News Dedicated to Muslims lesbian,gay,bisexual

[Rasputin]

Visitors find them through word-of-mouth, Odumuye said. To give an idea of their size, he says the group received more than 1,500 responses to a recent health survey among homosexual Nigerians.

Odumuye argues that the bill is aimed at pleasing the ruling party's political base — which includes powerful religious groups — ahead of April elections.

Nigerian Anglicans split with the American Episcopal church over the ordination of a gay bishop and many in the country say they want to prevent anything similar to the South African legislation.

But Akin Marinho, a Nigerian human rights lawyer, says that bill's prohibitions are illegal under Nigeria's constitution and international treaty obligations. Not only does the bill affect freedoms of speech and expression, but foreign companies could face lawsuits if gay or lesbian staff are unable to take up positions in Nigeria, he says.

"It's a civil liberties issue as well as a gay rights issue," Marinho says. "Under this bill, anyone watching 'Brokeback Mountain' or even 'Will and Grace' could be prosecuted ... it could also infringe on lawyer-client relations," he says, pointing out that the vague wording of the bill could interpret a meeting between a gay client and a lawyer as a meeting designed to promote same-sex relationships.

Even some conservative religious leaders say the bill goes too far. Though Bishop Joseph Ojo, who presides over the congregation at the evangelical Calvary Kingdom Church, says gay relationships are "foreign to Africans" and should be outlawed, he adds that homosexuals should "have freedom of speech and expression."

Nigerians have been publicly flogged, exhibited before the press naked, or beaten severely in prison after being charged with homosexuality. Alimi's companions say they're wary of voicing too much opposition to the new law out of fear of arrest. Death sentences have been meted out in the north, though no one has yet been executed.

"There is a lot of ignorance, and that is why people are afraid," Alimi says. "But we are not willing to come out and say, yes, I am gay. Here I am. I am human too."

[Rasputin]

اردلان، پزشک جوانی که تنها "کاشکی" زندگی اش، آشکار شدن "حقيقت" شخصيت او و همسانانش برای مردم است، اشتياق عبور از خط قرمز سنتی "مرد بودن" و قدم گذاشتن به دنيای "مرد"های متفاوت را برايم ايجاد کرد؛ مردهای متفاوتی که عوام به سخره و توهين "اواخواهر" و يا "همجنسباز" می نامندشان .

سپيده دم؛ وقت رفتن

سپيده دم آخرين جمعه ی پاييزی، صفير تلفن بيدار باش اردلان از خواب بيدارم کرد، به شکوه که "هنوز خوابی ؟" و ادامه داد به خنده که "پاشو خودت رو جمع کن ، همه چی خريدم که اونجا از گشنگی نميری ، ببين ضبطتت رو می خوای بياری بيار، ولی لطفا دوربين نيار. بچه ها می ترسن!"

در حالی که هيجان در وجودم وول خورد پرسيدم : "تصميم گرفتين کجا بريم؟". با حوصله ای سخاوتمندانه، جوابی را که چندين بار در پاسخم گفته بود تکرار کرد: " کوه ".

ترس و احتياطی ذاتی که انگار با عرف و فرهنگمان آميخته شده، به سراغم آمد : "اونجا که خيلی تابلوئه!" خاموشم کرد با طنزی آکنده از کنايه: "باز شاه بخشيد، شيخ علی خان نه. پاشو ، اول ميرم دنبال بچه ها، نيم ساعت ديگه اونجام زنيکه! "

ساعت به شش نرسيده بود که خودروی پر از سر و صدای اردلان جلوی پايم ترمز زد. پيش از اينکه در را باز کنم پنجره را پايين داد و گفت : "آقا خوشگله سوار ميشين؟" يکی از چهار سرنشين صندلی عقب هم ادامه داد : "وای نه ... نيا تو، بذار حجابمو سرم کنم. خاک به سرم نا محرم ..."

بين خنده يا قرمز شدن، خنده را انتخاب کردم و جلوی ماشين نشستم.

اردلان (که شخصيتش به خشکی معمولش نيست و گويا نقاب از چهره برداشته) معرفی می کند: "دوست خانوادگی ام علی... ( صدايی از پشت شنيده شد: جوووون ) علی جون، اين خانوم خانوما که سمت راسته ، اسمش نيماست بهش می گم نسرين. اين يکی هم اميده ولی آرزو بيشتر بهش مياد، اين شاسی بلنده اسمش شهياره ولی بهش ميگيم اشرف بلنده، اون ريزه هم که ريش پرفسوری گذاشته مهياره ولی بهش ميگيم مهستی!"

دستش را دراز می کند، ريش مهيار را می گيرد و ادامه می دهد : "خاک به سرم، مادر می بينی دوره ی آخر زمون شده، خانومه ريش داره!" و قاه قاه می خندد و با تکانی شديد ماشين را به سمت دربند به حرکت در می آورد.

گرچه آفتاب بالا آمده ولی سايه چنارهای خيابان وليعصر آنقدر هستند که خيابان را همچنان تاريک نگه دارند.

به تجريش که نزديک تر می شويم، در ماشين و ذهنم، هر دو ، فضای غريبی است. در حالی که جلال همتی با صدايی بلند می خواند و اردلان پشت فرمان و سرنشينان ديگر در عقب، بی تفاوت به نگاه های کنجکاوانه عابران می رقصند، تلفن مهيار ( مهستی ) زنگ می خورد: "الو ... سلام عشق من! آره ما نزديکيم... بشين تو ماشين. هيزی نکن، کسی رو هم نيگا نکن تا من برسم..." و به خنده ادامه می دهد: "خدا شاهده اگر بشنوم به خانومای ديگه نيگا کردی، با ناخون های لاک زدم چشمتو در ميارم."

آرايشگاه سيار

اردلان حالی ام می کند که مهيار با زوجش که "دوست پسر" می خواندش صحبت می کند و با حرکت دست می خواهد که گوشم را به دهانش نزديکتر کنم: "بچه ها با زوج هاشون ميان. می دونی ديگه مادر، مردا عقلشون به چشمشونه؛ خانوما می خوان يه کمی به ظاهرشون برسن. يه کمی صاف و صوف تر کنن. مجبورم يه چند لحظه وايستم يه جای خلوت تا مهيار و نيما يه کمی چيز ميز بمالن به صورتشون. شهريار و اميد هم هنوز کرم پودری نشدن مادر! يه موقع اگر چندشت ميشه، می تونی پياده شی قدم بزنی تا زنيکه ها کارهاشون تموم شه!"

اردلان در کوچه ای نزديک به کاخ سعدآباد می ايستد. در ماشين می مانم. دوستانش (که در وقت دعوا و بگو مگو "زنيکه" خطابشان می کند) کيف هايشان را گشوده و محتوای را با يکديگر تقسيم می کنند: "زنيکه کرم پودر نمره 10 رو بده !... اوی نسرين پاچه ورماليده سايه تو کجا قايم کردی" در همين حين است که جرات می کنم به جزئيات صورتشان دقت کنم.

بين ۱۸ تا ۲۴ سال سن دارند. ابروهايشان را کمی دستکاری کرده اند و همين... آرايششان زياد مشخص نيست، يا شايد من حرفه ای نيستم!

فرصتی هم پيدا می کنم تا نقش اردلان را درک کنم. مراقب است همه چيز خوب باشد. مدام وارد بگو مگوی دوستانش (که او را مادر می خوانند) می شود که "دخترا با هم مهربون باشيد". نقش يک "مادر روشنفکر" را خوب بازی می کند.

نيم ساعت بعد روبروی يک اتوموبيل گران قيمت در ميدان دربند ايستاده ايم. اردلان با لحن خاص خودش که با وجود دو سال دوستی برايم تازگی دارد توضيح می دهد : "اين ماشينه مال شوهر آرزوئه! اون قد بلنده اميره، شوهر نسرين. مو بور خوش هيکله شوهر منه. شوهر شهريارم اون پسره است که عين دی جی اليگيتوره. مهستی هم مطلقه است فعلا!"

همه يکسان نيستيم

از ماشين بيرون می آييم و با چهره های جديد آشنا می شوم که هرچند آنها نيز همجنسگرا هستند، اما ظاهر و خلق و خويشان بر خلاف نمود "دخترانه" همراهانم، بر اساس معيارهای سنتی جامعه کاملا "مردانه" تلقی می شود.

پس از سلام و چاق سلامتی، کوه پيمايی آغاز می شود و سوال های من نيز!

فربد، زوج شهريار ، برايم از گرايش های متفاوت همجنسگرايی می گويد: "اولا از نظر آماری، خيلی از مردها بايسکسوال هستند، يعنی هم گرايش دارن با جنس موافق سکس داشته باشن و هم با جنس مخالف اما گذشته از اين حرفها ممکنه يک همجنسگرا تاپ باشه يعنی فعال، يا ممکنه باتوم باشه يعنی مفعول. ممکنه حد وسط اين دو باشه که بهش می گيم ورستايل. همجنسگرا ممکنه ترانس باشه يعنی مشتاق به تغيير جنسيت، اما الزاما همه همجنسگراها خواهان تغيير جنسيت نيستن."

