“منظوری از بالا”

“A view from above”
Amir Hossein Zolghadri

The 18th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, held on November 20th, commemorated the loss of 225 individuals worldwide from October 1st, 2015 to September 30th, 2016, solely due to their gender identity. However, Iran is among the countries where no transgender murders have been reported during this time period, and according to statistics from the TGEU organization, only one person has lost their life in Iran for this reason in the past eight years.

This figure, alongside the dominant Islamic ideology in Iran that defines the basic human rights for transgender individuals in the context of gender reassignment, raises the question of how much visibility transgender individuals have in Iranian society in order for the violence against them to be heard and seen by the international organizations?!

The faces of trans people in the frame of Iran.

“این عکس یک پاییز زیباست”

“This picture is a beautiful autumn.”
The map published by TGEU shows that between January 2008 and September 2016, 2264 trans people lost their lives in 68 countries around the world.

Although Iranian trans individuals have tried to define their place in society, it has been the rulers of Iran who have defined their identity by relying on the extraction of Shia jurisprudential rulings. They have only had the chance to be classified as “Intersex” or, according to religious interpretation, neutral and face challenges within a group due to Ayatollah Khomeini’s lack of knowledge about the difference between gender and sex, and to obtain a chance at life by undergoing a sex change.

Although Iranian authorities later became aware of the difference between gender and sexuality, it seems that international attention to the issue of gender reassignment in Iran prevented them from redefining the nature of trans individuals. However, many clerics consider gender reassignment for trans individuals to be forbidden or postpone it until a person has fully transitioned. Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Fazlollah is one of the religious authorities who, in response to a question asked of him, states that his fatwa is in accordance with Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa. He responds to the question on his official website, saying: “This issue has several conditions: one is a situation that has recently become prevalent, especially in Western societies, where they remove the male organ through surgery and create a gap – as a female organ – and inject female hormones to make female characteristics apparent. This operation does not change the physical and biological form of a man. This situation is more similar to the situation

However, many Iranian trans individuals and some clergy and doctors who consider themselves supporters of trans individuals, want to create a safe haven for trans individuals under the shadow of this legal misunderstanding. But this issue has not been low-cost for trans individuals and other minorities, and has led to a wrong definition of trans individuals, which at the very least, the cost of it is the lack of improvement in their situation in Iran.

“این عکس یک منظره زیبا از کوهستان است.”

“This picture is a beautiful landscape of the mountains.”
The spread of a video of an individual being beaten in Kermanshah in front of his family by law enforcement, which appears to have been solely because of his sexual identity, in mid-November of last year.

For example, although nowadays the media inside Iran try to speak more about trans people, it is clear that they are not making an effort to revive the dignity and human rights of trans people, and they only strive to justify the viewpoint of the Islamic Republic towards trans people, attempting to gain sympathy from the audience for a group that they label as “mentally ill.”

In such a society where trans individuals see their efforts limited to the frameworks determined by those in power, not only are their faces not seen, but all their efforts are directed towards constructing a forgotten home for their identity within the confines of a sexist system.

Violence that is never seen.

It is not necessary to constantly worry about the LGBTQ+ community in order to be aware of the physical violence and even murder they may face due to their sexual identity. However, in a society where minorities are less vocal and their demands are not heard, it is harder to see their wounds.

Ana Rouzhina, a transgender lesbian who has left Iran in danger of death by her family, is one of the people who has decided to share her memories with me about this: “We face a lot of violence, which may not kill all of us, but it destroys our spirits. But I at least heard the news of the murder of one of my friends named Bahar by her brother. Bahar used to come from Hamedan to Tehran for her laser sessions, dressed in boys’ clothes, and wearing a mantoo and headscarf in public restrooms. When I went to Venus Clinic in Tehran to get rid of my body hair, I met her. She was a quiet and calm girl, but after a while, I didn’t hear from her until I found out that her brother had chased her and killed her on Haft Tir Street in Tehran.”

“این عکس یک پسر کوچک در حال بازی با ماشین‌های اسباب‌بازی است”

“This picture is of a little boy playing with toy cars.”
Ana Rojina, the fear of lesbianism that has been forced to leave Iran.

Ana is not alone; Vahid Panahjoo, a Turkish resident who wants to preserve his identity, also speaks out about the murder of a sexual worker named Bamdad under the College Bridge.

“I didn’t know Bammadad, but I had heard his name a lot among our children. They said he dressed in girls’ clothes and sold his body. Although I had heard a lot about the murders and violence that led to severe physical harm for those who were sex workers, the news of Bammadad’s death caused a lot of commotion among the children and scared everyone. The story was that Bammadad had given a rude response to one of his clients, who then threatened to kill him the next day. The following day, a group of people on motorcycles chased Bammadad under the college bridge and beat him so badly that he died.”

In addition to the statements and rumors of some bystanders, by searching for phrases related to the murder of Iranian trans individuals on Google or Facebook, one can easily find news on this matter that mostly had no place in Iranian media and have not received widespread coverage in most foreign media for various reasons, including maintaining their audience.

Therefore, the hope for accurate and truthful statistics about violence against trans individuals in Iran is far from reality. The dissemination of news about murders and violent behavior towards trans individuals by their families and acquaintances, the police and judicial system, self-appointed forces such as Basij, and even their doctors can be unimaginable.

Remember all the Iranian trans people who have been subjected to violence and killed, and mostly buried in anonymity, dear.

Explanation: The author does not believe in the gender of a person or object and considers it a societal definition.