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Arsham Parsi is the head of the IRQO ( Iranian Queer Organization ) . Parsi was born in 1980. As he tells it, he grew up in Shiraz with no contact with other gay people until he found queer communities on the Internet. Following that, he worked on HIV issues, until rumors of his sexual orientation began to spread and he feared persecution. According to Human Rights Watch, “Iranian law punishes all penetrative sexual acts between adult men with the death penalty.” Reports indicate that women and lesbians also endure lack of access to equal rights and persecution. Parsi fled to Turkey and then to Canada, where he applied for asylum. Today, according to Parsi, IRQO works for the decriminalization of homosexuality in Iran, and to increase awareness about queer issues among Iranians.
Parsi spoke with Windy City Times in a phone interview.
Windy City Times: You're here for the International Day against Homophobia, which began in 2005 and which was also connected for a while to the hangings of two men, Ayaz and Mahmoud, in Iran that same year. I'm curious about your thoughts on that incident. In a 2006 interview, you disputed the characterization of them as gay. Have you changed your mind?
Arsham Parsi: This case is very complicated. As a human-rights organization, we have to be responsible about our mission. We didn't know those people and we don't have access to their case files through the Iranian Ministry of Justice. So how do we know under which circumstances they were arrested by the government, and what happened to them in prison? Maybe they said they are gay. You know, we have no idea. I know many guys in Iran who have same-sex relationships but are not homosexual. You can't say they're homosexual or gay. So the truth is we don't know if they were gay or not. It's not Black or white.
We had a hard time with the international journalists [ and activists who insisted they were gay ] . The Western media sometimes doesn't know what's going on. In May 2007, 80 men were arrested in Ishafan—and most media insisted they were gay men. And we had a hard time, because that gave the courts evidence about their sexuality. So the western media helped the judge prove their homosexuality. The Western media doesn't know what's going on.
The most important thing is: In Iran, people are executed on account of their sexuality and sexual behavior and sexual acts. In Iran, having sex between men and [ women ] is illegal before marriage.
Read more story below....
We have many cases we can stand by, where people were executed on the basis of their sexuality, regardless of their sexual orientation. If you read the Islamic Code, it's difficult to know whether they're punished for rape, pedophilia or homosexuality. You can't find out what they're talking about.
WCT: What do you think about the threat of war on Iran?
AP: I believe that war is not about democracy and human rights. If the United States attacks Iran, it won't be about democracy. I'm anti-war.
WCT: A lot of your work rests on the idea that there's a universal gay identity. Your own story about coming out via the Internet seems very Western-influenced and about class access. As you know, many feminist and queer scholars have been critical of the idea of a universal gay identity, Joseph Massad's book Desiring Arabs being the most recent among them. How do you respond to that?
AP: About sexual identity: Many Iranians say we don't have to have a label. But sometimes that story is just on paper—it's not real in society. Many say we don't need the Western lifestyle of gay men. But we use “gay” and “lesbian,” the English words. There's a professor of sexuality who recently said that homosexuals in Iran are okay as long as they identify as gay in the Western context. But we don't accept that. In Iran, people are arrested because of their sexual orientation.
WCT: I don't think most people would argue that there's no persecution of gay people, but they do have questions about what it means for an Iranian queer to have to declare a particular kind of identity in order to get help. On Iranian.com, Choob Doshar-Gohi writes about her interview with an American asylum officer: “He engages me in a patronizing conversation about veiling and the oppression of women in Iran. I cannot argue, or I will lose the asylum case.” How do you feel about what people have to go through to gain asylum and what that might say about adopting Western ideas about gay identity?
AP: I didn't have a problem. But in the U.S., they have more problems than in Turkey. In Turkey, all the questions were around the facts of my case, not whether or not I was gay; I didn't have to prove I was gay. When I told them I'm gay, they said fine. But I know from friends in the U.S. and Canada that they've been told by officials, “You don't look like gay people.” In Western societies they [ asylees ] have more challenges than in other countries.