اردلان که به گفته خودش می خواهد يک بار برای هميشه "آب پاکی روی دست من بريزد"، گوی صحبت را از بقيه ربوده است و بی وقفه حرف می زند.

او در پاسخ به سوال من در زمينه زندگی زير زمينی شان، می گويد: "ببين تو الان با ما اومدی بيرون! ما طوريمونه ؟ الان من شاخ دارم ؟ نه عزيزم... مشکل اينجاست که مردم براشون مساله همجنسگرايی اشتباه جا افتاده. ما هم مثل همه انسانيم. می خوريم، می خوابيم و کار می کنيم.

"شايد از خيلی از آدم های به اصطلاح معمولی (نيما وارد حرفش می شود: ما معمولی هستيم، کسای ديگه غير عادين!) هم موفق تر باشيم. تنها تفاوت ما با مردهای ديگه اينه که در مسايل جنسی يک جور ديگه فکر می کنيم و نگاهمون با اکثريت متفاوته.

"پس ما نه مريضيم، نه روانی، نه غير عادی، ما فقط يک اقليت جنسی هستيم. منتها مشکل اينجاست که در فرهنگ ما به طور کلی مسايل جنسی هميشه تو زير زمين و خفا بوده چه برسه به اقليتهای جنسی!"

از مدرسه تا اينترنت


می پرسم کی و چگونه متوجه گرايش های جنسی متفاوت خود شده ايد، شهريار پاسخ می دهد: "خوب از همون اوايل بلوغ وقتی همه داشتن دختربازی می کردن، من احساس و دلم حمايت های يک مرد رو می خواست."

شيطنتش گل می کند و چنين ادامه می دهد : "به هر حال اگه می خوای نترشی بايد از روز اول چشم چشم کنی تا بالاخره شوهر دلخواهتو پيدا کنی ديگه خواهر، منم اولين بار با يک همکلاسی تو دبيرستان يه همچنين احساسی رو داشتم، عاشقش شدم. شب و روز جلوی چشمم بود. .اونم ناخواسته همين حس رو نسبت بهم داشت، همه اش حمايتم می کرد، واسه من جلوی همه وا ميستاد. جريان ادامه داشت تا اينکه عقدمون رو رسما اعلام کرديم. البته اون يه سال بعد رفت کانادا و من تا مدتها بعد حالم گرفته بود ولی خوب خدا پدر و مادر کاشف اينترنت رو بيامرزه که نميذاره ما کپک بزنيم!"

اميد که تا آن لحظه ساکت بود، حرفهای شهريار را چنين ادامه می دهد : "چطور پسرا ميرن دنبال دختر بازی، خب ما هم ميريم دنبال پسر بازی! تو خيابون اگه پسر خوش تيپ ببينيم نگاهش می کنيم و ممکنه حتی بهش نخ هم بديم و از اون باحالتر اينکه ممکنه جواب هم بگيريم!"

شاخ در می آورم، چنين کاری جرات می خواهد. مهيار که فعلا با کسی رابطه احساسی ندارد ادامه می دهد: "آره مثلا ديروز رفته بودم خريد کنم. يه پسره بود انقدر خوب بود که داشتم از شدت هيجان می مردم. انقدر بر و بر بهش نگاه کردم و زل زدم تا خودش اومد جلو و بهم شماره تلفن داد! ولی بعد فهميدم که به دردم نمی خوره."

نگاهم می کند و پيش از "چرا"ی من، پاسخ می دهد: "قرار نيست هر پسری رو که ديديم بچسبيم بهش. اون ظاهرش خوب بود ولی چيزهايی رو پای تلفن خواست که من هيچ وقت انجام نمی دم. اون فقط سکس می خواست ولی من دنبال يک رابطه عاطفی هستم."

ترس و تظاهر


به نقطه تقريبا خالی در جمعيتی از کوه می رسيم . فرصت می کنند تا کمی با هم خودمانی شوند. می فهمم که بايد به دنبال نخود سياه بروم تا راحت باشند. مهيار هم می آيد.

نظرش را در مورد ديد مردم نسبت به "همجنسگرايی" می پرسم، نگاه تلخی می کند و جواب می دهد : "ببين خسته شدم انقدر متلک شنيدم. انقدر بهمون گفتن «اواخواهر»، از همه کلماتی که از اين دسته متنفرم. ما بين خودمون نميگيم فلانی همجنسگراست يا نه، به جاش ميگيم فلانی خوديه ؟ يا فلانی هم با شعوره مثل خودمون؟ هر وقت کسی منو مسخره می کنه ، آرزو می کنم وقتی ازدواج کرد و بچه دار شد خدا بهش يه فرزندی بده که همجنسگرا باشه... همين !"

بار ديگر تلفن همراه پرترافيک مهيار زنگ می خورد، مادرش روی خط است: "نه مامان، ناهار رو که خورديم بر می گرديم... نه، توچاليم!"تلفن را که قطع می کند، پيش از سوال من توضيح می دهد: "به من شک کرده اند، همه اش با تلفن کنترلم می کنن، مجبورم دروغ بگم تا مبادا اينجا بيان و ما رو با اين وضع (به صورتش اشاره می کند) ببينن. يکی از مشکلات زندگي ما همينه. بايد چند تا شخصيت داشته باشيم. شخصيت توی خونه و پيش خانواده، شخصيت اداره و شخصيت توی خيابون... خيلی سخته که آدم همه اش نقشش رو عوض کنه."

به سمت "قرارگاه" بر می گرديم. بچه ها که حالا مشغول خوردن و خنديدن هستند به استقبال می آيند . اردلان ( گفته بودم که مادری حرفه ای و باتجربه ست!) بساط ناهار را پهن کرده و ديگران را (که به جد يا شوخی "دخترا" صدا می زند) به خوردن دست پختش دعوت می کند و "زنيکه"گويان، من را نيز!

فرصتی می شود تا با مهدی، زوج اردلان هم صحبت کنم. از او می خواهم از "ترس"هايش بگويد: "ببين، ما ظاهرمون عاديه، خونواده هامون هم چيزی نمی دونن و اين مشکلترين قسمته قضيه است! چون می دونی يهو اگه هوس کنن برای ما آستين بالا بزنن چه اتفاقی ميفته ؟ من الان نزديکه سی سالمه. هر بار که طعنه پدر و مادر رو می شنوم که چرا ازدواج نمی کنی، وسوسه ميشم که حقايق رو بهشون بگم ولی می دونم اگر بشنون دق می کنن.»

پس از ناهار ، به در خواست مهيار که تلفن های مکرر والدينش، لذت با دوستان بودن را از او سلب کرده ، به سمت اتوموبيل ها به راه افتاديم.

در مسير بازگشت، بار ديگر توقف داشتيم. اما اينبار اردلان با بطری های پلاستيکی آب و دستمال کاغذی های مخصوص پاک کردن آرايش، "دخترانش" را برای بازگشت به آن سوی خط قرمزهای فرهنگی آماده می کند و با لحنی دو پهلو به اين سوال من که "شما خودتان را مرد می دانيد يا زن" چنين پاسخ می دهد : "ما مرديم ولی بر ميگرديم!"

[Rasputin]

Labour has lost its heart and soul

A 20-year-old Nigerian asylum seeker, Emmanuel Obahiaghbon, was deported two weeks ago, on the orders of the immigration minister, Liam Byrne. He was unable to get legal representation. His fresh claim, based on new evidence, was arbitrarily dismissed by the Home Office without any judicial hearing.

This is the routine fate of thousands of asylum claimants under a Labour government. Due process of law is subverted. Objective, impartial consideration of their evidence by an asylum tribunal is often voided.

The Home Office acts as police, prosecutor, judge and jury. Justice is non-existent for many asylum claimants. See here and here.

Sure, there are some bogus asylum seekers. They should be removed. But I know, from my firsthand experience helping asylum claimants, that many people who are dismissed as frauds by the Home Office are, in fact, genuine refugees. They have fled terrible persecution, but in the government's panic to cut the number of people granted asylum, they are mistakenly (and perhaps sometimes maliciously) declared to be "failed" asylum applicants and scheduled for deportation.

Emmanuel Obahiaghbon was genuine. He claimed asylum on the grounds of persecution because of his homosexuality. But his sexuality is not the key point. The way he was abused by the asylum process is typical of the fate of thousands of refugees fleeing many different forms of persecution - ethnic, political, religious, gender and sexual orientation.

Emmanuel had been beaten up many times for being gay and gang-raped twice. When he tried to report the assaults to the police, he was threatened and abused. A psychiatrist visited him in detention in the UK and confirmed he had symptoms of trauma consistent with having suffered physical and sexual violence.

At the end of November, Emmanuel was sent a copy of a Nigerian police warrant for his arrest on charges of homosexuality, and a Nigerian solicitor's letter stating that he had also been reported to the sharia courts and was likely to be sentenced to death by stoning (his region of Nigeria is subject to Islamic sharia law, which stipulates the death penalty for gay sex).

