Insi The Secret Gay Neighborhood In Tehran, Iran | YourTango

Contents:

• WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY IRAN
• INSI THE SECRET GAY NEIGHBORHOOD IN TEHRAN, IRAN WHERE PEOPLE ARE RISKG THEIR LIV FOR THEIR EXPRSN
• Y, THERE ARE GAY PEOPLE IRAN
• GAY/QUEER SPAC TEHRAN: INTIMACY, SOCIALY, AND RISTANCE
• GROWG UP GAY IRAN
• PARTYG SPE RISKS -- LIFE FOR GAYS TEHRAN
• THE GAY PEOPLE PHED TO CHANGE THEIR GENR
• ETHIL RELATNALY AND ACUNTS OF GAY IRANIAN MEN
• IRANIAN GAY/QUEER ACTIVISTS AND ACTIVISM
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
• KEV MAXEN JT BEME THE FIRST MALE ACH MEN'S PRO SPORTS TO E OUT AS GAY. HE SAID HE DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO 'LIE' OR 'FEEL FEAR' ABOUT HIS PERSONAL LIFE ANYMORE.
• THE LTLE-KNOWN STORY OF IRAN'S FIRST GAY MARRIAGE

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.

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

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. "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.

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

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. She's a big gay in, and Febary she me out explic support of gay rights wh a vio for the song "Behht, " pictg a lbian uple love.

(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. "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.

GROWG UP GAY IRAN

In 2007, then-print Mahmoud Ahmadejad ludicroly claimed a speech New York, to loud jeers, that there were no gays Iran. It is unclear if Ahmadejad believed this himself, but his ments mirrored the regime's preference of simply ignorg homosexuals. 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.

PARTYG SPE RISKS -- LIFE FOR GAYS TEHRAN

As a rult, sex reassignment surgery (SRS) has bee a ntroversial solutn for gay men tryg to rencile their fah wh their sexualy.

THE GAY PEOPLE PHED TO CHANGE THEIR GENR

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.

Alizah says that though there is a small movement toward broar acceptance of homosexuals Iran, the improvements are feeble. Historilly, Iran has not been a safe place for cisgenr women and LGBTQIA+ homosexualy has not always been a crime Iran.

ETHIL RELATNALY AND ACUNTS OF GAY IRANIAN MEN

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. RELATED: You May Thk You're Beg A LGBTQ+ Ally, But You're NotSome members of the LGBTQ muny Tehran have tablished a 'gay neighborhood.

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.

IRANIAN GAY/QUEER ACTIVISTS AND ACTIVISM

"In the neighborhood of Tarasht, “gog out for a smoke” is a by gay men to get away om their fai, so they uld fd another man to spend time wh. ”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.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

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”. Acrdg to a UN news report, “Iran’s legal system explicly prohibs homosexualy, which unr the untry’s penal is punishable by ath.

”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.

KEV MAXEN JT BEME THE FIRST MALE ACH MEN'S PRO SPORTS TO E OUT AS GAY. HE SAID HE DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO 'LIE' OR 'FEEL FEAR' ABOUT HIS PERSONAL LIFE ANYMORE.

RELATED: Why Fans Thk Wednday Addams Is Gay — And Believe Netflix Is Tryg To Hi Their TheoriTaylor Hayn is a wrer based Chigo. 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:.

THE LTLE-KNOWN STORY OF IRAN'S FIRST GAY MARRIAGE

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). The suatn wh my iends is the bt, as they are eher homosexuals themselv, or have accepted homosexualy and feel fortable wh me this rpect.

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.