News Dedicated to Muslims lesbian,gay,bisexual

[Rasputin]

The following email has been received by the IRanian Queer Organisation in Toronto from a young gay man who was studying at school in UK and, after difficulties with the UK Home Office over asylum managed to flee England, ending up in the Netherlands. The letter is published here as written.

Hello Dear IRQO,

I have got very surprised, very angry of this article and I do not understand really what is point of President of Iran. If Iran do not have any homosexual then I do not understand who I am then because I am an Iranian Gay and I have so many problem back my country where is Iran because of my sexual orientation my is in danger in Iran then what is that?

My purpose of this letter is to kind of answering President Ahmadinejad and to say that I do exist as an Iranian homosexual and it does not matter where I am.

Best regards,

Mehdi (family name withheld by UK Gay News)

■ UK Gay News published Mehidi’s story about his education in England and when his student visa was about to run out almost a year ago, how his application to the Home Office was turned down by a tribunal. According to his uncle who lives in UK, the ‘judge’ at the tribunal did not realise that the calendar used in Iran is not the same as used in the West.

At the time, he was so scared of being returned to Iran – his boyfriend had already been executed.

The next UK Gay News heard was that he had managed to get to Germany, where he faced deportation back to UK. Still scared, he managed to get to the Netherlands, where he is currently awaiting a decision by the Dutch government on his asylum application.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

Muslim Gays Seek Lesbians For Wives

On a Web site for gay South Asians, 27-year-old Syed Mansoor uploaded the following message last summer:

"Hi, I am looking for a lesbian girl for marriage. I am gay but I would like to get married because of pressure from parents and society. I would like this marriage to be a 'normal' marriage except for the sex part, please don't expect any sexual relationship from me.

"Being an Indian gay person, I believe it is so much worth it to give up sex and have a nice otherwise normal family. We can be good friends and don't have to repent all our life for being gay/lesbian."

Across the globe and especially in America, hundreds of other gay Muslims have started to pursue marriages of convenience--or MOC, as they are known-- in which gay Muslims seek out lesbian Muslims, and vice versa, for appearances' sake.

Mansoor works as an accountant in New York and is a devout Muslim. He abstains from drinking alcohol or eating pork and is particular about offering early morning prayers.

To his friends on Wall Street, he is a financial whiz; to his parents, a devoted son. But Mansoor is also part of a burgeoning trend of gay Muslims adopting marriages of convenience. Hard statistics are hard to come by, but on a single Web site for South Asian gays and lesbians seeking such marriages, almost 400 requests had been uploaded.

They ranged from a desperate plea from Atlanta ("I just finished medical school, and the pressure for me to get married is becoming ridiculous. I can't have a conversation with my parents without them pressuring me") to a straightforward one from Texas ("I will not object to her having sex with other women").

Mansoor credits the Internet for making these marriages a real possibility for gay Muslims. Gay activists agree and say that in recent years they have seen a rise in such marriages among Muslims.

Jack Fertig, a co-coordinator for al-Fatiha, a national advocacy group for gay Muslims, says he comes across at least one such e-mail request every month.

"It's obvious that this is becoming a viable option," he said. "People are seeking, looking and trying to make connections that could develop into such marriages."

Other activists say gay Muslims are resorting to these unions for reasons of self-preservation.

"Marriages of convenience are the result of gay Muslims wanting to avoid emotional and physical harm to themselves," says Muhammed Ali, a board member of Homan, a Los Angeles-based support group for gay Iranians.

Homosexuality is a crime punishable by death in much of the Islamic world. In Iran last year, two gay teenagers were publicly executed, while in Afghanistan, the Taliban government would torture homosexuals by collapsing walls on them.

Though gay Muslims in America don't have such fears, they still seek out marriages of convenience as a way of staying in the closet. Many of them worry about being ostracized from their families if their secret is revealed.

A marriage of convenience is the perfect solution, Mansoor said. "It's a great option," he said. "I get married to a lesbian, we sleep in different rooms and remain friends. Meanwhile, I can have a boyfriend."

Mansoor is also willing to throw a financial incentive into the deal. A year has passed since he posted his request on an online discussion board, and, as yet, he has received no replies. But he continues to hope. "Now that I have a good job and earn handsomely, my family keeps asking, 'Why don't you find a wife?' " he said. "I plan to have a marriage of convenience just to satisfy the world."