The Home Office dismissed these new documents as fakes. I have no way of knowing for sure whether they were genuine. What I found reprehensible is that Liam Byrne's officials refused Emmanuel an opportunity to present the new evidence to an asylum tribunal and to get the documents independently assessed.

Because Emmanuel had no solicitor, he appointed two of us from the gay human rights group OutRage! as his legal representatives. Acting on his behalf, my colleague Jill Power and I asked the immigration minister to suspend Emmanuel's deportation, in order to allow him time to find a new solicitor, make a fresh asylum claim based on the new evidence, and to get corroboration that the police warrant and solicitor's letter were genuine. This request was rejected by Liam Byrne, without any proper hearing.

The deportation of Emmanuel is typical of the routine abuse of asylum applicants by the Home Office.

He was given no chance to prove the genuineness of his new evidence. They bundled him onto a plane as fast as they could, to stop him from challenging their arbitrary dismissal of his letters from the Nigerian police and solicitor.

Emmanuel faces an uncertain fate back in Nigeria. He is on the run and in hiding. After maintaining contact with us for the first week after he was deported, suddenly all communication has stopped. We fear for his safety. If the police, Sharia courts or gay-bashers don't get him, perhaps he'll just give up hope and kill himself.

Male homosexuality is totally illegal in Nigeria. It is punishable by 14 years jail under criminal law and, in the Muslim regions, by stoning to death. Gay-bashing attacks are commonplace. As Emmanuel discovered, the Nigerian police are unwilling and unable to protect the victims of homophobic violence. Sometimes, the police are the perpetrators.

The persecution of lesbian and gay Nigerians is about to get much worse. Nigerian MPs are expected to shortly pass a new law that will outlaw gay organisations, meetings of gay people, gay safer sex advice and the advocacy of gay human rights.

Despite this perilous situation, Emmanuel's asylum claim was deemed by the Home Office to be unfounded. He was forced onto a plane by government-contracted security guards and deported back to Nigeria.

Labour claims to support gay human rights, but we see little evidence of this support in the cruel way gay asylum seekers are treated by the Home Office.

Labour ministers could stop these abuses, but they don't. They are personally responsible for deporting lesbians and gays who have presented evidence of being beaten up, jailed, tortured and raped. A lesbian victim of rape and torture was recently deported to Uganda. A gay Iranian who is at high risk of execution is scheduled for deportation on Boxing Day.

Labour has lost its heart and soul. It seems more interested in pandering to the anti-asylum hysteria of the Sun and the Daily Mail, than in ensuring justice for refugees. Whether gay or straight, all refugees deserve a fairer, more compassionate consideration of their claims.

[Rasputin]

Municipal elections in Iran last Friday gave a black eye to hard-line fundamentalist, ultra-homophobic President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as his supporters suffered a string of defeats.


The lack of confidence in Ahmadinejad was particularly strong in Tehran, Iran's capital, where his "Sweet Scent of Service" ticket won only five out of 15 City Council seats, and where his sister came in ninth, according to figures released by the Interior Ministry on Tuesday, with 80 percent of the vote tabulated.


The largest block of seats was won by the list headed by incumbent Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Bagher Qalibaf, a so-called "moderate" conservative who had been one of Ahmadinejad's rivals in the presidential elections last year that brought the authoritarian moralizer to power. Qalibaf's list picked up eight seats.


Two seats were won by reformist candidates opposed to Ahmadinejad's theocratic rigidity.


Since winning the presidency, Ahmadinejad has been leading a heavy-handedly repressive "cultural revolution," marked by the jailing of dissident intellectuals and journalists, the purging of liberal faculty members from the universities, a crackdown on the press and the Internet, and a relentless campaign of arrests of gay people, who have been subject to tight police surveillance, Internet entrapment, raids on private homes and parties, kidnapping, imprisonment, torture, and in some cases forced gender reassignment surgery and execution.


Homosexuality has been a capital crime in Iran punishable by death since the 1979 revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini overthrew the Shah of Iran and installed a severe religious regime based on Islamic Sharia law. According to the Iranian gay rights group Homan, more than 4,000 Iranian gays and lesbians have been executed in the two-and-a-half decades since Khomeini and his followers came to power.


But most commentators agree that Ahmadinejad's failure to deliver on the "populist" promises of his presidential campaign and improve the economy were what motored the protest vote last Friday. In last year's campaign, Ahmadinejad said he would use his country's oil revenue for the improvement of ordinary Iranians' lives.


But rampant inflation and stagnant wages, an iron-fisted campaign against labor unions (characterized by arrests of their leaders and government strike-breaking), new labor legislation that favors employers and makes it easier to dismiss workers without cause, and an aggressive program of privatization that is selling off all state-owned enterprises to big business have all combined to alienate some of the working class and economically disadvantaged voters who had been a key element of Ahmadinejad's 2005 electoral victory.


However, outside the cosmopolitan urban centers like Tehran, in the provinces, support remains strong for Ahmadinejad, Iranian political analysts say. And Ahmadinejad will remain in office at least until the next presidential election in 2009.


These election results do not mean that there will be any waning of Ahmadinejad's repressive "cultural revolution" and its anti-homosexual purge.


"Nothing major will happen" as a result of these municipal elections, said exiled Iranian political scientist Saeed Rahnema from Toronto's York University, "but it's an important signal. It sends a message to Ahmadinejad that despite the fact that he has the big machinery for mobilizing the masses, the rest of the public is not happy with him."


This electoral slap in the face to Ahmadinejad came despite his regime's aggressive campaign to discourage voter participation.


"In order to defeat reformist candidates who have somehow survived the disqualification procedures and still appear on the ballot, the Judiciary, the ministries of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Information, and Domestic Affairs, the state-controlled radio and television, and the conservative newspapers were all mobilized to ensure low participation of the electorate," said Iranian émigré Behrooz Ghamari, a professor of history and sociology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and author of the forthcoming book "Islam and Dissent in Postrevolutionary Iran" (St. Martin's Press).


Moreover, Ghamari added, "The judiciary spokesperson threatened the newspapers that ran front-page news of the election with closure and censure." But overall turnout across the country was about 60 percent of the roughly 46 million eligible voters, the Interior Ministry said. Turnout in last year's run-off election that made Ahmadinejad president was also 60 percent. The country's population is around 70 million.


There were also elections last Friday for the 86-member Assembly of Experts, an all-mullah body that appoints, for a life term, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. (The current Supreme Leader is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.) In those elections, Ahmadinejad's spiritual mentor, fanatical fundamentalist Ayatollah Mohammed-Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi, came in sixth. Mesbah-Yazdi, who appears frequently in public with Ahmadinejad, is the de facto head of the Hojatieh-a secretive society, founded in the 1950s to purge Iran of the minority Baha'i faith-which has since become a redoubt of the most hard-line homophobic fundamentalists.


According to Agence France-Presse, Mesbah-Yazdi has aggressively argued for increased use of public floggings and executions for homosexuality as "immoral behavior," saying both forms of punishment are a "fundamental principle" of Islam.


"If the Westerners do not like it, that is their problem," he was quoted as saying, "but the death penalty and the use of flogging are fundamental principles of our religion."


There have been reports that Ahmadinejad's mentor wanted to use last Friday's elections as a springboard to eventually replace Ayatollah Khameini as Supreme Leader, but Mesbah-Yazdi's poor showing suggests that was a still-born wish. First place in the elections for the Assembly of Experts went to former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, beaten by Ahmadinejad in last year's presidential race; he was re-elected to the Assembly with 1.56 million votes, well ahead of the 880,000 votes garnered by Mesbah-Yazdi. However, when Rafsanjani was president he was shunned by Iranian reformers, who considered him a part of the conservative establishment.


Still, last Friday's strong protest vote against Ahmadinejad and his followers underscores the folly of a military attack against Iran if one hopes to see the end of his rule. Without exception, the democratic Iranian opposition to Ahmadinejad has insisted that, in the words of Iran's leading dissident, Akbar Ganji-a journalist released earlier this year after six years imprisonment for his views-"the regime will crush down the opponents harshly after such an attack and will close the political atmosphere completely. Iranian people and patriotic intellectuals will rise to the regime's support in case of a foreign attack and the regime will be strengthened instead of being toppled."


The elections are not the only evidence of discontent with Ahmadinejad. The opposition is becoming increasingly vocal.


For example, an educational, door-to-door "One Million Signatures Campaign" by younger women's rights activists envisions a future "where powers, opportunities, and social goods are not divided based on gender differences or sexual orientation," according to another leading Iranian scholar, Professor Nayereh Tohidi, the chair of the Women's Studies Department at California State University, Northridge and research associate at the Center for Near Eastern Studies at UCLA.


Another example: on December 6, Iran's annual Students Day, thousands attended a protest demonstration on the campus of Tehran University organized by Tahkim Vahdat, the country's largest student organization. Security forces at first tried to block entrances, but students eventually succeeded in breaking through the main gates.


Armin Salmasi, a member of the Council of Islamic Students, said, "They have sent our professors into early retirement, prevented many students from continuing their studies, forbidden not only protest, but even the act of breathing freely, and transformed our universities into military garrisons. Don't think that our patience is unlimited. Someday, the pot will boil over."


