In the ‘hadith’ of the Islamic Republic, Islam is against the lgbtqia+ community and being queer is not allowed, thus being queer in Iran is forbidden. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, homosexuality is punishable by death under the ‘Sharia Penal Code’. There have been many cases that have surfaced over the years of queer people being executed in Iran in the name of Islam.
The latest case of execution is of 2 young girls called Zahra Hamedani and Elham Choubdar. The UN itself demanded Iran to not execute the lgbtqia+ activists. They apparently have been found guilty (in the court of Urmia) of ‘corruption of earth’ for ‘promoting homosexuality’, ‘promoting Christianity’ and ‘communicating with the media opposing the Islamic Republic.
Social Media platforms were outraged and the hashtags #LetElhamGo and #LetZahraGo were trending. The latest news (I could find) about the 2 girls is that Elham Choubdar has been bailed out of jail after a sum of 1 billion rials was paid, while Zahra Hamedani still remains in jail. The death sentence was overturned (reported by Amnesty International in January).
Trans-inclusive?
Ayatollah Khomeini issued a ‘Fatwa’ (religious decree) almost 30 years ago, asking people to respect transgender people and support gender-affirming care. Ayatollah Khomeini was apparently greatly moved by a woman who said she was trapped in a man’s body.
Gender-affirming care has been practised in Iran since then, with the government not only urging people to get it but also financially aiding them to get this 7000-12000$ surgery. And sadly not for the right reasons…
Queer people are pushed by the government into gender-affirming care to cure the ‘disease’ of not identifying as a heterosexual male or female.
They are pushed into surgery so that instead of a woman loving a woman or a man loving a man, a man would love a woman and vice versa.
Even though, Iran is the second in the world for the most number of gender reassignment surgeries, Transgender people still do not receive the same rights as the cisgender citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Moreover, they are still not accepted and discriminated against by society.
Putting this into perspective:
The Islamic Republic of Iran is willing to empathize with transgender people. But, isn't going to expand their empathy towards queer people who should also be accepted by the government. In my opinion, accepting someone is way easier than forcing them into surgery, to be accepted.
Comentários