Muslim authorities around the world have repeatedly emphasized that homosexuality is not permissible. Muzammil Siddiqi of the Islamic Society of North America said there is no flexibility on this topic.

"Homosexuality is a moral disorder. It is a moral disease, a sin and corruption. . . . No person is born homosexual, just like no one is born a thief, a liar or murderer," he said. "People acquire these evil habits due to a lack of proper guidance and education."

Mainstream Islamic scholars also take an unfavorable view of MOCs. The face of Imam Omar, a scholar at the Islamic Cultural Center of Manhattan, crinkled with laughter when he was asked about this phenomenon. "These people are Muslims?" he asked.

Omar receives all sorts of inquiries and is now rarely taken aback. But a query about marriages of convenience stunned him. "What kind of marriage is this?" he asked. "A nikah [marriage] in Islam needs to be consummated. There is no concept of marriage in Islam without sexual relations."

Although some gay men feel a union of convenience is the best option, Rachel Sussman, a marriage counselor in New York, said they may not know what they are getting into. "It's opening up a Pandora's box," she said. "What happens if his partner falls in love with someone? What happens if he falls in love with someone who is not okay with him being married?"

Sussman says that arrangements can potentially lead to depression, anxiety and severe marital distress.

But Ali of Los Angeles disagrees. He doesn't think MOCs are any unhealthier than other arrangements.

"If you look at our traditional culture, marriages were usually marriages of consensus and convenience and not necessarily emotional marriages," he said. "If two people care enough about each other to help each other out, who is to say they won't have a good marriage?"

[DokhtarIrooni]

Man nemidoonam chera adamaye gay enghad bayad moshkel dashte bashan. Oona doost daran injoori bashan, akhe be ma che rabti dareh. Yek marde gay hatman khoshesh nemiyad ba zana bashe mire ba marda. Va yek zane gay ham hamintor.

Bazi adama az gay ha badeshoon miyad. Vali kesi nagofte ke khodeshoon bayad gay bashan, pas moshkeleshoon chie? Chendeshavare? Mage bayad tamasha koni vaghti tu rakhte khab hastan?

Man hamishe ino goftam: Be adamaye kari nadashte bashim, bezar oona oonjoor ke doost daran zendegishoono konan, va ma ham hamintor

[Rasputin]

Execution of Iranian Gay Man Stayed Due to International Pressure

At the end of October, I posted about a report on the imminent execution of another gay man in Iran. Here's some good news. There are reports that because of international pressure from human rights groups and gay activists, an Iranian Chief Justice halted the execution.

"According to Human Rights Watch, three men complained to police in Sep 2006 that Makvan Mouloodzadeh had raped them seven years earlier. Mouloodzadeh was arrested and in May 2007, he was sentenced to death on charges of raping three boys when he was 13-years-old.

He claims he was physically assaulted in prison, and forced to confess a crime he says he never committed. Iran's Chief Justice says the death sentence was in violation of Islamic teachings and the law, according to the ILGHRC."

Said Paula Ettelbrick, executive director of the New York-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission: "This is a stunning victory for human rights and a reminder of the power of global protest."

Earlier this week, a news report came out of Britain saying that Iranian leaders were still committed to hanging individuals for homosexual crimes.

[Rasputin]

According to the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), despite an order by the Iranian chief justice to nullify his death sentence, Makvan Mouloodzadeh was executed last week in Kermanshah Central Prison. Neither Mouloodzadeh's family or his lawyer were told about the execution until after it occurred.

"This is a shameful and outrageous travesty of justice and international human rights law," Paula Ettelbrick, IGLHRC's executive director said in a release. "How many more young Iranians have to die before the international community takes action?"

Mouloodzadeh was a 21-year-old Iranian citizen who was accused of committing anal rape (ighab) with other young boys when he was 13. However, at Mouloodzadeh's trial, all the witnesses retracted their pre-trial testimonies, claiming to have lied to the authorities under duress. Mouloodzadeh also told the court that his confession was made under coercion and pleaded not guilty.

On June 7, the Seventh District Criminal Court of Kermanshah in Western Iran found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Despite his lawyer's appeal, the Supreme Court upheld his death sentence on Aug. 1.

The case caused an international uproar and prompted a letter writing campaign by IGLHRC and similar actions by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Outrage! and Everyone Group.