WCT: In a 2006 speech to Egale Canada ( Canada's national gay-rights group ) you said, “These lonely shivering hands are the representatives of all of the Iranian LGBTs' hands. Take my hands as their representatives and support us. Do not norget Iranian LGBTs, do not leave us alone.” Some might argue that such language reduces Iranian queers to pathetic creatures pleading for help, rather than political agents.
AP: We don't use that literature any more. That was part of the early activism when we first started in Canada, but we no longer use such language.
WCT: We don't hear much about lesbians in IRQO.
AP: Lesbians, unfortunately, are more invisible than gays; they have more problems. They prefer to hide their sexual orientation because, in Iranian society, they have two negative points against them: being women and being lesbian. I know many feminist activists who are fighting for women's rights, but who don't accept lesbians. I know a couple of lesbians who are active in the feminist movement; they decided to work for the women's movement first, and after that the lesbian-rights movement. They're not out because, as they told me, “Right now, our priority is women's rights, and when we have equality, we can come out as lesbians.” We do have some lesbians working and blogging in Iran, and others outside of Iran who are active with our organization.
WCT: What about feminist support for your group? You've spoken about Shirin Ebadi [ a Nobel Peace Prize-winning Iranian lawyer and human-rights activist ] .
AP: We talked to Shirin Ebadi through one of our members in London and she told us, “I accept your rights, but I couldn't support you in public.” At first, I thought she was being homophobic. But now I believe that because Shirin Ebadi [ and others ] are fighting for women's rights, their support of gays or lesbians [ will mean that ] those people will be in danger. Because the Ministry of Justice and the Iranian government will deny them all rights: “No” for women, “No” for lesbians.
WCT: One of your main issues is to increase Iranian awareness about homosexuality. But you're associated with people like Peter Tatchell, with whom you've appeared on an interview, [ and who has ] been accused of making Islamaphobic comments. How might that affect your work with Muslim Iranians?
AP: I've done many interviews, and sitting at the same table doesn't mean we accept each other's agendas. One of our issues is with the level of information about homosexuality in Iran, and the other is Islamaphobia. Islamaphobia and homophobia are both hate-based. We have many problems with some activists who campaign or speak about LGBTQ Iranians —they sometimes make problems for us because they don't know exactly what's happening in Iran. They have their agenda, they have their political issues, and sometimes they create problems for us, as happened in May 2007.
WCT: How do you feel about being the representative of all Iranian queers as the head of IRQO?
AP: I should clarify: I'm not an elected official. It's my personal responsibility, and I became an activist because of the situation [ for queers in Iran ] . Some people refer to me as “Arsham Parsi, leader of Iranian LGBTs” but I don't like that title. I don't identify myself as a leader, but as an activist. Right now, we're talking about and for those who identify as LGBT, because we're dealing with this community [ that doesn't get spoken about ] . I try to address all their concerns.
WCT: We know about your history as a queer Iranian, but not much else of your political history. What would you like to see in Iran?
AP: I don't identify myself as a political activist. I hope that we have a democratic government, that the people can decide about their rights and their laws. We don't have safe elections. When we have a democratic party, I believe everything will be okay.
WCT: But does that mean that you don't see queer activism as political activism?
AP: Human-rights activism is part of political activism. So I prefer to identify myself as a human-rights activist, not as a political activist. I know some parties are active, but their work is not about human rights—it's about power.
Arsham Parsi will be the featured speaker in Chicago May 17 for the International Day Against Homophobia ( I.D.A.H.O. ) . The event will begin with a brief speak-out at 3 p.m. in the small plaza just south of Women & Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. Clark, followed by a march through the community to Gerber/Hart Library, 1127 W. Granville, where a reception for Parsi will be held. See www.gayliberation.net for more.Comment
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Malihe Kigasari
Same-sex marriage
Malihe Kigasari (right) and and her partner Elizabeth Kristen, browse through a flower display while shopping for wedding bouquets at the San Francisco Flower Mart. The Oakland couple tied the knot at San Francisco City Hall on June 17, the first day same sex marriages became legal in California. San Francisco Chronicle: "Standing amid a sea of brilliantly colored blooms at the San Francisco Flower Mart on a recent morning, Mali Kigasari, 49, and Elizabeth Kristen, 41, realized they needed a bridal style - and fast. Were they big, pink peony types or were yellow calla lilies more their speed? Or maybe something unexpected like a branch from a lemon tree?"
