Iran: Blogging against homophobia

By Hamid Tehrani

A few Iranian bloggers wrote comments on ‘International day against homophobia' on May 17 and shared their concerns about existing discrimination against homosexuals in Iran.

Pesar has published an open letter from Iranian homosexual students to other student activists in the country:

ما دانشجویان همجنسگرای ایران، سال‌هاست هم‌پای جنبش دانشجویی و روشنفکری ایران، در متنِ مطالبات سیاسی و اجتماعی قرار داریم و از مدافعان سرسخت تغییر شرایط نابرابر جامعه‌ی ایران بوده‌ایم. اینک که همه‌ی آزادی‌خواهان و نیک‌اندیشان و مدافعان حقوق بشر دریافته‌اند که حقوق همجنسگرایان حقوق بشر است …اما در ایران، و دیگر کشورهای نابرخوردار از آزادی‌های اجتماعی و انسانی، همجنسگرایان هم‌چنان مورد سیاه‌ترین آزارها و ستم‌ها و شکنجه‌ها قرار می‌گیرند و کسی حاضر نیست

We, homosexual students of Iran, have for years been present in the movements of students and intellectuals. We have been at the heart of their social and political demands, and we have protested the discriminatory situation in Iranian society. Now all freedom advocates and human rights defenders understand that homosexual rights are human rights… In Iran and other countries where social and human freedoms are non-existent, homosexuals are submitted to the worst tortures, persecutions and oppressions.

Ketabkhane has published [fa] a series of books written by and/or about homosexuals. They explain why they decided to make their works available on their blog:

این بودن تنها حضوری فیزیکی در شهرها و روستاهای ایران نیست. ما در درون این جامعه قرار داریم؛ از آن تاثیر می­گیریم و بر آن اثر می­گذاریم. ما در این جامعه “زندگی” می­کنیم
گروهی از ما می­نویسند، می­سرایند و تولید اندیشه می­کنند. اما مردم ما را نمی­خوانند چون نمی­توانند به نوشته­هایمان دسترسی داشته

Our existence is not only limited to physical presence in Iran's cities and villages. We live inside in Iranian society. We are influenced by it and we leave our impact. We live in this society. A group of us are writing and creating thoughts but people can not read our words if they have no access to them.

Gameron writes [fa] that homosexuals face problems in Islamic countries where they can be executed. The Islamic regime in Iran denies the existence of homosexuals, instead of helping the population to learn about homosexuality.

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