In response to mounting public pressure, and following a detailed petition submitted to the Iranian chief justice by Mouloodzadeh's lawyer, the Iranian chief justice, Ayatollah Seyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, nullified the impending death sentence of Mouloodzadeh.

In his Nov. 10 opinion, the Iranian chief justice described the death sentence to be in violation of Islamic teachings, the religious decrees of high-ranking Shiite clerics and the law of the land.

In accordance with Iranian legal procedure, Mouloodzadeh's case was sent to the Special Supervision Bureau of the Iranian Justice Department, a designated group of judges who are responsible for reviewing and ordering retrials of flawed cases flagged by the Iranian chief justice. However, in defiance of the chief justice, the judges decided to ratify the original court's ruling and ordered the local authorities to carry out the execution.

Mouloodzadeh's execution came days after a panel at the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty.

[maaforever]

wooow

[Rasputin]

Petition for the lives of Hamzeh and Loghman: two young gay men who are in love and who risk the death sentence in Iran. And let's not forget Pegah: the United Kingdom could still hand her over to the executioner.


Sign it at http://www.petitiononline.com/irangay/petition.html and spread it as more as possible

To: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; UN High Commissioner for Refugees; UN General Secretary; International Federation of Iranian Refugee; President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Minister of Justice of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi; UK Governement; UK Home Office Secretary; National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns (NCADC); President of the European Parliament; President of the European Commission; British Embassy in Italy; Iranian Embassy in Italy; Iranian Embassy in UK; Radical Trans-national Party
Petition for the lives of Hamzeh and Loghman: two young gay men who are in love and who risk the death sentence in Iran. And let's not forget Pegah: the United Kingdom could still hand her over to the executioner.

by EveryOne Group (http://www.everyonegroup.com)

The Islamic Republic of Iran is persecuting homosexuals, dissidents and free thinkers, and carrying out political crimes towards them.
Homosexual relationships in Iran are considered a crime liable to sadistic corporal punishment and the death sentence. On January 23rd, 2008, Hamzeh Chavi and Loghman Hamzehpour, two homosexual young men of 18 and 19, were arrested in Sardasht, in Iranian Azerbaijan. The authorities use physical and psychological torture to obtain confessions from people who fall into their hands, and the two young men admitted to being in love and having a relationship. Their confession was enough for the Islamic court to commit them to trial with two very serious charges: Mohareb, the crime of those who are "enemies of Allah" and Lavat, sodomy. Iranian criminal law envisages the gallows for homosexuals, who are considered "enemies of Allah".
Nevertheless, there are many moderate political and religious figures in Iran who would like to change things and prevent the loss of so many innocent lives. The majority of Iranians are against the horrors of capital punishment through hanging and stoning; only a few extremists believe torture and flogging are admissible methods. The clandestine human rights movements are fighting heroically against these barbaric practices, risking their own lives in an effort to build a better Iran, a country in which minorities are respected and human life becomes a value once more. Thousands of Muslims believe Allah is a God of love, that the death sentences and brutal corporal punishment are crimes against humanity. On December 5th, 2007 an innocent Iranian boy was martyred by the Teheran regime and then murdered on the scaffold. From all over the world, in answer to the campaign for the life of Makwan Moloudzadeh - promoted by EveryOne Group - thousands of Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and non-believers sent red and white flowers to President Ahmadinejad and the Iranian judges: red, in an attempt to avoid the spilling of innocent blood; white to implore his executioners to spare the life of yet another blameless condemned man. This vast international campaign served only to delay an execution which had already been decided.
Today Makwan is the symbol of the martyrdom of the many innocent victims of a ruthless regime. Let us also remember Pegah Emambakhsh, the Iranian lesbian woman who is still waiting for the result of her appeal in the United Kingdom, and who risks being deported to Iran, where torture and stoning await her. EveryOne has received worrying news from the United Kingdom, where the Court of Appeal does not appear inclined to grant Pegah political asylum - in defiance of all the international conventions. Pegah is crushed by the attitude of the British Government and has told us she is tired of fighting, she is reluctant to appear in the newspapers and no longer believes in what Anne Frank defined as "man's inner goodness". We must respect Pegah's wishes, but we have to be ready to say no to the ritish Government, which has abandoned the path of respect for the rights of women, homosexuals and refugees. We have to be ready to raise a chorus of protest, throughout the world, in order to stop the hand of the executioner and his accomplices.