Comment
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Gay Iranian granted refugee status by UN
A gay Iranian asylum seeker has been granted refugee status by the UN after eighteen months of campaigning.
Kamal and Reza fled Iran for Turkey so they could start a life together without the fear of being punished for their sexuality.
Kamal has been told he will be recognised as a refugee while Reza is hopeful he will receive notification soon.
Human rights groups claim up to 4,000 gay men and lesbians have been executed since the 1979 revolution in Iran.
These are usually under the guise of honour killings, says a 2006 report released by LGBT activists OutRage!
In a speech given to Columbia University in New York in September 2007, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country."
Kamal and Reza fled Iran and arrived in Turkey in December 2006.
As Turkey does not recognise non-European refugees, anyone seeking asylum must register for refugee status within five days of arriving in the country.
It has taken until now for Kamal to be recognised as a refugee.
A diabetes sufferer, Kamal had been suffering from fits due to lack of medication.
This has caused his partner, Reza, so much worry he has developed depression. Both of them have been living in unsanitary conditions with very little income.
Reza is still waiting to hear back from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) but is optimistic he will receive news of his refugee status in a couple of days.
The Iranian Refugee Queer Organisation, who have backed Kamal and Reza's campaign, called the news of Kamal's refugee status "a testament to what the international community can achieve."
After details of Reza and Kamal's case were reported by the international news media, the UNCHR received a plethora of emails urging them to act on behalf of these two asylum seekers.
Turkey has a long history of offering safety for refugees. Between 1923 to 1997 1.6 million people fled to Turkey, displaced by WW2, the Cold War and the Gulf conflicts.
Millions have fled Iran since the 1979 revolution and many either have settled in Turkey or claimed refugee status and emigrated to another country.
Amnesty International has reported cases of non-European asylum seekers registering for refugee status and then being forcefully deported by Turkish authorities.
There have been cases where refugees have been handed directly to the authorities of the country they were fleeing.Comment
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Concern for gay Iranian refused asylum in Cyprus
The Commissioner of Administration in Cyprus has warned that a gay Iranian man faces death in his homeland if he is deported.
Eliana Nicolaou accused the government of putting the man's life at risk after he was twice rejected for asylum status.
In Iran the penalties for homosexual acts are flogging, stoning or hanging.
The man, currently in prison for cannabis use, is in a four year relationship with a Cypriot man, who said in a letter to Nicolaou that he would take extreme action if his boyfriend was deported.
"Homosexuality is completely forbidden in Iran, " a source within the Iranian Embassy in Cyprus told the Cyprus Mail.
The Iranian man did not mention he was gay when he first applied for asylum as he was scared to say it in front of a third person, believed to be an Iranian interpreter, at the interview. He was still rejected after he revealed his sexuality in a second application.
Ombudswoman Nicolaou said the Asylum Service failed to explain clearly and in a convincing manner why it had rejected his asylum application.
She pointed out that no reference had been made to the risk of persecution on account of his homosexuality if he was returned to Iran.
"Where homosexuality is illegal in a particular society, the imposition of severe criminal penalties for homosexual conduct could amount to persecution," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Emilia Strovolidou told the Cyprus Mail.
"From the moment there is such a strict law, you can’t predict how it will be applied and whether it will be applied.
"However, the likelihood is always there, and the severe penalties exist, regardless of specific cases."
There have been several stories this year regarding the deportation of homosexual Iranians.
Mehdi Kazemi was allowed back to the UK after claiming he faces execution for his sexuality.Comment
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اظهارات خواندني چهار جوان محكوم به اعدام به اتهام لواط
مي توان به راحتي و در مدت كوتاهي شخصي را نابود كرد. چطور؟ بخوانيد...
