A few years back, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was then president of Iran, entered the podium in a western country to give a speech. He told the crowd there were “no gays in Iran”. They laughed. Such a minority does indeed exist. In addition, there are transexuals and lesbians in Iran, in Indonesia and in all of the other muslim countries. The middle east is a complex region in which many home grown sexual customs have developed. In some countries being a transsexual is more acceptable than being gay, and homosexuals are often forced to have sex change operations.
If you are interested in the subject there are many documentaries to choose from. Australian SBS has produced several reports on muslim gender and sexuality, and British based Levant Tv has a very interesting talk show called Forbidden Talk in which taboo subjects are discussed. So, in order to prove Mr Ahmadinejad wrong, and in order to dispell the myth of a homogenous Islam without subcultures, I present the following links on the issue:
Debate
- LevantTV: Forbidden Talk “The LGBT Community In The Middle East”
- Levant TV: Forbidden Talk “Transgender people in the Middle East”
- LevantTV: Forbidden Talk “Female Sexuality in the Middle East”
- LevantTV: Forbidden Talk “Virginity In The Middle East And Women’s Honour”
Lectures
- “Gender and Sexuality in the Islamic Culture” with Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Laureate
- C-span “Gay Travels in the Muslim World”
- “Where Love Is Illegal”: Chronicling LGBT Stories of Love and Discrimination (Part 1)/ part 2
Radio shows
- Npr Talk of the Nation “Secret Sexuality” (37 min)
- BBC radio 4 Islam and Homosexuality
- BBC radio 5 live Gay muslim marriage
- BBC radio Inside gay Pakistan
- BBC radio “Iran’s gay refugees“
- Leonard Lopate show “A Gay Muslim Filmmaker Faces his Fatwa”
- KPFA Gay Muslim on the Orlando shootings (1 hour)
Documentaries
- National Geographic “Sex In Pakistan – A Hidden Shame”
- SBS Dateline “Sex Mountain”
- SBS Dateline “High Heels and Hijabs: Transgender rights in Indonesia”
- ISIS: Sex Slaves
- BBC Inside Out – the hidden scandal of sexual grooming of young Sikh girls by Muslim men
- Be Like Others, Transsexuals in Iran
- BBC “Iran Sex change solution”