Five days later, several dozen student hecklers interrupted a December 11 speech by Ahmadinejad, throwing firecrackers, burning a poster with his portrait, and shouting "Down with the dictator!" A military attack on Iran, as Ganji has pointed out, would give Ahmadinejad the renewed public support he needs to ruthlessly stamp out these harbingers of growing sentiment for democracy and reform -and would ruin the chance for an electoral breakthrough by the anti-Ahmadinejad forces in the parliamentary elections scheduled for 2008.

[Rasputin]

When she speaks, he's breaking all of Islam's taboos

KARACHI, Pakistan: Ali Saleem may have devised the perfect, if improbable, cover for breaking taboos in conservative, Muslim Pakistan.

In a country where publicly talking about sex is strictly off limits, Saleem has managed not only to bring up the subject on his prime-time television talk show — but also to do it without stirring a backlash from fundamentalist Islamic clerics.

And he has done so as a woman.

When Saleem takes to the airwaves, he is Begum Nawazish Ali, a coquettish widow who interviews Pakistan's glitterati and some of its top politicians.

A real woman could not possibly do what Saleem does. In the unlikely event a station would broadcast such a show, the hostess would be shunned. And taking on the guise of a married woman — whose virtue is crucial to her whole family — would be equally impossible.

But apparently a cross-dressing man pretending to be a widow is another matter entirely.

It is something of a mystery why a man who openly acknowledges being bisexual is a sensation here. Traditional Islamic teaching rejects bisexuals and gays, and gay Pakistanis have few outlets for a social life. The gay party scenes in Lahore and Karachi are deep underground.

Saleem has his own theory for his popularity: He thinks Pakistan has always been more open than outsiders believed.

It is true that Pakistan is, in a sense, two countries. There is urban, and urbane, Pakistan, where Western mores are more accepted, although nudity would never be seen on television or scantily clad women on billboards. And then there is rural Pakistan, where Islam is generally practiced with more fervor.

It is also true that the Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, is relatively tolerant about what the media can show and cover, including politics. Although Musharraf came to power in a bloodless coup conducted by the military in 1999, he has been more open to political criticism in the press than some of his democratically elected predecessors.

Saleem, 28, is thrilled with his success for reasons that are both political — he is proud to be breaking ground in bringing up tough subjects — and profoundly personal. "My biggest high is to see myself gorgeous in the mirror," he said recently while reclining in a makeup-room chair. As a beautician outlined his eyes, adding glitter and eye shadow, he said, "Maybe, yes, I am a diva."

It is hard to judge how successful Saleem's show is, as there are no viewership figures available. And there are clearly people who find the show revolting.

But by many measures, it is a success. Television critics have been generally supportive, and the show, which has been on for a year and a half, has a prime-time slot despite its name, "Late Night Show with Begum Nawazish Ali." Saleem said that it was named for its racy content, usually shown late, but he said the network scheduled it earlier hoping for a hit that would bring in more advertising revenue.

Urbanites, meanwhile, seem not to be able to get enough of the once-a-week show, which is rerun twice each week. They have showered praise on Saleem's portrayal of a middle-aged widow who, in glamorous saris and glittery diamonds, invites politicians, movie stars and rights advocates from Pakistan and India into her drawing room.

With fluttering eyelids and glossy lips, Begum Nawazish Ali (Begum is Urdu for Lady or Mrs.) flirts with male guests using suggestive banter and sexual innuendo. With female guests, she is something of a tease, challenging them about who looks better. Questions are pointed and piercing. Politics, democracy and saucy gossip are enmeshed in her conversation.

Saleem sees the show's acceptance and commercial success as a testimony to the tolerance and moderation of Pakistan, a country often seen by the outside world as teetering on the edges of militancy and extremism.

Colorful and witty, Saleem is open about his own sexuality and sprinkles his conversation with gender-bending phrases. "My life fluctuates between two extremes," he said. "I always say this: I am a man and I am a woman. It is two gender extremes, and I am constantly trying to balance it."

He is unabashed despite the criticism that his show often borders on raunchiness. "Sitting senators have sent requests to be on the show," he said.

Saleem has also been willing to take on tough political subjects.

He is openly critical of the army's role in ruling Pakistan, for instance.

His show is not the only one pushing the envelope on that and other touchy subjects.

[Rasputin]

Putting the Feeling Into Words

Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East By Brian Whitaker University of California Press 264 pages; $19.95 in paperback

When Tayseer, a Palestinian from Gaza, was 18, he was found in bed with a boyfriend by an older brother-and as a result was severely beaten by his family. His father threatened to strangle him if he ever had gay sex again.


A few months later, Tayseer was invited into an orange grove for sex by an undercover police agent of the Palestinian Authority, and subsequently arrested. Police told Tayseer that the only way for him to avoid prison was to become a Judas goat, to lure other gay men into sex so that they, too, could be arrested.


When he refused to be police bait in this entrapment scheme, Tayseer was hung by his arms from the ceiling. "A high-ranking officer he didn't know arranged for his release-and then demanded sex as payback."


When Tayseer fled Gaza for Tulkarem, he was eventually re-arrested, and forced to stand in neck-high sewage water with his head covered by a feces-filled sack. During one police interrogation, Tayseer was stripped and forced to sit on a Coke bottle.


Tayseer's story is just one of the accounts by Arab lesbians and gay men in Brian Whitaker's new book, "Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East," just published simultaneously here and in the U.K. Whitaker, the Middle East bureau chief for the British daily The Guardian, writes that he was inspired to do this book when covering the infamous 2001 Queen Boat case in Egypt, in which 52 men were arrested at a gay party on a disco boat, and subjected to a highly-sensationalized trial-in a state security court normally reserved for terrorists-for using "perverted sexual acts" as part of "satanic rituals." One Cairo newspaper headline blared, "Perverts Declare War on Egypt." Thirty-five of the men received prison terms and 200 lashes each-and 70 more men who had initially been arrested, then released, were also later sentenced to prison.
Whitaker writes that "the dearth of coverage about Arab homosexuality encourages the idea that it is almost entirely a foreign phenomenon." It is the great merit of this book that it helps to give a fuller picture of both the widespread existence of same-sex love in the Arab world and of the increasing number of Arabs who are choosing to define themselves through a gay identity.


In dissecting the wide gap between portrayals of homosexuality in Arab media and in official discourse and the lived reality of Arab same-sexers, Whitaker writes that "Arab portrayals of homosexuality as a foreign phenomenon can be [plausibly] attributed to a reversal of old-fashioned Western orientalism. Western orientalism, as analyzed by Edward Said in his influential book, highlights the 'otherness' of oriental culture in order (Said argued) to control it more effectively. Reverse orientalism-a comparatively new development in the Arab world-taps into the same themes but also highlights the 'otherness' of the West in order to resist modernization and reform. Homosexuality is one aspect of Western 'otherness' that can be readily exploited to whip up popular sentiment... Where symbolism of this kind applies, the sexual act must necessarily be described in terms that maximize the reader's disgust: there is no scope for portrayals of homosexuality that are anything but negative."


In this context, and given prevailing cultural and official attitudes toward homosexuality, the near-impossibility of being openly gay, and the absence of public spaces where gay men and lesbians can lawfully gather and meet, it is hardly surprising that, as Whitaker writes, "a point made repeatedly by interviewees... was that to be gay and Arab is often extremely lonely."


So great is ignorance about the real nature of the same-sex impulse in the Arab world that the semi-official Egyptian daily al-Ahram al-Arabi could run a lengthy 2001 interview with "a professor of surgical medicine" on the "most successful method" of "curing sexual perversion"-to wit, "cauterizing the anus, which, by narrowing the anus, makes it more painful for the passive homosexual to be penetrated, which makes the active homosexual unable to penetrate, and causes the sexual encounter to fail."


Whitaker quotes Zaki Badawi, head of the Muslim College in London, as saying that, "Homosexuality has always existed and continues to exist in all Islamic countries. Many high-ranking leaders in the Islamic world are gay." Unfortunately, Whitaker doesn't name any of those leaders, except for the Sultan of Oman. He might well have mentioned King Mohammed VI of Morocco (also the country's chief spiritual leader as Commander of the Faithful) who was outed on his ascension to the throne in 1999 by the leading Belgian daily, Le Soir, which revealed that as a university undergraduate in Brussels, the king-to-be had spent all his free time in gay bars. Then there's Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, knowledge of whose homosexual proclivities is widespread in his country, where he is frequently referred to as "ateka," a word-play nickname portraying him as a "queen." (This sobriquet, which can mean "old maid," has been chanted at Bouteflika by entire stadiums of Algerians.)