در پست قبلي اعلام كردم كه در بسياري از پرونده هايي كه موكلينم به اعدام محكوم شده بودند ايرادات و اشكالاتي در پرونده هايشان وجود داشته و دارد كه اجراي حكم را با مشكل جدي مواجه مي كند و همچنين ايرادي به حكم اعدام يعقوب ميرنهاد گرفتم حال براي اثباتآنچه گفته ام تنها به يك نمونه اشاره مي نمايم البته صرفا اظهارت موكلانم را كه در مقابل حكم صادره بسيار جالب توجه است را در ذيل آورده ام كه با پرونده كاملا مطابقت دارد:
قضات شعبه دوم دادگاه كيفري استان آذربايجان شرقي چهار نفر به نامهاي حميد طاقي، ابراهيم حميدي، مهدي پوران و محمد رضايي را به اتهام لواط به استناد علم قاضي در خرداد ماه سال هشتاد و هفت به اعدام محكوم نمودند و در حال حاضر آنها در زندان تبريز مي باشند در ملاقاتي كه روز شنبه مورخ 12/5/1387 در زندان مركزي تبريز با موكلينم داشته و وكالت آنها را پذيرفتم حميد.طاقي در رابطه با چگونكي تشكيل پرونده و نحوه صدور راي، اظهار داشته است كه:
من و ابراهيم با هم در كوچه گفتگومي كرديم كه تصميم گرفتيم براي گردش به صحرا برويم به سمت سد برازين تبريز كه جاهاي خوبي براي گردشگران مي باشد رفتيم در بين راه از كنار زمين كشاورزي پدر ابراهيم رد مي شديم كه ديديم چهار نفر در زمين كشاورزي مشغول تخريب زمين هستند ما به آنجا رفتيم در اين حين مهدي و محمد هم پيش ما آمدند ابراهيم به آن چهار نفر گفت چرا زمين را خراب مي كنيد حجت يكي از آنها به ابراهيم گفت مگر اينجا مال شماست ابراهيم گفت پس مال پدرت هست كه خراب مي كني ابراهيم به او يك سيلي زد و من نگذاشتم كه ديگر او را بزند دعوا پس از زد و خرد و مشاجراتي تمام شد پس از اينكه گردش كرديم با موتور به خانه رفتيم كه بعد از دو ساعت كه گذشت پليس همراه ابراهيم و حجت مرا در خانه دستگير و به كلانتري بردند وقتي رفتيم به كلانتري آنجا يكي از مامورين كلانتري ما را زير شكنجه قرار داد به ما گفت اگر واقعآ عمل لواط انجام داده ايد بايد به من راستش را بگوييد ما هم چون هيچ گونه عمل لواطي انجام نداده بوديم اعتراف نكرديم ما حدود سه روز در بازداشتگاه هريس مانديم و در آن سه روز ما حتي يك ساعت هم آرامش نداشتيم كه روز سوم مآمور كلانتري به سراغ ما آمد او گفت اگر يك نفر از شما اين كار را گردن بگيرد يك نفر شما به زندان خواهد رفت و بقيه شما آزاد مي شويد و به عنوان شاهد كه بگويد ابراهيم آن كار را انجام داده به دادگاه برويد به ما گفت مي روم و بعد از نيم ساعت ديگر برمي گردم خوب فكر كنيد و به من بگوييد. او آمد و به ابراهيم گفت كه بيا خودت بنويس كه من اين را انجام داده ام ابراهيم هم گفت من كاري نكردم كه اعتراف بكنم او باز هم ابراهيم را زير شكنجه قرار داد پاهاي ابراهيم را به طرف بالا كشيد و همراه 4 نفر از سربازان ابراهيم را كتك زدند و ابراهيم هم به علت اينكه كتك نخورد كاغذ را نوشت در آن كاغذ نوشته بود هيچگونه