that crimalize homosexualy, Tara Sepehri Far, who vtigat human rights ab Iran and Kuwa for Human Rights Watch, told NBC said Fazeli Monfared’s se highlights the importance of the role of the fay LGBTQ people’s liv when the state crimaliz who they are. “Exposg that to the very same thori who, theory, have the thory to arrt and prosecute you is very risky, ” she said other untri should prsure Iran to remove the law crimalizg homosexualy and the ath penalty “bee this is the reason why the fai, they allow themselv to have the right to vlate their children.

But today PLoS Medice me out wh a paper wh a rult which suggts that the anecdot of relatively wispread homosexual behavr the Middle East are not totally unfound or unreprentative (the journalist Hugh Pope has dited that Middle Eastern men have sometim assumed he would naturally be open to sexual proposns bee he was a Wterner. From the dawn of Persian poetry the nth century all through to the twentieth century, not only was homosexualy ndoned Persian poetry, but fact homoeroticism formed almost the only amatory subject of Persian ghazals (short son-like lyrics) and the ma topic of much of Persian love poetry.

1 OUT OF 3 YOUNG IRANIAN MEN "GAY"?

Novic workg unr master craftsmen, errand boys (šāgerds) shops, and youths workg at different tras were now mostly the targets of homoerotic love poems, although ls equently qasidas than ghazals, quatras, and ocsnal piec (qetʿas). The ḵaṭṭ is scribed varly as green (ḵaṭṭ-e sabz), st-lored (ḵaṭṭ-e zangāri), mk-lored (ḵaṭṭ-e moš-k), buddg ḵaṭṭ (ḵaṭṭ-e now-damida), etc., but most often upled wh ḵāl (bety spot) on acunt of their homonymy.

Not only Mlim boys were the subject of homoerotic sir, but so were boys om mory groups, more particularly Zoroastrians boys (mōḡ-bača) servg taverns and Christian on (tarsā-bača), sometim belongg to nvents; for example:.