That is why we are asking you to devote a few minutes of your time to this petition; add your signature and send a protest to all the addresses listed below, because many human lives, the concept of justice itself and the value of human rights are at stake here.

For EveryOne Group:
Roberto Malini, Matteo Pegoraro, Dario Picciau, Ahmad Rafat, Arsham Parsi, Laura Todisco, Glenys Robinson, Steed Gamero, Fabio Patronelli, Francesca Turuani, Alessandro Matta, Cristos Papaioannou, Paul Albrecht.


**** If you need more informations, you can contact EveryOne Group at:

info [at] everyonegroup.com :: http://www.everyonegroup.com

Mobile: +39 334 8429527 - Fax: +39 055 0518897 ****


To support this petition and protest against these hard human rights violations, please send an e-mail and/or, where possible, a fax of complaint to:

dr-ahmadinejad [at] president****
info [at] dadgostary-tehran****
infoDesk [at] ohchr.org
iranembassy [at] hotmail.com
info [at] iran-embassy.org.uk

Iranian Embassy in Italy
00162 Roma (RM)
Via Nomentana, 361
06 86328493
06 86391029

Iranian Ambassador
Embassy of Iran
16 Prince's Gate
London SW7 1PT
info [at] iran-embassy.org.uk
Tel: 020 7225 3000
Fax: 020 7589 4440


To support Pegah Emambakshs' asylum claim's campaign, please send also an e-mail of complaint to:

smithjj [at] parliament.uk
public.enquiries [at] homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
asylum [at] iglhrc.org

http://www.everyonegroup.com

[Rasputin]

Unconfirmed reports coming from Iran suggest that two youths are facing brutal execution in the southern city of Shiraz.

According to the Iranian official Quds Daily, two youths, identified as Tayab and Yazdan, had their execution confirmed by the Supreme Court on Wednesday and regional justices are preparing the execution.

Also included charged in the same case were four others who are to receive 100 lashes each.

The ages of the two to be executed are not given, but they were convicted, according to Quds, of “kidnapping, mugging and raping two university students”. The gender of the two students is not known.

Quds reports that the executions will be carried out by putting each youth in a sack and throwing them off the top of a cliff and into a ravine.

This form of execution under Shariah law is normally reserved for those convicted of gay offences (lavat). But there is no mention of ‘lavat’ in the Quds report of this case.

If a person survives this execution, then he is hanged.

Iran’s shari’a-based penal code defines ‘lavat’ as penetrative and non-penetrative sexual acts between men. Penetrative sex carries the death penalty, while non-penetrative sexual acts carry lashes for the first three convictions and then death on the fourth.

Any form of rape should be severely punished. But execution – and such a barbaric execution? Would this type of execution have been handed down if the two victims were women?

There are a lot of unanswered questions. But whether this is another “gay case” or not, human rights groups are this weekend trying to get more information.

[Rasputin]

رابطه همجنسگرایان در ایران ممنوع است اما این کشور اجازه تغییر جنسیت طی عمل جراحی را می دهد و صدها مرد برای تغییر مسیر زندگی، رفتن زیر تیغ جراحی را انتخاب کرده اند.

علی اصغر تحت عمل تغییر جنسیت قرار گرفته و حالا به نگار تغییر نام داده است

"می خواهد مرا بکشد. مرتب می گوید بیایی خانه می کشمت. قبلا در چایم سمموش ریخته."

برای علی اصغر، 24 ساله، تصمیم برای زن شدن با هزینه ای گزاف همراه بود. پدرش او را تهدید کرده بود اگر عمل کند او را خواهد کشت.

اکنون که به نگار تغییر نام داده می گوید اگر در ایران زندگی نمی کرد این عمل را انجام نمی داد.

او می گوید: "اگر مجبور به عمل نبودم، این کار را نمی کردم. در کار خدا دست نمی بردم."

اما او احساس می کرد به عنوان علی هیچ هویتی ندارد.

او نمی توانست با مردها کار کند چون مورد آزار جنسی و تمسخر قرار می گرفت. اما در ضمن نمی توانست با زن ها کار کند چون رسما یک مرد بود.

"من ایرانی هستم. می خواهم اینجا زندگی کنم و این جامعه به من می گوید: یا باید مرد باشی یا زن."