عمل لواط انجام نداده ام در حين دعوا شلوارش به اندازه 20 سانتي از زير كمر پايين بود پس از نوشتن آن به ابراهيم گفت كه انگشت بزن ابراهيم از زدن انگشت خودداري مي كرد كه مآمور كلانتري با باتون به ابراهيم زد ابراهيم دستش را كشيد و باتون به روميزي افتاده كه روميزي از شيشه بود كه شكست حتي پول شيشه را از ابراهيم گرفت و ما هم بابت دادن پول شيشه فاكتور گرفتيم روز چهارم ما را به دادگاه كيفري استان تبريز آوردند مآمور بدرغه دستبند مرا باز كرد و مرا به طبقه همكف برد قاضي از من پرسيد چقدر در بازداشتگاه هريس مانده ايد من گفتم حدود سه روز در بازداشتگاه بودم او هم به يك جايي تلفن كرد و روي كاغذ چيزي نوشت بعد گفت برويد در حين راه از آقاي مآمور پرسيديم چه شد گفت تمام شد مي رويم به هريس حتي در حياط دادگستري دستبند مرا زد كه شاكي خوشحال شود پس از سوار شدن به ماشين دستبند همه ما را باز كرد به هريس رسيديم وقتي به كلانتري رفتيم مآمور بدرقه گفت قاضي كشيك نوشته كه مي توانيد با گذاشتن شناسنامه يا كارت ملي آزاد شويد مآموري كه ما را شكنجه كرده بود ممانعت كرد گفت من تا اينها را به زندان ندهم دست بر نمي دارم من گفتم چرا ما را آزاد نمي كنيد او به من ناسزا گفت بعد كتك زد و به بازداشتگاه انداخت آن روز مـآمور به هر جا كه توانست زنگ زد و دوباره صبح ما را به كلانتري 17 تبريز بردند و ما يك روز هم آنجا مانديم بعد ما را به دادگاه آوردند ما هم ماجرا را گفتيم ولي قاضي با صدور قرار 10 ميليون توماني به عنوان وثيقه ما را به زندان انداخت ما بعد از 28 روز ماندن در زندان با سپردن وثيقه آزاد شديم و حدود 55 روز بيرون مانديم كه در تاريخ 20/3/87 دادگاه ما تشكيل شد در دادگاه هر چه قبلآ گفته بوديم عنوان كرديم معاون دادستان در جلسه گفت تقاضاي حكم اعدام را دارم. نمي دانيم چه شد كه دوباره به زندان انداختند و بعد يك جلسه ديگر تشكيل شد در اين جلسه شاكي سه نفر را به عنوان شاهد آورد و آنها شهادت كذب دادند در صورتيكه از اول ماجرا تا آن روز شاكي گفته بود كه شاهدي ندارد و كسي ارتكاب جرم را نديده است پس از آن حكم اعدام هر چهار نفر ما را به وكيلمان ابلاغ كردند.
ابراهيم حيدري نيز با تآييد صحبتهاي حميد مي گويد ما از قبل با شاكي و خا نواده اش اختلاف داشتيم آنها از ما شكايت كرده بودند و حال تهمت زده اند ما را در كلانتري فقط كتك زدند كه بايد اعتراف بدهيد ما هم اعتراف نداديم وقتي من را مي زدند شيشه روي ميز شكست و شيشه را خودم انداختم و فاكتور هم دارم مآمور كلانتري خودش صورتجلسه اي نوشت و به ما گفت امضاء و اثر انگشت بزنيد و ما هم انگشت زديم و بعد ما را بازداشت كردند او به من گفت تو بگو من اين كار را كردم من مشكل را حل مي كنم من قبول نكردم و دوباره كتك زد من براي اينكه ديگر كتك نخورم هر چه او گفت نوشتم و اثر انگشت زدم ما بي گناهيم و مرتكب جرم لواط نشديم.
