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

Contents:

• IRAN'S PERSECUTN OF GAY MUNY REVEALED
• Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN
• WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY IRAN
• FROM DISCRIMATN TO ATH – BEG GAY IRAN
• HOW ARE IRANIAN GAY MEN COPG WH SYSTEMATIC SUPPRSN UNR ISLAMIC LAW? A QUALATIVE STUDY

IRAN'S PERSECUTN OF GAY MUNY REVEALED

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. 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. 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.

Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN

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. 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 liftyl of gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenr people Iran are prehensively and systematilly nied by the Islamic regime, which expos them to horrific punishment, bullyg and risk of suici, a study has first tailed report on Iran's LGBT muny has found that s members live unr social and state reprsn, wh some beg persecuted, forced to exile or even sentenced to study was nducted by Small Media, a non-prof group based London. Punishment for mosahegheh (lbianism) is 100 lash for all dividuals volved but n lead to the ath penalty if the act is repeated four the ttimoni gathered by Robertson and her team was that of a 27-year-old gay man om Qazv the north-wt of Iran.

WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY IRAN

Parents have forced their homosexual children to have sex-change operatns, lol psychologists and psychiatrists who still em homosexualy as a mental illns have prcribed also exists wh the regime wh officials often nfg nsensual terurse wh s when an executn volvg sodomy charg is reported, 's difficult to fd out whether the nvicts were engaged nsensual sex or whether 's been a rape of the ntradictns surroundg LGBT life Iran, is that homosexuals are granted ary exemptn on the basis that they are mentally ill which will prevent them om dog official report acknowledg that crimalisatn of homosexualy would not necsarily mean an end to LGBT discrimatn. Male to female transsexual, 26 years old, om Lortan In my life I've tsted very few people, pecially when to my sexual inty, and those whom I've tsted have generally been homosexual too … In orr to tst people, I need transparency and honty more than I need time.

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. 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.

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.

FROM DISCRIMATN TO ATH – BEG GAY IRAN

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.

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.

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.

HOW ARE IRANIAN GAY MEN COPG WH SYSTEMATIC SUPPRSN UNR ISLAMIC LAW? A QUALATIVE STUDY

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. 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.

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". The Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (ILGA) published a report on Tuday verg the crimalizatn of nsensual same-sex relatns, statg that the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kgdom of Sdi Arabia and other Mlim-majory untri are spected of executg gays. “Possible executns were intified at least two untri (Iran and Sdi Arabia), wh an addnal number of summary executns rried out by surgent groups that gaed effective ntrol over a certa portn of terrory at least six other untri (Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan), ” noted the ILGA World homophobia exists a number of Mlim-majory untri, acrdg to the report, which stat that “there is full legal certaty that the ath penalty exists as a prcribed punishment for nsensual same-sex sexual activy Bnei, Iran, Sdi Arabia and Yemen.

(cred: NOAM REVKIN/FLASH90)Acrdg to the study, “ October 2019 a Brish-Iranian anthropologist studyg child marriage and female genal mutilatn the untry was arrted, wh reports November 2020 ditg that he had been sentenced by Iran’s Revolutnary Court to ne years imprisonment and a fe of USD 700, 000 for 'promotg homosexualy, ' as well as 'visg Israel [... The Jesalem Post prevly reported that a 2008 Brish Wikileaks ble said that Iran’s cleril regime executed 4, 000-6, 000 gay and lbians sce the 1979 Islamic revolutn the ILGA World report said that “Unr the Iran Islamic Penal Co (2013), the ath penalty n be imposed for the acts of liwat (sodomy), tafkhiz (bbg penis between thighs or buttocks), and maheqeh (lbian sex).

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. LGBT dividuals Iran have been sufferg om systematic supprsn and discrimatn for s and, orr for them to survive, like any other mori and isolated groups, they have formed a unique some may nsir homosexualy to be a relatively new Wtern phenomenon, a brief look at the history of same-sex relatnships Iran reveals that is, fact, prevalent throughout Iran’s historil culture. Dpe this long history of homosexualy Iran, many of the untry’s current homosexuals, particularly the younger generatn, tend to intify more wh a morn perspective rather than a historil or even cultural one (Mahdavi 2012; Yagarfard and Bahramabadian 2014).

However, a signifint number of those who unrgo the surgery do so not bee they are transgenr but bee they are gay, lbian or bisexual and see sex change surgery as the only optn for them to “erase the ‘sta’ of homosexualy and bee ‘legal’ unr Iranian law” (Human Rights Watch 2010, p.

While a major factor this issue is how the Iranian thori’ policy and law have created an environment of social isolatn, is further pound by profsnal practners and psychologists Iran and their attempts at ‘treatg’ the sexual ‘viancy’ of homosexuals and lbians (see Am 2015).