'تشخیص طبی'

تغییر جنسیت در ایران از زمانی که آیت الله خمینی 25 سال پیش با صدور فتوایی آنها را "با تشخیص طبی" مجاز اعلام کرد قانونی بوده است.


اسلام برای کسانی که از این مشکل رنج می برند درمانی دارد. اگر می خواهند جنسیت خود را عوض کنند، راه آن باز است


حجت الاسلام مهدی کریمی نیا

امروز در ایران بیش از هر کشور دیگری در جهان، به غیر از تایلند، عمل های جراحی تغییر جنسیت انجام می شود.

دولت حتی نیمی از هزینه کسانی را که به کمک مالی نیاز دارند تامین می کند و تغییر جنسیت در شناسنامه ثبت می شود.

حجت الاسلام محمد مهدی کریمی نیا، روحانی مسئول تصمیم گیری در مورد انتساب جنسیت می گوید: "اسلام برای کسانی که از این مشکل رنج می برند درمانی دارد. اگر می خواهند جنسیت خود را عوض کنند، راه آن باز است."

وی می گوید گناه این کار از گناه "آرد کردن گندم و نان درست کردن از آن" بیشتر نیست.

اما یک همجنسگرا ممکن است با مجازات اعدام روبرو شود.

آقای کریمی نیا می گوید: "این بحث اساسا از بحث مربوط به همجنسگرایان جداست. مطلقا به هم ربطی ندارد. همجنسگرایان کاری غیرطبیعی و خلاف دین می کنند. در قوانین اسلامی ما آشکارا آمده است که چنین رفتاری مجاز نیست زیرا نظم اجتماعی را مختل می کند."

عمل تغییر جنسیت

دکتر میرجلالی، جراح تحصیل کرده پاریس، متخصص ممتاز ایران در عمل جراحی تغییر جنسیت است.



می خواستم مثل همه زندگی کنم، مثل همه دختر و پسرهایی که در خیابان می دیدم. هدف من به سادگی این بود که هویت خودم را پیدا کنم


انوش که به آناهیتا تغییر نام داده

وی ادعا می کند ظرف 12 سال بیش از 450 عمل تغییر جنسیت به روی بیماران انجام داده است.

بسیاری از بیماران او برای تصمیم گیری در زمینه تغییر جنسیت در تلاشند. آنها برای نجات خود به دکتر میرجلالی مراجعه می کنند.

وی می گوید: "تغییرجنسیتی ها (ترانس سکچوال ها) احساس می کنند که بدن آنها با احساساتی که دارند سازگار نیست. هر کاری می کنند، روانپزشک، قرص، زندان، مجازات، هیچ کدام کمکی نمی کند."

انوش، 21 ساله، از بیماران دکتر میرجلالی پیش از عمل عمیقا سرخورده بود و به خاطر رفتار و ظاهر زنانه اش برای ترک مدرسه احساس فشار می کرد.

او می گوید: "می خواستم مثل همه زندگی کنم، مثل همه دخترها و پسرهایی که در خیابان می دیدم. هدف من به سادگی این بود که هویت خودم را پیدا کنم."

انوش مثل خیلی دیگر از جوانان ایران برای آشتی دادن هویت جنسی اش با خواسته های خانواده، جامعه و فرهنگ در تلاش بود. او می گوید که پیش از تغییر جنسیت مکررا هدف آزار ماموران انتظامی یا بسیج قرار می گرفت و تهدید به بازداشت می شد.

دوست پسرش نیز مشتاق بود او تغییر جنسیت دهد زیرا 90 درصد کسانی که در خیابان از کنار او رد می شدند حرف های کریه می زدند.


اگر شما مردی با تمایلات زنانه باشید، مردم این را طبیعی یا ژنتیک نمی دانند. آن را به کسی نسبت می دهند که آگاهانه می خواهد کثیف رفتار کند


طناز اسحاقیان مستندساز ایرانی

او می گوید: "وقتی انوش با لباس زنانه بیرون می رود و ظاهری زنانه دارد برایم آسانتر است که خودم را قانع کنم که او دختر است. این رابطه ما را بهتر می کند."

برای علیرضا، برادر کوچکتر انوش، کنار آمدن با آرزوی او برای زن شدن سخت تر بود.

او می گوید: "من همیشه او را برادر خودم می دانستم. حالا برایم آسان نیست یک شبه او را خواهر خودم بدانم. اگر داداش صدایش کنم ناراحت می شود. اما باور کردنش برایم سخت است."