مهدي پوران كه 17 سال بيشتر نداشته و او نيز محكوم به اعدام شده است مي گويد من با محمد داشتيم در محلي كه پدر ابراهيم زمين داشت مي رفتيم كه ديديم چهارنفر زمين آنها را خراب مي كنند ما با آنها درگير شديم آنها با ابراهيم حرفشان شد وقتي دعوا تمام شد من با محمد آمدم و بعد حميد و ابراهيم با موتور رفتند ما از جلوي كلانتري مي رفتيم كه ما را گرفتند و بعد ابراهيم و حميد را آوردند و كتك زدند و به زور وادار كردند كه بگوييم اين كار را انجام داده ايم مآمور مي گفت من هر چه مي گويم آن را بنويس محمد هم همه حرفهاي ديگر متهمين را تكرار مي كند و مي گويد وقتي حكم اعدام را شنيديم شكه شديم و الان خواب و خوراك نداريم هر آن احساس مي كنيم كه مي خواهند طناب دار را به گردنمان بياندازند در حاليكه واقعآ ما بي گناهيم و به ما تهمت زده و پرونده سازي كرده اند.
شعبه دوم دادگاه كيفري استان آذربايجان شرقي پس از گذشت سه ماه از تشكيل پرونده با استناد به علم قاضي در تاريخ 30/4/1387حكم به اعدام اين چهار نفر داده اند اينجانب اخيرآ وكالت آنها را پذيرفته ام و با ديدن راي صادره و مطالعه پرونده بسيار ناراحت و نگران شدم لذا براي نجات جان اين چهار نفر جوان بيگناه، اعتراض خود را در موعد مقرر به دادگاه خواهم داد تا قضات ديوانعالي كشور تصميم عادلانه اي مبني بر نقض دادنامه صادره بگيرند چرا كه در اين پرونده هيچگونه دليل محكمه پسندي بر گناهكاري و انتساب حد لواط به موكلينم وجود نداشته و با استناد به علم قاضي در مواقعي كه شك و شبهه در پرونده وجود دارد نمي توان كسي را به مرگ محكوم نمود به عنوان مثال شاكي در تمام مراحل دادرسي اعلام كرده است كه شاهدي برا اثبات ادعاي خود ندارم كه وقوع جرم را ديده باشند ولي در آخرين جلسه دادگاه سه نفر از اقوام خود را به عنوان شاهد معرفي و آنها نيز شهادت كذب به زيان موكل مي دهند.
حال ملاحظه مي فرماييد كه چطور با ادعاي يك نفر و پيگيري وي و مظلوم نمايي مي توان زندگي چهار نفر را نابود كرد. جزئيات پرونده را متعاقبا درج خواهم كرد.
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someone should explain the meaning of "living in denial" to antarinejad~ Bahar ~
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BBC defends satirical show over 'homophobic' complaint
The BBC today denied it had been "homophobic" after a complaint was made to police about an episode of Have I Got News For You.
The complaint was made about an extended edition of the programme, broadcast over the weekend.
A discussion was taking place over reports that Iranians had failed in a bid to create to the world's biggest ostrich sandwich.
"On the plus side they do still hold the record for hanging homosexuals," guest host Alexander Armstrong said.
In a pun on words, comedian Frank Skinner joked that homosexuals are often "ostracised".
A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police confirmed: "A member of the public has made a complaint regarding comments made in the programme.
"The complaint is currently being reviewed."
The BBC defended the current affairs show as crisis talks were being held by the BBC Trust into the prank phone calls made to Andrew Sachs by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand for a Radio 2 show.
A BBC spokeswoman insisted that rather than being homophobic, the intention was quite the opposite.
She said: "The presenter never intended for this comment to be homophobic - quite the opposite.
"Viewers are more than familiar with HIGNFY use of satire - in this instance aimed at the Iranian regime and not the Iranian gay community."
Armstrong has recently been hotly tipped to take over as the new Countdown presenter, something he was ribbed about on the BBC show.
PinkNews.co.uk quoted a man named Lionel Wright from London, who said he had put in complaints about the matter to various bodies including the police.
He said: "I'm a middle-aged gay man who, in common with millions of others lived the first decades of my life under the shadow of prejudice against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities and at a cost in personal happiness and fulfilment."