Whitaker devotes a chapter to the rare images of homosexuality in Arab cinema-briefly touching on the work of the likes of Egyptian directors Youssef Chahine, Salah Abu Saif, and Yousri Nasrallah, and Tunisian Nouri Bouzid-and to the relatively few portrayals of it in modern Arab fiction. Novels like Lebanese Hoda Barakat's 1990 "The Stone of Laughter," Egyptian Alaa al-Aswani's huge best-seller "The Yacoubian Building" from 2002, and Nobel Prize-winner Egyptian Naguib Mahfouz's 1947 "Midaq Alley" are discussed.
But the burgeoning fictional lesbian and gay literature written in French by Mediterranean Arab writers from former French colonies-who cannot publish in their own countries in Arabic-gets only a sentence. The talented Moroccan Rachid O, whose novels have won critical acclaim, is mentioned but not discussed; and not even mentioned at all are such interesting writers on gay themes as Algerian Aniss A., Egyptian Sonallah Ibrahim, Moroccans Kasim Nasseri and Bahaa Trebelsi, or Tunisian Eyet-Chékib Djaziri.


It's unfortunate that, as Whitaker notes, most of his face-to-face interviews with gays and lesbians were limited to Egypt and Lebanon, and, even there, to the cosmopolitan centers of Cairo and Beirut-although there are 22 countries in the Arab League. Thus, the North African countries of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia-with a combined population of more than 80 million-are hardly mentioned.

[Rasputin]

The particularly virulent menace to homosexuals posed by the rise of Islamic fundamentalism gets no systematic examination, although the phenomenon is evoked briefly and in passing in several different sections of the book. Whitaker does, however, dissect the anti-gay arguments of several English-language Islamist Web sites and the pronouncements of Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an influential religious figure in the Arab world popularized by his regular appearances on Al-Jazeera TV. And he provides an alternative reading of the Qur'an that contradicts those who claim it condemns homosexuality, arguing that these interpretations are of relatively recent vintage.


But the book is also marred by several errors.


For example, Whitaker writes that the Lebanese gay group Helem "is the only specifically gay and lesbian organization functioning openly in an Arab country"-thus overlooking ASWAT, the self-described "organization of Palestinian gay women," which received an award for its work inside the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in May 2006.


Whitaker characterizes the Iranian theocracy's attitude toward the transgendered as "comparatively liberal"-but he makes no mention of how an Iranian seeking sexual reassignment surgery must have an official document declaring themselves "mentally ill" before being allowed to proceed. Nor does he mention how Iran's mullah-controlled psychologists routinely pressure homosexuals into sex-change operations-to which some gay men and lesbians reluctantly agree in order to avoid prosecution for homosexuality, a capital crime in Iran. The French public television network France 2 last year gave a detailed account of this phenomenon in a documentary with the telling title, "Changer de Sexe ou Mourir"- "Change Sex or Die."


And in August 2006, for an article in The Advocate, this reporter interviewed a 24-year-old Iranian lesbian refugee named Maryam, now seeking asylum in France as a sexual refugee. She related that after her lesbian affair was revealed, she was forced to undergo six months of treatment from two women psychologists at the University of Shahid Beheshti.


"They ordered me to have it [sex-change surgery]," she said. "'No,' I said. 'I'm Maryam, a girl, and I do not want to be a man!' The female doctor told me, 'If you don't change your sexuality and you continue unlawful acts, your future will be a death sentence.'"


Despite these caveats, "Unspeakable Love" is a valuable introduction to the difficulties and perils of being homosexual in the Arab world, and one of the few recent books in English to discuss contemporary Arab same-sex relations from a sympathetic point of view.


One of the most useful chapters in the book is Whitaker's dissection and refutation of the arguments of Joseph Massad, a controversial Columbia University professor and author of a widely-circulated essay complaining that gay rights in Arab and Muslim countries represent an imperialist "missionary" project orchestrated by what he calls the "Gay International."


In concluding his rebuttal of Massad, Whitaker writes that the Columbia academic and his acolytes present the debate "as a choice between cultural authenticity on the one hand and the adoption of all things Western on the other. In fact, neither is a realistic proposition. Exposure to foreign ideas and influences cannot be prevented, but nor are Arabs incapable of making critical judgments about them. Equally, Arab culture cannot be treated as a fossil; it is a culture in which real people lead real lives and it must be allowed to evolve to meet their needs. The issue, then, is not whether concepts such as 'gay' and 'sexual orientation' are foreign imports, but whether they serve a useful purpose. For Arabs who grow up disturbed by an inexplicable attraction towards members of their own sex, they can provide a framework for understanding. For families-puzzled, troubled, and uninformed by their own society-they offer a sensible alternative to regarding sons and daughters as sinful or mad."


To which one can only say, Amen!

[Rasputin]

همجنس باز مشهور ایتالیایی به عنوان سفیر راهی ترکیه شد
انجمن اندیشمندان ایران، نماينده همجنس باز حزب نو بنياد كمونيست در مجلس نمايندگان ايتاليا اعلام كرد: براي دفاع از همجنس بازان در كشورهاي عربي مي خواهم سفير ايتاليا در اين كشورها شوم.



روزنامه ايتاليايي كوريره دلاسرا در این زمینه نوشت : نخستين نماينده همجنس باز ايتاليا مي خواهد سفير اين كشور در كشورهاي اسلامي شود تا از حقوق همجنس بازان اين كشورها كه محكوم شده و حتي كشته مي شوند ، دفاع كند.
لوكسوريا گفت: مي خواهم ابتدا به تركيه بروم و سفير ايتاليا در اين كشور شوم، زيرا تركيه وارد اروپا خواهد شد و دراروپا برخي تبعيض ها را نمي توان پذيرفت.

وي افزود: درباره حقوق بشر و يا حكم مرگ خيلي صحبت مي شود، ولي بايد گفت كه زندگي و آزادي همجنس بازان نيز مربوط به حقوق بشر مي شود.

درفهرست 80 كشوري كه همجنس بازي را ممنوع كرده اند نام تركيه ديده نمي شود اما همجنس بازان دراين كشور با نگاه خوب ديده نمي شوند، ولي به هرحال قانون خاصي وجود ندارد.

وي افزود: بايد مرحله به مرحله اقدام كرد ، نمي توانيم بلافاصله به تهران برويم ، ولي شايد روزي به آنجا نيز خواهيم رسيد.
وي همچنين در مصاحبه باروزنامه اسراييلي هارتض گفت: مي خواهم تبديل به نوعي سفير ايتاليا در جهان اسلام تبديل شوم. مي خواهم ببينم كه وقتي درخواست ملاقات با يك وزير فرهنگ كشور اسلامي را خواهم كرد چه خواهد شد؟ آيا قبول خواهد كرد يا خير؟

وي گفت: در كشورهاي اسلامي همجنس بازي ممنوع است اما عملا بسيارگسترده است زيرا در مدارس ، محل كار و حتي در مساجد مردها با مردها و زن ها با زن ها هستند و فرصت دراين كشورها حتي از ما نيز بيشتر است.
مهم اين است كه همجنس بازان اين كشورها حداقل آزادي و امنيت را داشته باشند ، سپس خود آنها بايد تصميم بگيرند كه چطور مبارزه كنند.

[Rasputin]

A group fighting for the rights of homosexuals in Iran is holding a human rights conference in Toronto this month to draw attention to the country's nasty track record and to promote change there.

"Iranian law defines homo-sexuality as a crime punishable by death, denies women's equal rights with men, persecutes political dissidents and civil and human rights activists," states the press release from host group Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO).

Arsham Parsi, secretary-general of the group, says gay men and lesbians are not usually included when activists and politicians talk about human rights violations in Iran, an exclusion that led to the organization of the Sat, Jan 27 conference at the University Of Toronto.

"Never are they talking about LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans] rights," says Parsi. "Right now, a queer organization is organizing a human rights symposium. We're showing that LGBT rights are human rights."

The keynote speaker will be Liberal MP Hedy Fry, speaking on the Charter Of Rights And Freedoms and its application to minorities. Other speakers include Barbara Hall, chair of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, representatives from Human Rights Watch and the International Gay And Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and El-Farouk Khaki of the queer Muslim organization Salaam Canada.

Parsi, 25, fled Iran in March 2005 after he learned that he was being hunted by the government for his work with what was then called the Persian Gay And Lesbian Organization. He had begun working for the organization when he was 22, after coming out in his teens. He was granted refugee status in Canada in May of this year.

Parsi says that when he first began realizing he was gay, he thought there was something wrong with him.

"When I was young, I couldn't tell my parents. I thought if I have these desires, I have problems with myself."

Parsi says he was saved when he began to find sites on the Internet about homosexuality. He says the Internet is still the primary way IRQO communicates with its 50,000 members, especially with those in Iran. He says members can access the group's website and receive electronic copies of its magazine.

Parsi says there is a long history of homosexuality in classical Iranian and Persian literature, but that for years there has been a reluctance to talk about it openly. He says that, contrary to most people's assumptions, the situation predates Iran's current religious regime which has been in place since the 1979 revolution.

Parsi says the last Shah, usually considered to be liberal, was responsible for tightening up laws that had allowed gay and lesbian couples to live openly together in essentially common-law marriages.

"The Shah added something to Iranian law about two people who wanted to live together. He added that it had to be between a man and a woman."

Parsi says it's not the intention of the IRQO to overthrow the religious authorities which now govern Iran.

"Right now, we aren't thinking of the regime. We have to work with LGBTs first, we have to work with society first. Imagine tomorrow if the religious government was replaced by the most democratic government in the world. We would still have problems. What about mothers and fathers? If the government says you have to kill homosexuals, the people support them, for the safety of children. They think LGBTs are rapists. They don't have any information.

