Homosexuality

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

Gay Iran II


It is not difficult to grasp that it is women in Iran who suffer the greatest human rights abuses. Virtually all laws in regards to marriage, child custody, dress codes and access to jobs favor men over women. Although gay men are often executed, tortured and jailed in higher numbers than lesbian women, single and married women wishing to engage in lesbian relationships are paralyzed by traditions under Islamic law. It is almost impossible to find lesbian couples living openly together.

Says Nilofar, a 34 year-old Iranian lesbian who grew up in Belgium from the age of 16. "Men have much more freedom in Iranian society. For them, it's easier to meet other gay men. In Tehran there are hangouts for gay men, but there are no such things for women."

There are also those who suggest that Iranian men and women who live under watchful glances by virtuous neighbors seize same sex opportunities because they are more accessible. But according to Scott Long, there can be no direct correlation to the increase in same sex behavior and sexual segregation of males and females. "I don't think we can suggest that it is the separation of men and women in Islamic daily work-life and within society that promotes same sex relations."

It seems a hard fight if one considers that it was only up until the 1960's that gay couples began coming out of the closet in America. And it wasn't until 1974 that the American Psychological Association removed homosexuality off its list of sexual disorders. Only a few years ago, in the case of Lawrence vs. Texas, the US Supreme Court overturned a ruling that sodomy was a crime and unconstitutional. The court ruled On 26 June 2003, that states do not have the right to ban consensual sex between adults in their own home.

My friend Hashem, a fashion designer who lives in New York with an American boyfriend, often shares tales with me about his travels to Iran and daily Iranian gay life. He tells me of secret chai (tea) houses in Tehran that are known as hangouts for gay men.

"There's an underground that's really active. Men arrange dates online through secret coded language that the government won't be able to understand. We then meet up at chai houses at all hours of the day where only men are allowed. Sexual glances are often exchanged through teacups."

While is futile to equate gay sex in America to gay sex in Iran, the comparisons are nevertheless made. However, we should not assume that Western gay stereotypes identify Middle Eastern homosexuality. There is also no evidence that shows that those who are engaging in same sex relations identify themselves as gay. "Gay" is not a term readily used in Iran. The term has been adopted by Western society and much of Iran's LGBT community is a secret underground and most gay couples are in the closet. This makes reliable statistics hard to find.

Iranian newspapers like Etelahat and Kayhan have been erratic in their reporting of these abuses and what have been dubbed inside Iran as "moral trials" are often held in private courtrooms with no press access. But the underground Gay magazine Maha often writes about the same sex couple killings and shares stories with gay community advocates who are a small bunch, but who have adopted gay identity and speak out for their rights in Iran through support from Iranian human rights groups inside and outside the country. The PGLO (Persian Gay and Lesbian Organization), based in Canada, and HOMANLA based in Los Angeles, have also been tough advocates for LGBT rights.

Paula Ettelbrick, Executive Director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in New York told me that the demonstrations commemorating the 19 July anniversary were a great success and showed how the international community is coming together to advocate for the right to sexual freedom in Iran.

"The situation in Iran is very different from Western cultural understandings of being gay. These forums provide opportunity for Americans and the rest of the international community to understand the challenges the gay and lesbian community faces in Iran. They cannot freely organize their lives around their sexual identity because of the fear of being persecuted if they should do so."

Ms. Ettelbrick hopes future activities will focus on how to encourage dialogue about these issues within Iran and to promote better understandings of Iranians among the international community, gay or straight.

At the end of this month, the International Conference on LGBT Human Rights in Montreal, Canada will bring together representatives from all over the world to discuss these hot issues. At the top of the agenda: devise a global strategy to convince Islam and homosexuality to cohabitate on loving terms.

[Rasputin]

A court in Germany has accepted an Iranian woman's bid for asylum on the grounds that she is a lesbian.
The 27-year-old woman said she would face persecution and isolation if she was sent back to Iran.

The court decided she should stay in Germany and said its ruling set a binding precedent for similar cases.

Earlier, the government in Berlin released figures showing that the number of people applying for asylum in Germany had fallen to a 20-year low.

The Interior Ministry said the highest number of applications was from Serbia and Montenegro, while there had been a sharp rise in the number of applicants from Lebanon.

The woman, whose name was not released, had travelled to Germany in September 2003 where she had applied for asylum.

She said she faced the death penalty if she returned to Iran, where homosexuality is against the law.

The Stuttgart court also heard that she faced punishment in Iran because she refused to wear a headscarf.

[BehnazNaNaz]

az nazare man gay ha ham hagh daran be khastehasoon beresan

[Raiden]

I h8 gay ppl but lesbians

[donsaeid]

زندگي مشترك 15 هزار و 500 زوج همجنس*باز در انگليس؛ تنها در 12 ماه


از زمان تصويب قانون جديد در انگليس كه ازدواج همجنس*بازان را در اين كشور تسهيل كرده و از يك سال پيش تاكنون بيش از 15 هزار و 500 زوج همجنس*باز همزيستي مشترك را آغاز كردند.



به نقل از خبرگزاري فرانسه از لندن، داده*هاي موقت اداره آمار ملي كه امروز انتشار يافت نشان مي*دهد 15 هزار و 672 زوج همجنس*باز اعم از زن يا مرد از دسامبر 2005 تا پايان سپتامبر 2006 همزيستي با هم را آغاز كردند.

از اين تعداد 14 هزار و 84 مورد در انگليس، 537 مورد در ولز، 942 مورد در اسكاتلند و 109 مورد در ايرلند شمالي بوده است.

قانون شراكت مدني سال 2004 از 5 دسامبر سال گذشته به اجرا درآمد و زوج*هاي هم*جنس بالاتر از 16 سال را قادر مي*سازد كه بطور رسمي شراكت خود را اعلام كرده و از حقوق قانوني اين دسته از زوجين برخوردار شوند.
آمار همچنين نشان مي*دهد ميزان ازدواج همجنس*بازان در انگليس بخصوص در ماه اول تصويب اين قانون افزايش داشته است.

[Khorsheed]

what do i think of homosexuality . . . hm m . . its diffrent and sometimes it happens because the person is born this way . . but all in all . . i find no fault execpt that its haram . . yea. .. and that men were born for women and women born for men . . .