شهین، مادر انوش، که فرزندانش را به تنهایی بزرگ کرده و امیدهای زیادی برایشان داشته است می گوید: "بچه من قرار بود گل سر سبد خانواده باشد. برای چیزی غیر از این روی او حساب می کردم."

پرهیز از شرم اجتماعی

طناز اسحاقیان، مستندساز، چندین هفته را صرف فیلمبرداری از انوش، علی و سایر "ترانس ها" (تغییرجنسیتی ها) در ایران کرده است. او فکر می کند انگیزه بسیاری از پسرها برای رفتن زیر تیغ جراحی تا حدودی تلاش برای پرهیز از شرم اجتماعی است.

"اگر شما مردی با تمایلات زنانه باشید، مردم این را طبیعی یا ژنتیک نمی دانند. آن را به کسی نسبت می دهند که آگاهانه می خواهد کثیف رفتار کند."

اما اگر پزشک کسی را "ترانس" تشخیص دهد این به یک مشکل پزشکی تبدیل می شود و نه اخلاقی.

زمانی که دکتر تشخیص داد - و برای عمل جراحی برنامه ریزی شد - فرد می تواند از دولت برای پوشیدن لباس های جنس مخالف مجوز بگیرد.

پس از عمل

علی اصغر - که حالا به نگار تغییر نام داده و 27 ساله است - می گوید او ابتدا پس از عمل تغییر جنسیت، افسرده بود.


آناهیتا پس از عمل با دوست پسرش نامزد کرده است

"اما حالا مثل این است که دوباره متولد شده باشم و در جهان تازه ای باشم."

اما واکنش خانواده اش آثار خود را به جا گذاشته است. هرچند آنها اخطار داده بودند که او را طرد خواهند کرد، او تصور می کرد که آنها پس از عمل تجدید نظر خواهند کرد.

"آنها دعا می کنند که به زودی بمیرم. اگر می دانستم که خانواده ام واقعا اینطور از من پرهیز خواهد کرد، هیچ وقت این کار را نمی کردم."

او اکنون با افراد دیگری که تغییر جنسیت داده اند زندگی می کند. او مجبور بوده است برای امرار معاش خودفروشی کند.

طرد شدن از سوی پدر و مادر تاثیر عمیقی بر او داشته است: "وقتی پدر و مادرها بتوانند عشق به فرزندان خود را از درون بکشند، من هم عشق را در وجود خودم کشته ام. هرگز عاشق نخواهم شد."

اما برای انوش - که به آناهیتا تغییر نام داده - نتیجه مثبت تر بوده است.

او می گوید: "حالا وقتی کسی به طرفم جذب می شود به عنوان یک دختر جذبم می شود."

او اکنون با دوست پسرش نامزد کرده و حتی مادرش هم خوشحال است.

"پسر همیشه ازدواج می کند و مادرش را ترک می کند، اما دختر با مادر می ماند، دختر همیشه مال توست و هرگز ترکت نمی کند، و حالا من هرگز آن غمی را که با رفتن پسر به آدم دست می دهد تجربه نخواهم کرد."

"من همیشه یک دختر می خواستم و فکر می کنم این هدیه خداست که بالاخره یکی نصیبم شد."

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

If you are a Jewish Iranian, living in the U.S. from the age of 6, it is very likely you don't like Ahmadinejad. So of course you would like to show how you hate him and how he is such a liar and how evil the entire government he represents is, in any way you can.

So you decide to attack one of the only positive angles Iran has been reported: Sex-change. And why not connect it to Ahmadinejad's speech in your city's university, Columbia, where he said in Iran homosexuality doesn't exist the same way it does in the U.S. (We all know the united Republican/Democrat anti-Iran front translated that to a denial of homosexuals in Iran.)

Tannaz Eshaghian's 'Be Like Others' (or 'Transsexual in Iran,' as BBC titled it) is a well-made documentary, but it is dishonest and unfair. (Watch it on iPlayer) It basically try to say being gay in Iran is so hard that forces gay men to go through the brutal process of sex-change. So even though the Islamic Republic look surprisingly cool with transsexuality on the surface, it is actually killing scores of gay men by separating them from their family, forcing them into a constant struggle of identity, inflicting physical and psychological pain on them -- and turning them into prostitutes, in the end.