"People don't like talking about our sexuality. We're not trying to promote homosexuality, just introduce it."

Parsi says these attitudes held by many in Iran help to fuel the country's high number of gender reassignment surgeries, as does the peculiar fact that gender reassignment surgery is legal in Iran.

"Homosexuality is illegal, but sex changes are legal. Many men are changing their sex. The one way you can sleep with men is to change your sex."

Parsi says it's also necessary to inform other countries about the realities of the situation in Iran. He points to a case involving a refugee claimant in Britain, a gay man who asked for refugee status after his boyfriend was executed in Iran in December of 2005.

"The British government didn't accept the boyfriend's refugee application. They said you have to prove the execution."

But Parsi says the Iranian government and authorities have learned to disguise their persecution of homosexuals. He says that because of international condemnation they now list other causes for arrests and executions, such as alcohol use or child abuse. He points to a 2003 case where police arrested 75 men.

"They didn't write in the report that they're gay. They wrote that they were drinking alcohol. And one of my gay friends was arrested recently in a coffeeshop, for meeting with two girls."

Perhaps the best-known case involving executions that may have been related to gay activity is similarly difficult to prove.

The case involves the 2005 executions of two young men in the city of Mashad. Ayaz Marhoni and Mahmoud Asgari, believed to have been 18 and 17 respectively at the time of their deaths, were hanged. Initial reports claimed that they'd been put to death for their homosexuality, but later reports indicated the two young men had been convicted of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old. Parsi says it's impossible to know what really happened, as the proceedings were closed and no documents were made available.

But Parsi says that, despite the possibility of being executed, there are things happening on the ground in Iran.

"The people in Iran right now, they think the numbers of LGBTs are increasing. We have some members who are 70 years old. We're working more and we're seeing more."

Parsi says he also received some good news recently from a friend in Vancouver who had been planning to undergo gender reassignment surgery so he could sleep with men. Parsi says the man, after being in Canada, has come to accept his homosexuality.

Parsi says the daylong symposium is free to anyone who wants to attend. But he adds that the Iranian Queer Organization is solely dependent on donations to function.

[Rasputin]

Muslims join gay opt-out fight

TONY Blair was under fresh pressure last night after a Muslim leader voiced his objections to gay adoption laws.

The head of the Muslim Council of Britain, Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, said the new laws were “absurd and inconsistent with domestic and international legal precedents”.

He added: “As Muslims we are obliged to uphold the moral standards and codes of conduct dictated by our faith.”

The call by a Muslim figurehead comes after Catholics urged the PM to let them opt out of laws allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children through their agencies.

The Anglican Church supported the Catholics.

Mr Blair had backed the opt-out clause, which was supported by Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly, a devout Catholic.

But he changed his mind after senior ministers insisted gays must have equal rights. Last night Ms Kelly, a member of the Opus Dei sect, was the only Cabinet member backing Catholic calls.

[Rasputin]

Gay Iranian refugee can stay in NZ

A gay refugee who admitted repeatedly misleading immigration officials has been allowed to stay in New Zealand because he faced execution as a homosexual if sent back to Iran.

Ahmad Tahooni, 39, from Tehran, arrived in New Zealand in 2000. He claimed to have fled Iran out of fear of political persecution for his involvement in student demonstrations - a story he later admitted was false.

He was denied asylum and an appeal was dismissed in 2003 when his account was deemed "implausible in the extreme". He lodged a second appeal on the grounds he was gay.

Too embarrassed to disclose his homosexuality at the time of his first application in 2000, Mr Tahooni had "evolved into a confident - even flamboyant - man" able to express his sexual orientation without inhibition, the Refugee Status Appeals Authority said.

Mr Tahooni told The Dominion Post he lied because, coming from a "closed country", he felt unable to acknowledge his true sexuality.

"When I arrived here I gradually learnt not to live life in a closet any more. I was inspired by the freedom here," he said.

Though his second appeal also contained false evidence, the authority agreed Mr Tahooni was genuinely gay and could face death or imprisonment if he was returned to Iran.

An active member of the Auckland gay scene, he frequented gay clubs and parties, plucked his eyebrows, and changed his hair colour "like the four seasons".

"He is unable, and not required, to act discreetly in order to avoid being identified as a homosexual. His current lifestyle is in stark contrast to the atmosphere of intimidation created in Iran, including through public executions of gays," the authority said.

The former garment trader and investor told the authority if he returned to Iran, his conservative and deeply religious father would hand him over to authorities.

He described a history of clandestine same-sex relationships, dating back to his second year at high school in Iran. He had been arrested twice - once while watching a pornographic video at a boyfriend's apartment and again just weeks later in a public park known as a homosexual haunt.

The first time he was freed only after the intercession of his influential brother-in-law and the second time after bribing officials.

He also described being videotaped parodying the sexuality of two prominent Iranians, saying the discovery of the tape had increased the danger to him - but later admitted fabricating that incident out of fear his homosexuality alone would not be sufficient for refugee status.

In a December decision, the authority said notwithstanding the false evidence presented by the refugee on several occasions, his family in Iran "abhorred" his sexuality, and there was "a real chance" he would be persecuted if he returned.

Neil Denney, of the Auckland Gay and Lesbian Welfare Group, said many prospective refugees initially felt they had to hide their homosexuality to avoid a backlash from their ethnic community here.

A spokesperson for the Iranian community in Auckland, Mouzhgan Shabani, said the Iranian Government would have learned of Mr Tahooni's refugee application and his homosexuality, and if he was sent back "100 per cent he would die".

But NZ First associate immigration spokesman Peter Brown said accepting homosexuality as grounds for refugee status showed New Zealand was a "soft touch".

"Some of those countries in the Middle East treat their own citizens, never mind whether they're homosexual, in a dreadful sort of manner. We can't just open our doors and let all and sundry come in here."

[Rasputin]

عشق را چه*گونه می*توان تعریف یا توصیف کرد؟ اگر از گونه*گونی واژه*هایی که دوست داشتن را می*رساند در گذریم، آنچه زمان و مکان را در نوردیده، وجود پیوسته*ی این مفهوم در فرهنگ و جغرافیاها و دوره*های تاریخی مختلف است.
در این مقال، اشکال بروز دلبستگی یا تنوع آن در نظر ما نیست؛ از دغدغه*ی میهن داشتن تا وابستگی به متعلقات مادی مثل یک ملک. تمرکز بحث ما اکنون حتی مهر بین دو فرد انسان نیز نیست؛ محبتی که یک زن به جنین درون رحمش می*پرورد، و سپس در جایگاه مادر، تا خود زنده است این عاطفه را در سینه نگه می دارد، یا علاقه*ی بین اعضای یک خانواده یا خویشان یا دوستان یا استاد و شاگرد و غیره.
در این مجال، تنها روی صحبت ما عشق زمینی دو شخصی است که معمولا رابطه*ی جنسی را هم به همراه دارد. اما این رابطه الزاما بین دو جنس مخالف شکل نمی*گیرد؛ یک فرد می*تواند به هر دو جنس توجه داشته باشد، یا با هم جنس خود رابطه*ی عشقی-جنسی برقرار کند.
در این*باره با یک لزبین، یک جنس زن که به زن دیگر تمایل نشان می*دهد، صحبت می*کنم. و چون هفته*ی عشق رادیو زمانه است، نخست از او می*خواهم مفهوم عشق را بین هم*جنس*گراها برایمان توضیح دهد.

http://www.radiozamaneh.org/special/2007/02/post_141.html

[Rasputin]

Even before meeting for the first time Friday, the new Dutch Cabinet signaled that this administration would be different from the last.

The proposed total ban on the Islamic head-to-toe burqa likely will be softened or scrapped. Rules requiring tough citizenship tests for new immigrants may be reviewed. No-smoking regulations in bars and restaurants may come into force earlier.

Jan Peter Balkenende remains prime minister in the Cabinet installed Thursday, but his new coalition partners have made it clear they want to re-examine the hard-line policies on immigration and integration imposed by the previous, more conservative government.

Integration Minister Ella Vogelaar told Dutch television she would take a more relaxed approach than her predecessor, Rita Verdonk, on the proposed ban against the all-encompassing burqa.

She said she would only consider a burqa ban in specific cases, such as in "a trade where direct contact between people is very important."

Vogelaar made light of citizenship tests that all immigrants are supposed to take. If native-born Dutch were forced to take the exam, "I know for sure that about half would fail," she said.

The new 16-member Cabinet agreed on an amnesty for tens of thousands of rejected asylum seekers who have been in the country for more than five years.

A more sympathetic approach to immigrants is reflected in the Cabinet's composition: Among its 11 deputy ministers is one born in Morocco and another in Turkey — the first time Muslims have reached such a high office in the Netherlands.

The coalition has agreed it won't try to push further or roll back progressive Dutch policies on marijuana use, legalized prostitution and euthanasia.

But in a nod to the cabinet's conservatives, civil servants will be entitled to opt out of officiating over gay wedding ceremonies.

