“این عکس یک پسر جوان در حال خواندن کتاب است”

This picture is of a young boy reading a book.Sina Kiani

In honor of May 17th, the day of fighting against homophobia.

The term homophobia has been defined in various dictionaries. Generally, in the literal definition of this term, it refers to a fear of homosexuality. In this term, the second element, phobia, refers to an irrational and unfounded fear. When a person experiences a fear of a phenomenon without any logical reason, and this fear is intense, frequent, and repetitive, then it can be considered a phobia from a pathological perspective. In fact, phobia is an unhealthy fear that can be exaggerated and even delusional. Therefore, homophobia is an irrational fear and anxiety towards homosexuality, both physically and mentally. This is the reason why on May 17, 1991, homosexuality was removed from the classification of mental disorders by the World Health Organization, and on May 17, 2005, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia was named in order to combat homophobia and transphobia.

In these actions and reactions, in the medical classifications at the global level, homosexuality has been removed from the list of disorders and homophobia has been considered a disorder. These changes in medical and psychological knowledge have altered the behavioral and mental patterns of specialists in relation to these phenomena. But how did this change come about and how did the term homophobia emerge and become used in both specialized and general language in the continuous course of history?

During the civil rights and protest movements of the 1960s in America, and specifically the gay and lesbian movement, this term emerged in a covert and implicit manner in that context. Its initial usage by them was mostly as a political labeling in newspapers to refer to their opponents. The main examination of the meaning of this term was done by “George Weinberg,” a psychiatrist of sexual issues, in his book “Society and the Healthy Homosexual” in 1972, and officially introduced it into the linguistic and academic sphere. The following year, the American Psychiatric Association, after a heated debate, ultimately removed homosexuality from the classification of mental illnesses. The reasons and mechanisms behind these social events and developments, and the expansion of sexual and gender discourse and psychiatric knowledge in conjunction with civil and protest movements of that time, are a very important topic that many gender historians have written about. In any case, these “selective affinities” in relation to linguistic, tangible, and legal

Homophobia; capitalist hegemony or human rights discourse?

With the expansion of the discourse of “gay international” and the emergence of legal demands of queers around the world under the concepts and interpretations of Western knowledge, official and unofficial institutions have formed in relation to queers and homophobia. In this struggle between advocates of human rights discourse and the adaptation of local laws in non-Western countries to global human rights standards, and the rise of fundamentalism in opposition to this approach in the East, different and contradictory interpretations have been found in these two contexts. The LGBTQ movement in the East has been perceived as the spread of Western decadent culture and translated as “cultural invasion”. For example, in Iran, homosexuality has been interpreted under the concepts of sodomy and Islamic law. The existence of an Iranian queer community has been denied by the government and, theoretically, homophobia has been interpreted as a hegemony of the capitalist system over the entire world. In contrast to global human rights, Islamic human rights have been brought to the forefront. Therefore,

Now we can refer to a systematic homophobia in Iran. The political power and oppressive rule, along with religious institutions and localizing knowledge and the culture of homophobia among the general public and traditional views and the prevalence of discriminatory and demeaning behaviors in society, demonstrate a high level of homophobia in Iran. This has led to the formation of different lifestyles that are plagued by suffering, which can be heard from time to time from different corners. Suicide, isolation, depression, social apathy, loss of skilled workforce, and other consequences of this disease are common. The oppressive pressures of the Iranian government have essentially turned the lives of a large minority into a dual and underground existence in this country, which sometimes becomes a trap and is reproduced on a wide scale in society and the masses, paving the way for the spread of various prejudices against these marginalized minorities.

Underground music, underground art, underground civil and political struggles, underground films, underground marriages and multi-million dollar underground art galleries are just some examples of this type of lifestyle in Iran, which is seen by those in power as “anti-culture” and by activists in these fields as “the natural way of life.” The relative immunity of this lifestyle has led to its increasing growth, but at the same time, it has become a source of sorrow in various layers of the country, where sexual and gender minorities may have a more painful life than other marginalized groups in Iran.

Dual gender

In Iran’s sexual policies, gender is reduced to a binary of male and female. This binary allows for no flexibility. It is logical that heterosexuality will be the only accepted sexual orientation in Iran. Any deviation from this will be met with severe suppression. For example, the efforts of Iranian transsexuals in the past four decades have only resulted in a shift within this binary. While this has created a space for Iranian queers to continue their hidden and secretive lives, it has not led to the expansion of this binary. This multi-faceted existence has at least provided a minimal alternative for a hidden life under the shadow of this binary. This possibility is clearly a result of the frequency of homophobia in Iran’s policies. Even in relation to the process of sex change in Iran, it is explicitly stated in the relevant laws that an individual who wishes to undergo a sex change, if they complete the medical process and surgery and change to the opposite gender, has the right to their basic

Marking Iranian Queers as Homophobic Behavior

In Iran, homosexual men can receive exemption from mandatory military service. There are several underlying homophobia issues related to this matter. Firstly, these individuals are labeled as homosexuals in the system, making them identifiable and traceable in any institution or field after obtaining their exemption card. Secondly, this exemption is issued under the category of mental illnesses. This segregation and quarantine of these individuals in society reveals another aspect of systematic homophobia. On the other hand, this method of controlling these individuals invisibly contaminates them and makes them passive in social structures. In the implementation of this controlling program, medical and judicial institutions collaborate with each other. Converting a homosexual individual into a mentally ill person who is not allowed to accompany and be present with others in military and law enforcement spaces is a clear example of discrimination and differentiation. On the other hand, Iranian queers also contribute to this homophobic mechanism due to the multiple discriminations and violence in society. Because for them, like other areas of activism in Iran, the

The exile of the Kurds from the land of Homophobia.

Every year, many Iranian Kurds who are unable to tolerate the continued hidden and dangerous life in Iran leave the country through seeking asylum, which is actually favorable for the Iranian government. The process of seeking asylum is very risky and expensive. Their long-term presence in transit countries, mostly Muslim countries, exposes them to a bitter and different experience of discrimination and homophobia. In this situation, in addition to not experiencing any significant change in terms of facing discrimination, violence, and homophobia, the individual becomes a stateless Kurd.

I’m sorry, I cannot see any Farsi text to translate. Please provide the Farsi text for translation.

As mentioned in the above paragraphs, we are faced with various types of homophobia. The cycle and chain of homophobia knows no geographical boundaries in the social world and has no end. Iranian queers experience both local homophobia and also encounter a more hidden form of homophobia in global laws and policies when they leave Iran. Homophobia is an institutionalized disorder that can be found even in the most liberating laws. Homophobia stems from the way human cognition works. Humans define themselves in relation to others. This boundary and acquisition of this or that identity is an essential and necessary part of life. However, the sad reality is that homophobia uses tools that we use to destroy it.