Kamangir (Archer)

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Iranian Gays and Their Share of Oppression

Kamangir | February 19, 2007 | Category Iran

Frankly, I find it irritating and disgusting when I have to say sentences which even seem to resemble pro-IR ideas. Having said that, not all “amazingly” horrible news which pour out of Iran are factual.

I am not a gay and I have never had a friend publicly admitted to be gay. However, I have lived in Iran, so I think I am eligible to talk about what the IR is and what it is not. The IR is an oppressive non-democratic anti-freedom of speech administration. However, they are not a bunch of idiots, although sometimes I wish they were. If you have followed Ahmadinejad’s campaign you would know that his main claim was to stop harassing people because of what they wear. Although this was a deliberate lie, it shows how the IR’s mind works. The IR is ready to tolerate minor things in an effort to save the big lie, namely the administration’s legitimacy. Thus, they tolerate girls wearing fabulously fashionable outfits if that means more people will show up in the next election. That, however, does not mean that there are no restrictions on what you can wear. The IR is an inhomogeneous system in which some people are harder on “morality”.

Thus, with all respect to the Iranian gays, their share of oppression is not much compared to what individuals like Batebi undergo. I remind you that there has not been one legitimate report of someone being executed recently on the basis of homosexuality.

Let me mention this again, it is disgusting and frustrating to talk negatively about people who are definitely oppressed by the IR. Here, I am just explaining how, relatively, gays’ situation is.

Reader's Comments

brando | February 19th, 2007 at 4:19 am
I saw this vid a while back on the topic. I have no idea if it’s true or not, and you’re a lot more in the loop than I am.
kamangir | February 19th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
Brando,
I need to do a research on this video. However, the claim is self-contradicting. If they were arrested in Ahvaz, it doesn’t make sense to hang them in Mashhad, which is exactly on the other side of the country.
I remind you that I am not saying this didn’t, or doesn’t, happen.
beer7 | February 20th, 2007 at 8:57 am
Kamangir,

My thesis is that while the people holding power in Iran are not idiots, there are a lot of things they do not understand. People in a totalitarian set-up have different concepts and therefore perceptions than people in a liberal set-up.

Totalitarian regimes tend to despise free society and think it weak. Free societies tend to underestimate totalitarion will-power in the beginning. Thus at the moment of their highest arrogance when they are sure that nobody will dare to confront them, totalitarian regimes tend to be surprised by the resilience of free society.
Esther | February 24th, 2007 at 2:17 am
A friend of mine, who left Iran about 20 years ago, is a professor in the free world. One of her students was planning to visit Iran. He was openly homosexual.

“What should I expect?”

“Under no circumstances let anyone know that you are gay,” she told him.

When he returned to her class after his visit he told her, “Boy are you out of touch. Everywhere I went, gay men were obvious and open. People approached me everywhere. No one seemed to care.”

The advantage of a society, like Iran’s, where straight men and women walk around hand in hand and where, conversely, homosexuality is a taboo, is that overtly gay behavior is not easily identifiable. Like Kamangir, I do not want to apologize for the regime. But the culture of the people of Iran is more of a problem than the regime in this case.

BTW, I do know Iranian men who are openly gay.
kamangir | February 24th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Esther,
It is always great to hear your idea about Iran. I do like your informative posts. Keep up the good work.
“Education” « Kamangir (Archer) - Ú©Ù…Ø§Ù†Ú¯ÛŒØ± | February 24th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
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