But this is not exactly what every viewer would see in the film. They might ask, for instance, if being gay is so hard, how come Ali (Anoush's boyfriend) doesn't feel marginalized, isolated, or even under any kind of pressure?

Ali likes Anoush even before Anoush does the sex-change operation and while he still has male sexual organs. So if Iran is so cruel to homosexuals and hangs them, how come Ali is still not only walking, but working as a hairdresser and even is so comfortable with his name, face and identity be revealed by the film?

Ali's character, in my mind, is the most important one in the film and he is the one that undoes the main message of them film. He is a living evidence of how homosexuality exists in Iran and how and why it is tolerated, and Eshaghian fails to bring it into her core message of the film.

He shows how homosexuality, as a social phenomenon, doesn't exist in Iran because the lines between being straight and gay has historically been blurred in the Iranian culture. Sexuality has never been forced into strict categories in Iran and this could be quite related to what Judith Butler argues in her work.

But the film is also dishonest in details. The most important part, which is also central to the core of the message, is when she shamelessly mistranslates the young cleric who defends sex-change operations. He says transsexuality has nothing to do with homosexuality which is "immoral and irreligious". But guess how it is translated by Eshaghian to twist his logic: "something unnatural and against religion." Wow!

I don't want to get into the list of funders and producers of the film. But I can't resist the temptation of raising two questions. Especially given the continuous anti-Iran propaganda the BBC Two has produced and showed in the past few years.

a) Why Alexandra Kerry's name (Yes, John Kerry's daughter), as a co-producer is missing from the BBC credits?

b) Why the name of another co-producer, Ilan Ziv, an Israeli film-maker and producers with such films as Human Weapon (on the history of suicide bombing traced back to Iran), People Power (on 'non-violent revolutions around the world' with insight from Gene Sharp, 'a leading expert on non-violent struggles') is also removed from the BBC credits?

[Rasputin]

دولت بریتانیا برای اعطای پناهندگی به دو ایرانی همجنس گرا که در صورت بازگشت به ایران احتمالا با تهدید اعدام روبرو هستند تحت فشار است.حامیان حقوق بشر از دولت خواسته اند به پگاه امام بخش و مهدی کاظمی، بر خلاف تصمیم اولیه، پناهندگی اعطا کند.
یکی از اعضای مجلس اعیان بریتانیا نیز گفته این عده باید طبق قوانین حقوق بشری حمایت شوند.

پگاه امام بخش که همجنس گراست 3 سال پیش و با دستگیری شریک زندگی اش از ایران به بریتانیا آمد.

مهدی کاظمی، یک همجنس گرای ایرانی دیگر 4 سال پیش به بریتانیا آمد.

او برای تحصیل زبان انگلیسی به این کشور آمده بود ولی هنگامی که خبردار شد شریک زندگی اش در ایران به اتهام لواط اعدام شده درخواست پناهندگی کرد.

مهدی کاظمی با رد درخواست پناهندگی اش از سوی بریتانیا به هلند گریخت.

هلند از قوانین مهاجرتی برخوردار است که امکان گرفتن پناهندگی در مواردی این چنین را تسیهل می کند.

با این همه از آنجا که درخواست پناهندگی اولیه آقای کاظمی در بریتانیا رد شده، احتمال دارد هلند نیز درخواست پناهندگی اش را نپذیرد.


هاله افشار می گوید هم جنس گرایان در ایران با تنبیهات شدیدی روبرو هستند

هاله افشار، عضو مستقل در مجلس اعیان بریتانیا، به بی بی سی گفت بریتانیا باید در صورت وجود تهدید جانی برای افراد به آنها مجوز پناهندگی بدهد:

"دولت ایران روی این مسئله تاکید دارد که روابط هم جنسها با هم غیرقابل قبول و در نتیجه جرم است. بر همین اساس همجنس گرایان، چه مرد و چه زن، توقیف و شکنجه شده اند."

" چون جامعه ایران این رفتار را محکوم می داند این عده با تنبیهات بسیار شدیدی روبرو هستند."

فعالان حقوق بشر می گویند از زمان تاسیس جمهوری اسلامی ایران در سال 1357 بیش از 4000 مرد و زن همجنس گرا در ایران اعدام شده اند.

پگاه امام بخش، که پرونده اش اکنون در درست بررسی است، می گوید جانش در خطر است:

"من مجبور شده ام پدر و مادر پیرم، و خواهر جوانم را ترک کنم، دو فرزند دوست داشتنی دارم. مجبور شدم همه را رها کنم چون زندگی ام در خطر بود."

