"Circumstance" sheds light on gay life Iran

Contents:

• WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY IRAN
• GROWG UP GAY IRAN
• Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN
• INSI THE SECRET GAY NEIGHBORHOOD IN TEHRAN, IRAN WHERE PEOPLE ARE RISKG THEIR LIV FOR THEIR EXPRSN
• IRAN’S VISIBLE PEOPLE: LGBTQ LIFE A UNTRY WHERE BEG GAY RRI THE ATH PENALTY
• GAY/QUEER SPAC TEHRAN: INTIMACY, SOCIALY, AND RISTANCE
• PARTYG SPE RISKS -- LIFE FOR GAYS TEHRAN
• FRANCIS BAN AND GAY IRANIAN ARTIST BAHMAN MOHASS SHOWN TEHRAN
• THE CONSTCTN OF THE IRANIAN GAY SUBJECT OUTSI OF IRAN
• "CIRCUMSTANCE" SHEDS LIGHT ON GAY LIFE IRAN
• DPE DENIALS, GAYS INSIST THEY EXIST, IF QUIETLY, IRAN

WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY 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. "Nety-five percent of gays Iran will never e out, " Saeed says over pasta at one of northern Tehran's ffee shops, where the atmosphere is relatively permissive. | (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.

GROWG UP GAY IRAN

"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.

Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN

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.

| (VOCATIV/JANUS ENGEL RASMUSSEN)So naturally, when Naeem* met Behram* four years ago on gay datg se Manjan, which is also monored, he was ially hant.

INSI THE SECRET GAY NEIGHBORHOOD IN TEHRAN, IRAN WHERE PEOPLE ARE RISKG THEIR LIV FOR THEIR EXPRSN

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.

IRAN’S VISIBLE PEOPLE: LGBTQ LIFE A UNTRY WHERE BEG GAY RRI THE ATH PENALTY

"Yet the problem for men like Naeem and Behram is there's no real outlet to bate semantics: Although homosexualy n be punished, 's not somethg that is officially regnized.

GAY/QUEER SPAC TEHRAN: INTIMACY, SOCIALY, AND RISTANCE

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. If a man n get a doctor to ttify he is gay, he will be exempt om ary, the small ncsns hardly amount to any sort of tangible eedom for Iran's gays, many of whom ntue to fight their own sexualy. On the other hand if you are poted out as different then the whole world turns agast you, om people to the wouldn't believe how many homosexuals are livg unr the cy's sk.

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. Mehdi Hamzad is young gay man his early thirti who has recently fished higher tn; he liv Tehran, and has braved g out to his iends, though not to his fay.

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.

PARTYG SPE RISKS -- LIFE FOR GAYS TEHRAN

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.

One major problem is the tradnal and relig upbrgg of the society, and the patriarchal state propaganda that alienat homosexuals and acceptance of homosexualy to take a lot of time and energy. 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.

FRANCIS BAN AND GAY IRANIAN ARTIST BAHMAN MOHASS SHOWN TEHRAN

In alg wh myself, I have fully accepted my homosexualy, but alg wh the outsi world, wh people and the society, I am always led to circumstanc where I am willgly or unwillgly remd of my homosexualy.

In my opn, there are two ways to rce this homophobia: for people to see more and more homosexuals around themselv as cizens, and to fd more awarens about sexual orientatn. How do you answer those iends and acquatanc who mistakenly tell you that homosexualy is not natural, and that even animals don’t do this way bee do not lead to procreatn? 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. Sometim the tense prsure the homosexual experienc over time ph him on a path where he may lack sufficient strength and patience to ntually evaluate himself and to ratnally manage his relatnships. There is no official dissematn of rmatn for homosexuals and the only way to reach awarens about such issu is dog personal rearch, talkg to other homosexuals, and ocsnally gettg profsnal unselg.

THE CONSTCTN OF THE IRANIAN GAY SUBJECT OUTSI OF IRAN

When you live for many years wh Iranian homosexuals, you will learn that there is no shortage of prsn, dissatisfactn, psychologil tensn, and even attempted suici among them. At the same time there is more social acceptance and rpect for other mori the untri and most of them there are varyg gre of legal mechanisms for support of homosexuals and observatn of their rights. In the middle of the fierce nontatn of polil activists wh the regime, many believe that this is not the appropriate time to be raisg the mands of homosexuals.

It is not necsary for all of to talk or take actn about the rights of Baha’is or homosexuals; but if someone has somethg to say or wish to take a step, we should all support him or her.

Some folks might qutn the necsy for a space specifilly for gay men, but is clear om the recent sentencg of two Iranian activists that there is still a lot of ntempt for anyone who is not straight and/or cisgenr. Iran’s Supreme Lear Ali K lled Wtern civilizatn “a new age of ignorance”, and referred to homosexualy as a “severe moral privatn” a televised speech, acrdg to US News. Iranian thor of "There Are No Homosexuals Iran", Lrence Rasti, told Dazed magaze, “Sce the revolutn 1979, homosexualy is nsired as a crime based on the Iranian penal and lots of homosexuals have been executed sce.

"CIRCUMSTANCE" SHEDS LIGHT ON GAY LIFE IRAN

”He also said that Pahlavi Park, now known as Danhjoo Park “has historilly been the most well-known gay area of Tehran, ” but wh the ventn of datg apps, he noted that the younger crowd of gay men tend not the e the “tradnal methods” of seekg “hiouts. Three days later, she died om a reason that Ami was arrted was bee she vlated Iran’s hijab law, which forc all women to wear folks Iran face severe legal punishment, even ath, if they are ught the act of “homosexual behavr”.

”Beg gay is also nsired a “psychologil disease Iran, and the ary's ary board n exempt a gay man om service if they are emed homosexual after an examatn, " Jasm Ramsey, the munitns director for the Center for Human Rights Iran, told Insir. The same night, he ved a group of gay iends, and we ate, drank and talked polics, wh mic vios of Lady Gaga and Mashrou’ Leila projected on a large screen on his livg-room wall. He had ed ’s social platform to nnect to lol hosts who gave him a place to spend the night, he ma iends, stayed at people’s hom, and was even ved to a gay party which he hugely enjoyed, even though he was straight himself.

Given that sharia law prcrib the ath penalty for homosexual acts, that seemed an unrstatement – people would have to be eply closeted jt to survive. But somehow I had missed that both Human Rights Watch and Internatnal Gay & Lbian Human Rights Commissn had sce stated that they didn’t believe was a ‘gay se’.

DPE DENIALS, GAYS INSIST THEY EXIST, IF QUIETLY, IRAN

” The men who were arrted were released after a while, but their fai were told that they were ‘hamjenz bāz’ – a very offensive name for homosexuals. He shared an apartment wh a straight iend, who didn’t md jog his group of gay bti at the neighbourhood fé to gawk at the handsome men who gathered there to watch sports and smoke hookah.

In his kchen, he showed me how to prepare Caspian and Shirazi dish while we listened to mic based on the poems of Rumi, the 13th-century father of Sufism – a branch of Islam foced on medatn and spirualy – who is believed to have been gay. Like cy parks around the world, is a popular cisg spot, but I wanted to see somethg else – an trigug piece of gay history that Ali had mentned at his dner party Shiraz.