Iran is extremely hostile to LGBTQ+ people. It is also a global hub for gender affirming surgeries.

Throughout history, the main incentives that have perpetuated LGBTQ+ oppression have been the destructive doctrines and judgments emanating from primarily orthodox and fundamentalist religious communities.

Individuals and organizations have used “religion” to justify the marginalization, harassment, denial of rights, persecution, oppression, and murder of entire groups of people on the basis of their identity.

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Throughout history, people have applied their texts and legal statutes – sometimes used together and sometimes selectively – to establish and maintain hierarchical positions of power, domination, and privilege over individuals and groups targeted by these texts and codes.

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We have seen this throughout the Christian world, from Roman Emperors Constantine I and Theodosius to the Spanish Inquisition, Queen Elizabeth I of England, Colonial America and Nazi Germany to the present.

Tyrants in some Muslim countries also justify the oppression of LGBTQ+ people under sharia law, which makes homosexuality illegal and punishable by death.

ISIS fighters are waging a war against the West, against women and against religious minorities. They also actively wage a horrific war on LGBTQ+ people by throwing people suspected of same-sex sexualities (mostly men) off high rooftops, while others pelt them with stones below.

Amid heightened and ongoing tensions in the Middle East, Iran has come to the attention of the world community for providing financial aid and armaments to its allies (including Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis) who launch bombs and deadly drones in attempts to destroy the State of Israel buried.

Metaphorically, the repressive Iranian regime has launched a deadly war against its own citizens, who are about to be executed. Let us not forget that since the Iranian Revolution, which replaced the Shah with an Orthodox theocracy, many segments of the population have suffered oppression under Iranian Sharia law, including women, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Even same-sex sexuality between consenting partners in private is defined as a crime.

Iranian law condemns men who engage in sexually penetrative acts (sodomy or sink) with punishments ranging from flogging to death, and so-called non-penetrative acts (tafkhiz“placing the sexual organ of a man between the thighs or buttocks of another man” – Article 235 of the country’s penal code) with flogging.

Article 237 of the Iranian Code prescribes the punishment of 31 to 74 lashes for “homosexuality of a male human being (evidenced by) sexual conduct that does not meet the standards of the law.” sink And tafkhiz such as kissing or lustful touching.” Article 237 also provides this equally for ‘the female human being’. After the fourth non-penetrative ‘offense’ the penalty is death.

Women convicted of involvement in same-sex sexuality (Mosahegheh) may be forced to undergo flogging with 100 lashes. And they are also eligible for the death penalty after the fourth conviction (Articles 136 and 236). Defined in Article 238 of the Code, Mosahegheh is when a woman “places her sexual organ on the sexual organ of another woman.”

As many as 7,000 homosexuals have been executed since the 1980s.

There are many examples. In a high-profile public execution, two gay Iranian teenagers, aged 18 and 17, were hanged on the streets of Iran on July 19, 2005 at Edalat (Justice Square) in Mashbad, Iran.

Reports of widespread repression of homosexuals in Iran have been verified by Human Rights Watch and Iran’s Student News Agency.

According to Human Rights Watch, “Iran’s sexual minorities, especially those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT), are victimized in part by both state and private actors because these actors know they can get away with it . ”

After the Islamic Revolution, transgender identities and expressions were also classified as crimes. However, in 1986, the government decided to reclassify transgender people as “heterosexual” if the person underwent gender confirmation surgery (formerly known as “gender reassignment”) surgery. From the Iranian government’s perspective, transgender identities are something that can be “cured” with surgery.

As such, Iran is today one of the countries performing the most gender-affirming surgeries in the world, second only to Thailand. However, Iranian transgender people continue to face regular harassment and persecution.

Repressive regimes around the world have currently and throughout history scapegoated, oppressed, and murdered LGBTQ+ people. The time has long passed for us to speak out against repression in all its forms.

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