Interior Affairs Minister Guusje ter Horst said the ruling works best both for the civil servant and the couple. She said if she were gay and getting married, "I wouldn't want some sour-faced bureaucrat standing in front of me the whole time."

Citizens also may feel the benefits of the improving economy, which grew 2.9 percent in 2006, the highest rate since 2000. After years of cutting welfare benefits, the government plans to increase spending on childcare and reduce corporate taxes.

[Rasputin]

اولین فیلم مستند درباره همجنسگرایان ایران در روزهای گذشته از تلویزیون سراسری کانادا (سی.بی.سی) پخش شد. "آشکار در ایران" فیلم کوتاهی است به کارگردانی فرید حائری نژاد، از کارگردان های ایرانی سی.بی.سی، که در آن ضمن نگاهی به مشکلات فرهنگی و قانونی جامعه ایران برای زندگی همجنسگرایان و دگرباشان، زندگی این گروه را از زبان خود آنها به تصویر کشیده است. این که مصاحبه شوندگان در این فیلم اکثرا با هویت نامعلوم و صورت های نصفه، نیمه یا با چهره های پشت عینک دودی جلوی دوربین ظاهر شدند، از نکات خاص آن محسوب می شود. در اين فيلم يک روحانی ايرانی نيز درباره اين موضوع اظهار نظر می کند. این که چرا و چطور کارگردان به تولید این فیلم دست زده و در این مسیر با چه موانع و چالش هایی مواجه بوده ، نکاتی است که با فرید حائری نژاد به گفت و شنود گذاشتیم. فرید بعد از 23 سال به ایران و تهران می رود و در طول سه هفته اقامت خود با مستندی 35 دقیقه ای باز می گردد.
چطور به این صرافت افتادی که با همه مشکلات و سختی های کار این سوژه را انتخاب کنی؟

این ایده چیزی نبود که یک باره به ذهنم برسد. در واقع بعد از تحقیقاتی که انجام دادم و گفت و گوهایی که کردم به مرور به این نتیجه رسیدم که باید به این موضوع پرداخته شود چون تا به الان به این شکل به آن پرداخته نشده بوده. بنابراین یک روند مطالعاتی را طی کردم و با بعضی ها حرف زدم تا به چارچوب اصلی کار برسم.

از مشکلات کارت بگو، برای مصاحبه هایی که لازم داشتی و کسانی را که باید پیدا می کردی چه محدودیت هایی داشتی؟

اولا تعداد کسانی که بخواهند راجع به این موضوع صحبت کند زیاد نیست، چون به هر حال این از جهتی اعتراف به چيزی است که در ايران "جرم و گناه" خوانده می شود، ولی خب بودند کسانی که می خواستند این کار را بکنند. من هم بارها ازآنها پرسیدم که آیا در این باره مطمئن هستند یا نه و آنها مسر بودند چون به گفته خودشان بالاخره بایستی از یک جایی شروع بکنند . حالا من نمی خواهم اسمش را مبارزه یا جنبش بگذارم، چون خیلی کوچک. محدود است ولی به هر حال باید از جایی شروع کنند.

کسانی که همجنسگرا بودند و یا دو جنسی مشکلی برای مصاحبه نداشتند، یکی از آنها مثلا خواست که صورتش را کاملا نشان ندهیم و ما هم آن را نصفه نشان دادیم. در مورد آقای روحانی، می خواستیم ببینیم اگر در ایران کسی به یک امام جماعت مراجعه کند و بگوید که من چنین مشکلی دارم، او چه مشورتی می دهد؟ که ایشان هم گفتند چنین چیزی اصلا در اسلام وجود ندارد و کسی که این کار را بکند بایستی تحت درمان قرار بگیرند و اگر لازم باشد به مراجعی معرفی شوند که مجازات های قانونی در موردشان اجرا شود. این بود که ما دنبال یک فتوا و پاسخ فقهی نبودیم. می خواستیم بدانیم اگر کسی در این مورد با مشکلی مواجه شود از کجا بایستی کمک بگیرد؟

آیا برای تولید این فیلم بهتر نبود که با بعضی از مقامات دولتی هم مصاحبه می کردی؟

این امکان پذیر نبود. برای این که یک موضوع حساس است و جان مردم در خطر بود. خوب بود اگر می شد. من خیلی سعی کردم با پزشکان ایرانی تماس بگیرم ولی امکان پذیر نشد. با آیت الله صانعی هم همین جور.


فريد حائری نژاد درحال ساخت فيلم - عکس از پويان طباطبايی

چیزهایی که در فيلم بیان شد در وهله اول، انعکاس نظرات شخصی بود و در وهله بعد قوانین ایران بود که طبق آن همجنسگرایی یک جرم محسوب می شود و این چیزی نیست که احتیاج به تایید و تفسیر داشته باشد.

چه سوال هایی را نتوانستی در این فیلم جواب بدهی، که دوست داشتی به آنها بپردازی؟

خیلی دوست داشتم که در همین رابطه بیشتر راجع به دو جنسی ها و کسانی که تغییر جنسیت می دهند صحبت کنیم. دلم می خواست که با آیت الله صانعی صحبت کنیم. چون ایشان خیلی رک و راست حرف می زنند و مسایل را مطرح می کنند. ولی اشتباه نکنید. مساله من این نبود که بگویم مرگ بر این و مرگ بر آن. داستان، داستان یک تعدادی افراد است که معتقدند بایستی در زمینه همجنسگرایی اطلاع رسانی شود.

یعنی مثلا در اين رابطه جزوه و سی دی تولید کنند، بین خود این افراد و به آنها اعتماد به نفس بدهند و به مردم هم آموزش بدهند که دگر بودن چیز بدی نیست، مریضی نیست و این مساله "هموفوبیا" را ازبین ببرند. هدف و مساله اینها سیاسی نبوده، یا حداقل در حال حاضر نیست. اینها نه بر علیه رژیم دارند کار می کنند و نه کاری به این مسایل دارند. ما در بیان این آمدیم و از زبان خودشان گفتیم که مسایل و مشکلاتی دارند و آن هم قوانین است و گذشته از قوانین خود جامعه و نگاه مردم به این موضوع است. می دانید که ما در قوانين جمهوری اسلامی چیزی به اسم "همجنسگرا" نداریم، اين گرايش "لواط" محسوب می شود و اصلا رسمیت ندارد.

لواط جرم است و محکومیت دارد و اگر دیده شود ، مجازات دارد. و این مجازات در فکر و ذهن این افراد می چرخد. لذا هم قانون بر علیه این افراد است و هم فرهنگ عمومی مردم ما. اگر مثلا بگویند کسی لواط کرده و مورد تجاوز قرار گرفته، از نگاه مردم خیلی مهم نیست. موضوع دیگر این که وقتی می گویند همجنسگرا، مردم همه چیز را سکسی و جنسی می بینند، در صورتی که مسایل دیگر مثل رابطه عاطفی و انسانی را در نظر نمی گیرند.

برای تهیه این فیلم به جز تهران، کجا رفتی. قصد داری که باز هم با این موضوع فیلم بسازی؟

من فقط تهران رفتم و این کاملا دربرگیرنده تمام مسایل هم نیست. و قرار هم نبوده که ما تمام مسایل همجنسگراها را حل کنیم، ولی ما چون یک نسخه طولانی تری داشتیم و در آنجا مسایل را به طور مفصل تر توضیح می دهیم. که امیدوارم اگر زمان برنامه اجازه بدهد، آن را پخش کنیم. این فیلم ضد اسلام نبوده و نیست و ادیان دیگر هم همین قوانین را دارند که در نسخه دیگرمان آنها را شرح دادیم.

سخت ترین بخش کارت کجا بود؟

سخت ترین قسمت کار من آن بود که تا من دوربینیم را در می آوردم مقامات امنیتی تشریف می آوردند و نمی گذاشتند من فیلم بگیرم. این مساله نمی گذاشت که به راحتی فیلم بگیریم و این کلی دلهره برای من ایجاد می کرد.

بازتاب فیلمت چطور بود؟

ما عموما برای تماشاگر کانادایی فیلم می سازیم و برنامه ما یک میلیون تماشاچی دارد. بازتاب این فیلم خیلی خوب بود، به استثنای بعضی از دوستان ایرانی که قضیه را سیاسی می بیینند، اکثرا با دیدن این فیلم نظرشان این بود که انعکاس متفاوتی بود از جامعه ایران.

پس جامعه ایران یک جامعه پویایی است و خودشان به مشکلات خودشان می رسند. در خود کانادا همجنسگرایی جرم بود لذا با این پروسه جرم زدایی آشنا هستند و می دانند که ربط خیلی شدیدی لزوما به مذهب ندارد. و این را به هیچ عنوان در قالب سیاسی ندیدند. در فیلم های قبلی هم من سعی کردم این خط را طی کنم که نشان بدهم جامعه ایران دینامیک خودش را دارد و بسیار پر جنب و جوش است و روشنفکران خودش را دارد و نسبت با مسایل روشن و پویا هستند.