خانم امام بخش هنوز منتظر تصمیم دولت بریتانیاست اما مهدی کاظمی با استرداد قطعی از سوی هلند به بریتانیا و از آنجا به ایران روبروست.

فعالان حامی حقوق بشرمی گویند استرداد آقای کاظمی به ایران نقض آشکار وظایف بریتانیا تحت کنوانسیون امور پناهندگان است.

به نظر این حامیان حقوق بشر چنین کاری نمونه ای دیگر از شیوه دولت دراولویت دادن به کاهش تعداد پناهندگان در بریتانیا بدون در نظر گرفتن اهمیت پرونده افراد است.

[Rasputin]

(AP) The Netherlands' highest court rejected a gay Iranian asylum seeker's last-ditch bid to avoid deportation to Britain, where he fears authorities will send him back to Tehran and possible execution.

In a ruling published on its Web site Tuesday, the Council of State said Britain is responsible for Mehdi Kazemi's case, because it was there that the 19-year-old first applied for asylum.

Gay rights campaigner Rene van Soeren said Kazemi's Dutch lawyer was considering an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. The lawyer, Borg Palm, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Boris van der Ham, a lawmaker who has taken up Kazemi's cause, has tabled questions in Parliament asking the junior minister for immigration, Nebahat Albayrak, to lobby British authorities on Kazemi's behalf.

Albayrak should either urge Britain not to send Kazemi back to Iran or offer him asylum in the Netherlands, Van der Ham said in a telephone interview.

"There should be some political leadership," he said. "I hope in Britain they will do it and otherwise we should take the boy."

Kazemi is not expected to be deported before Albayrak has answered Van der Ham's questions.

Justice Ministry spokeswoman Karen Temmink said Albayrak is studying the court ruling and drawing up answers to Van der Ham's questions.

Kazemi's case highlights not only the plight of homosexuals in Iran, but also differences in the way European Union allies deal with asylum seekers.

The Netherlands relaxes its tough asylum laws for Iranian gays - virtually guaranteeing asylum to any who apply here - because of persecution they face at home. Britain, on the other hand, rejected Kazemi's original asylum request.

Kazemi, 19, says he traveled to London to study English in 2005 and applied for asylum in Britain after learning that his lover in Iran had been executed for sodomy.

After British authorities rejected Kazemi's application, he fled to mainland Europe and applied for asylum in the Netherlands.

We examine with great care each individual case before removal and we will not remove anyone who we believe is at risk on their return.

U.K. Border and Immigration AgencyHowever, because Kazemi had already applied for asylum and been rejected in Britain, the Dutch government is refusing to consider his case and insists he must be sent back to Britain. It cites the European Union's 2003 Dublin Regulation, which declares that the member state where an asylum seeker first enters the EU is responsible for processing that person's claim.

Tuesday's court ruling upheld the Dutch position.

Palm said last week that Kazemi was in such despair he was on suicide watch in a center for rejected asylum seekers in the port city of Rotterdam.

Britain's Home Office has declined comment, saying it does not discuss individual asylum applications, but it is unlikely authorities would reverse their earlier rejection.

However, Britain's Border and Immigration Agency has issued a statement that could give Kazemi hope.

"We examine with great care each individual case before removal and we will not remove anyone who we believe is at risk on their return," the agency said.

Matteo Pegoraro, president of the Italian-based gay rights group EveryOne, which is lobbying for Kazemi, has said he knows of 10 gay people executed in Iran since 2005, based on reports from nongovernment groups and activists.

[Rasputin]

Gay asylum

UK politician on gay Iranian seeking asylum and gays in Iran

George Galloway digs in even deeper, now claiming that gay people can "meet for trysts" openly in the centre of Tehran. (C5, Wright Stuff, 14 March 2008 ). The UK is reviewing the case of Iranian homosexual teenager Mehdi Kazemi, who has said he will be executed if forced to return to Iran. The UK rejected his first asylum plea, but Jacqui Smith has now granted him a temporary reprieve from deportation while she reconsiders his case. Mr Kazemi, 19, had failed to gain asylum in the Netherlands.


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXZh8FUWnyg"]YouTube - Re: George Galloway: Propagandist for Iranian regime[/ame]