After Pope Francis indicated support for same-sex civil unions, the LGBTQ community from other countries and different religions asked themselves what the reaction of other religious leaders might be. For example, homosexuality has always been forbidden in Islam, and influential faghih or marja’ (faghih and marja’ are religious experts in Islam) have never been willing to accept homosexuality.
In Iran, after the establishment of the Shia Islamic government, many changes took place in society. The LGBTQ community was under particular pressure, as the government could execute them if it proved that two men or two women were having sex with each other. For this reason, sexual minorities chose to lead a secret life for forty years. Some have preferred to emigrate from Iran so as not to have to hide themselves and their families.
Transgender people have more freedom in Iran. Maryam Khatoon Molkara, the first known transgender person in Iran, was able to obtain the legitimacy of gender reassignment from Khomeini after the Islamic Revolution. This acceptance by Khomeini has always been questionable, as other groups of sexual minorities are at risk of death; people ask the authorities whether it is not time now to change the law and embrace other sexual orientations.
The reaction of Iranian officials to homosexuality has always been paradoxical. On the one hand, they want to adhere to their religious teachings and consider homosexuality a sin, and on the other hand, they cannot ignore scientific studies. So they try to find a logical connection between religion and science. This contradiction has led some ayatollahs, in the most optimistic case, to consider homosexuality a treatable disease and to change their strict stances on the death penalty as a punishment.
About a month ago, a short video was posted on social media of a mullah kissing a young man or boy on the lips in a car. This short video quickly spread among Iranians and caused a great deal of controversy.
“No one chooses their sexual orientation, and anyone can be gay in any situation,” says Payam, 25, who is gay. “The mullahs are no exception. I just don’t understand why they don’t want to accept this fact and don’t stand by human rights activists.”
Of course, there are mullahs who do not oppose the LGBTQ community and have even tried to prove that Islam is not in conflict with homosexuality, but they are often worried that they may get into trouble. These small groups prefer not to express these views publicly and believe that the references in the Qur’an are related to sexual abuse and have nothing to do with 21st century homosexuality.
I asked Ali for his opinion about this video. He is 44 years old and has been living in Iran with his boyfriend for ten years.
“I don’t know who released this video, but it was not the right thing to do,” he said. “They should have respected the privacy of the two, as the release of such videos could cost them their lives.”
The release of the video drew sharp criticism from human rights activists. They looked at it from two perspectives. The first possibility is that the young boy was younger than eighteen years old. In this case, the relationship has nothing to do with homosexuality and is sexual abuse. The second possibility is that both men were adults and had a relationship of their own free will. The question, then, is why a person who is himself dependent on the government can have this freedom while violating the rights of other citizens. In both cases, the mullah’s behavior leads to discussions.
Elnaz, who is lesbian and about 30 years old, believes that all Iranians want equality.
“I’m tired of these out-of-date laws. Why should they make concessions to themselves and others live anxiously? Why should we be threatened with death because of our sexual orientation? It doesn’t matter to me that this mullah is gay. What bothers me is that he isn’t threatened because he’s dependent on the government, but we might be punished for who we are.”
Image credit: Elvert Barnes