بعد از این همه مدت تهران را چطور دیدی؟

خیلی همه چیز عوض شده و من وقتی به محله خودمان رفتم، ابتدا آنجا را نشناختم. خیلی آبادانی صورت گرفته و راه سازی شده، ساختمان سازی و خلاصه خیلی تغییر کرده. خیلی ماشین بود، خیلی دود و دم بود. من هر روز که از خواب پا می شدم، بوی بنزین و دود و گازوییل توی مشام من بود، و می پرسیدم که هیچ کسی این بو را حس نمی کند؟ مثل این که مردم به این مسایل عادت کرده اند.

اگر شرایط طوری مهیا بشود که راحت بروی ایران و فیلم تهیه کنی باز این کار را می کنی؟

من فکر می کنم اگر شرایطی بوجود بیاید که خبرنگاران بتوانند راحت تر بروند ایران و از نزدیک کار کنند، خیلی برای بازتاب دادن جامعه ایرانی در خارج مفید خواهد بود.... هر جامعه ای خوبی ها و بدی هایی دارد و جا دارد که خوبی ها، بدی ها، نقصان ها و دلربایی های ایران را انعکاس بدهیم. من امیدوارم که روزی بیاید و این شرایط مهیا شود که ما بتوایم به راحتی برویم ایران و گزارش تهیه کنیم.

در انتخاب این اسم برای فیلمت چه منظوری را دنبال می کردی؟

"Out in iran" در واقع به معنای "آشکار در ایران" است. آشکار به این شکل که کسانی که دگرباش و همجنسگرا هستند خیلی هاشان در همین جامعه غربی هم آشکارش نمی کنند و حالا وقتی که این ها اعلام می کنند و هویت ناآشکار خودشان را آشکار می کنند، می آیند و حرف می زنند، اين آشکار می شود.

[Rasputin]

با اینکه حضور انسان*هایی که از لحاظ جنسی گرایش به جنس موافق خود دارند، قدمتش به عمر خود انسان می*رسد، با این*حال هنوز در بسیاری از جامعه*های دنیای امروز سخن گفتن و پذیرفتن حضور این*گونه افراد یکی از تابوهای اجتماعی و فرهنگی است و طرح مسائل مربوط به آن بسیار بحث*انگیز.


روز یکشنبه گذشته شبکه تلویزیونی سراسری کانادا(سی*بی*سی) فیلم مستندی را به نمایش گذاشت مربوط به زندگی و فعالیت همجنس*گرایان در شهر تهران که تهیه کننده این فیلم مستند فرید حائری*نژاد، از تهیه*کنندگان این شبکه تلویزیونی است. فرید حائری*نژاد تهیه کننده*ای است که چندی پیش یکی از فیلم*های مستند او درباره زندگی جوانان ایرانی برنده جایزه نقره فستیوال فیلم*های مستند در نیویورک شد.
فیلم مستندی که این هفته در تلویزیون سراسری کانادا پخش شد در تابستان گذشته، در سفری که فرید حائری*نژاد به ایران داشت، تهیه شده و در آن ضمن گفت*وگو با چند تن از جوانان همجنس*گرای ایرانی تلاش شده محدودیت*ها و فشارهایی که این گروه در جامعه ایران با آن روبرو هستند به نمایش گذاشته شود.
"امنیت یک فاحشه همجنس*گرا اولویت چندم ماست؟"
نقد این فیلم مستند و مخالفت با برخی اطلاعات ارایه شده در آن در وبلاگ "خط قرمز" واکنش تهیه*کننده این فیلم که نویسنده وبلاگ "نیستان" هم هست را برانگیخت. نویسنده وبلاگ "خط قرمز" در چند مورد ایرادی که به محتوی این فیلم گرفته نوشته است: "یکی از چهار شخصیت اصلی که در فیلم مصاحبه می*شود یک هم*جنس*گرای فاحشه است. سئوال اینکه فاحشه*گری چه ارتباطی به مسئله*ی همجنس*گرایی دارد؟ اصلا چرا چنین مستندی به دنبال یک دکتر یا مهندس همجنس*گرا نمی*رود و به جایش یک فاحشه را انتخاب می*کند؟ و راستی امنیت نداشتن یک فاحشه همجنس*گرا در ایران اولویت چندم ماست؟"
تهیه*کننده فیلم در پاسخ به این بخش از نقد فیلم*اش نوشته*است: "داستان ایشان این بود که نمی*توانست از همجنس*گرا بودن خود صحبت کند، نمی*توانست در این زمینه دوست و همراه داشته باشد. نمی*توانست برود یک کتابخانه کتابی در این*باره بگیرد(که در آن ننوشته باشند که مریض است و جنایتکار). تنها جایی که می*توانست برود پارک دانشجو بود که او را به*نحوی به تن*فروشی رساند. یکی از مشکلات و معضلات برای همجنس*گراها در ایران عدم دسترسی به ادبیات مربوط به این تمایلات جنسی و فکری است. در ایران در این زمینه آگاهی رسانی نمی*شود، پس یا مریض، یا تجاوزگر و مجرم."
" سایه مجازات اعدام بالای سر همجنس*گرای ایرانی است"
نویسنده وبلاگ "خط قرمز" در بخش دیگری از نقد خود می*نویسد: "در فیلم به دفعات صحنه*ی اعدام دو جوان مشهدی نشان داده می*شود. ادعای حکومت ایران این بود که این دو به دلیل تجاوز به کودکان اعدام شده*اند. هیچ اشاره*ای در فیلم به این موضوع نمی*شود و بلکه سعی می*شود این*گونه به بینندگان القا شود که این دو فقط به دلیل همجنس*گرایی اعدام شده*اند. چرا داستان این اتفاق بدون صداقت کافی نقل شد؟"
تهیه*کننده فیلم و نویسنده وبلاگ "نیستان" در پاسخ به این انتقاد نوشته است: "داستان مشهد مهم است برای لااقل بخش مهمی از همجنس*گرایان ایرانی. چرا که این دو نوجوان چهارده – پانزده ساله، یعنی زیر سن، پس از دستگیری و چند سال حبس اعدام می*شوند که هنوز یکی از آنها هجده ساله هم نشده بود. یک جوان همجنس*گرا همیشه سایه شوم و ترسناک این*گونه مجازات را بالای سر خود حس می*کند. مجازات صد ضربه شلاق هم آنقدر طبیعی و نرمال شده است که هرکس روایت و داستانی دارد از آن".
"در جمهوری اسلامی همجنس*گرایان از روزنامه*نگاران و فعالی سیاسی آزادترند"
در ادامه نقد این فیلم مستند آمده*است: "در جمهوری اسلامی همجنس*گراها از آزادی بسیار بیشتری برخوردارند تا روزنامه*نگاران و فعالین سیاسی و حتی دگرجنس*گراها. دو تا همجنس*گرا راحت*تر می*توانند با هم خوش بگذرانند تا یک دختر و پسر. حتی در خود فیلم هم دیده می*شود که همجنس*گراها با هم پارک یا کافی*شاپ می*روند. این که شخصیت اصلی فیلم در انتها می*گوید که آرزو دارد روزی در ایران ازدواج رسمی کند و بچه به فرزند خواندگی قبول کند یک ژست سوپر روشنفکرانه در وضعیت کنونی ایران است و کلام آخر اینکه برای نشان دادن تضیع حقوق بشر در ایران راه*های زیادی هست که در عین حال کمکی هم به پروپاگاندای جنگ طلب آمریکایی نکند".
نویسنده وبلاگ "نیستان" و تهیه*کننده فیلم در پاسخ به این انتقاد نوشته است: "کار من دفاع از حقوق بشر نیست و من یک فعال حقوق بشر نیستم و در این زمینه مبارزه نمی*کنم. شما در عقیده و نظر خود آزاد هستید و این حق شماست و قابل احترام است ولی این انتقادات شخصی را وارد ژورنالیسم و به آن تحمیل نکنید. خط قرمز برای دیگران نکشید و نسبت به این مسائل جدی باشید و نکاتی که به آن توجه ندارید اینکه تا به امروز ای*میل*های بسیاری در مورد فیلم دریافت شده است. بیشتر این ای میل ها از سوی کانادایی ها که هدف اصلی این فیلم بود فرستاده شده*است و روح کلی در برداشت این تماشاگران این بوده که در شرایط کنونی چهره نو و تازه*ای از ایران به نمایش در آمد. کانادایی*ها می*دانند که تا همین دهه هفتاد در کانادا همجنس*گرایی جرم قانونی بود و می*دانند که جرم*زدایی در این زمینه تلاشی است طبیعی در هر کشور و از جمله ایران".
بدون شک وقتی چنین معضلات اجتماعی در جامعه ایران مطرح می*شود، بحث*های موافق و مخالف بسیاری هم در پی دارد. علاوه بر برخی انتقادها و برخی پاسخ*هایی که در مورد این فیلم مستند به آن اشاره شد، پرسش*های دیگری از تهیه کننده فیلم و نیز دبیر سازمان "دگرباشان جنسی ایرانی" در کانادا، که در این فیلم مستند با او نیز گفت*و*گو شده بود داشتیم، اما هیچ*یک حاضر نشدند به پرسش*های ما پاسخ دهند.