He said he was "sickened" at the BBC.
But rights campaigner Peter Tatchell disagreed.
"I appreciate the complainant's concerns and good intentions but I interpreted it as an anti-Iran joke, exposing and mocking Iran's murderous homophobic regime," he told the website.
"It was parody and satire, I think, not an endorsement of executions."Comment
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Part I
When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made his infamous claim at a September 2007 Columbia University appearance that ""In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country," the world laughed at the absurdity of this pretense.
Now, a forthcoming book by a leading Iranian scholar in exile, which details both the long history of homosexuality in that nation and the origins of the campaign to erase its traces, not only provides a superlative reply to Ahmadinejad, but demonstrates forcefully that political homophobia was a Western import to a culture in which same-sex relations were widely tolerated and frequently celebrated for well over a thousand years.
"Sexual Politics in Modern Iran," to be published at the end of next month by Cambridge University Press, is a stunningly researched history and analysis of the evolution of gender and sexuality that will provide a transcendent tool both to the vibrant Iranian women's movement today fighting the repression of the ayatollahs and to Iranian same-sexers hoping for liberation from a theocracy that condemns them to torture and death.
Its author, Janet Afary, president of the International Society of Iranian Scholars, is a professor of history and women's studies at Purdue University who has already published several authoritative works on Iranian sexual politics, notably the revealing and award-winning "Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: Gender and the Seductions of Islam" (2005), in which she already demonstrated a remarkable sympathy for gay and lesbian people.
In her new book, Afary's extensive section on pre-modern Iran, documented by a close reading of ancient texts, portrays the dominant form of same-sex relations as a highly-codified "status-defined homosexuality," in which an older man - presumably the active partner in sex - acquired a younger partner, or amrad.
Afary demonstrates how, in this period, "male homoerotic relations in Iran were bound by rules of courtship such as the bestowal of presents, the teaching of literary texts, bodybuilding and military training, mentorship, and the development of social contacts that would help the junior partner's career. Sometimes men exchanged vows, known as brotherhood sigehs [a form of contractual temporary marriage, lasting from a few hours to 99 years, common among heterosexuals] with homosocial or homosexual overtones.
"These relationships were not only about sex, but also about cultivating affection between the partners, placing certain responsibilities on the man with regard to the future of the boy. Sisterhood sigehs involving lesbian practices were also common in Iran. A long courtship was important in these relations. The couple traded gifts, traveled together to shrines, and occasionally spent the night together. Sigeh sisters might exchange vows on the last few days of the year, a time when the world 'turned upside down,' and women were granted certain powers over men."
Examples of the codes governing same-sex relations were to be found in the "Mirror for Princes genre of literature (andarz nameh) [which] refers to both homosexual and heterosexual relations. Often written by fathers for sons, or viziers for sultans, these books contained separate chapter headings on the treatment of male companions and of wives."
One such was the Qabus Nameh (1082-1083), in which a father advises a son: "As between women and youths, do not confine your inclinations to either sex; thus you may find enjoyment from both kinds without either of the two becoming inimical to you... During the summer let your desires incline toward youths, and during the winter towards women."
Afary dissects how "classical Persian literature (twelfth to fifteenth centuries)...overflowed with same-sex themes (such as passionate homoerotic allusions, symbolism, and even explicit references to beautiful young boys.)" This was true not only of the Sufi masters of this classical period but of "the poems of the great twentieth-century poet Iraj Mirza (1874-1926)... Classical poets also celebrated homosexual relationships between kings and their pages."
Afary also writes that "homosexuality and homoerotic expressions were embraced in numerous other public spaces beyond the royal court, from monasteries and seminaries to taverns, military camps, gymnasiums, bathhouses, and coffeehouses... Until the mid-seventeenth century, male houses of prostitution (amrad khaneh) were recognized, tax-paying establishments."
While Afary explores the important role of class in same-sex relations, she also illuminates how "Persian Sufi poetry, which is consciously erotic as well as mystical, also celebrated courtship rituals between [men] of more or less equal status... The bond between lover and beloved was... based on a form of chivalry (javan mardi). Love led one to higher ethical ideals, but love also constituted a contract, wherein the lover and the beloved had specific obligations and responsibilities to one another, and the love that bound them both... Sufi men were encouraged to use homoerotic relations as a pathway to spiritual love."
Unmistakably lesbian sigeh courtship rituals, which continued from the classical period into the twentieth century, were also codified: "Tradition dictated that one [woman] who sought another as 'sister' approached a love broker to negotiate the matter. The broker took a tray of sweets to the prospective beloved. In the middle of the tray was a carefully placed dildo or doll made of wax or leather. If the beloved agreed to the proposal, she threw a sequined white scarf (akin to a wedding veil) over the tray... If she was not interested, she threw a black scarf on the tray before sending it back."
As late as the last half of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th, "Iranian society remained accepting of many male and female homoerotic practices... Consensual and semi-open pederastic relations between adult men and amrads were common within various sectors of society." What Afary terms a "romantic bisexuality" born in the classical period remained prevalent at court and among elite men and women, and "a form of serial love ('eshq-e mosalsal) was commonly practiced [in which] their love could shift back and forth from girl to boy and back to girl."
In the court of Naser al-Din Shah, who ruled Persia from 1848 to 1896, keeping boy concubines was still an acceptable practice, and the shah himself (in addition to his wives and harem) had a young male lover, Malijak, whom he "loved more than anyone else." In his memoirs, Malijak recalled proudly, "the king's love for me reached the point where it is impossible for me to write about it... [He] held me in his arms and kissed me as if he were kissing one of his great beloveds."
In a lengthy section of her book entitled "Toward a Westernized Modernity," Afary demonstrates how the trend toward modernization which emerged during the Constitutional Revolution of 1906 and which gave the Persian monarchy its first parliament was heavily influenced by concepts harvested from the West.
One of her most stunning revelations is how an Azeri-language newspaper edited and published in the Russian Caucuses, Molla Nasreddin (or MN, which appeared from 1906 to 1931) influenced this Iranian Revolution with a "significant new discourse on gender and sexuality," sharing Marx's well-documented contempt for homosexuals. With an editorial board that embraced Russian social democratic concepts, including women's rights, MN was also "the first paper in the Shi'i Muslim world to endorse normative heterosexuality," echoing Marx's well-documented contempt for homosexuality. Afary writes that "this illustrated satirical paper, which circulated among Iranian intellectuals and ordinary people alike, was enormously popular in the region because of its graphic cartoons."
MN conflated homosexuality and pedophilia, and attacked clerical teachers and leaders for "molesting young boys," played upon feelings of "contempt" for passive homosexuals, suggested that elite men who kept amrad concubines "had a vested interested in maintaining the (male) homosocial public spaces where semi-covert pederasty was tolerated," and "mocked the rites of exchanging brotherhood vows before a mollah and compared it to a wedding ceremony." It was in this way that a discourse of political homophobia developed in Europe, which insisted that only heterosexuality could be the norm, was introduced into Iran.
MN's attacks on homosexuality "would shape Iranian debates on sexuality for the next century," and it "became a model for several Iranian newspapers of the era," which echoed its attacks on the conservative clergy and leadership for homosexual practices. In the years that followed, "Iranian revolutionaries commonly berated major political figures for their sexual transgressions," and "revolutionary leaflets accused adult men of having homosexual sex with other adult men, 'of thirty-year-olds propositioning fifty-year-olds and twenty-year-olds propositioning forty-year-olds, right in front of the Shah.' Some leaflets repeated the old allegation that major political figures had been amrads in their youth."
Subsequently, "leading constitutionalists enthusiastically joined the campaign against homosexuality," writes Afary, noting that "the influential journal Kaveh (1916-1921), published in exile in Berlin and edited by the famous constitutionalist Hasan Taqizadeh, had led the movement of opinion against homosexuality... Their notion of modernization now included the normalization of heterosexual eros and the abandonment of all homosexual practices and even inclinations."Comment
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