In Iran, you can’t be gay but you can be transgender
15.10.2015 20:00
In Iran – you can’t be gay, but you are allowed to be transgender.
A loophole in the law means the strictly-religious country performs more sex-change operations than any other, except Thailand.
Ten years ago, Tarane was known as Amir. That was before she met a woman in a café who had undergone sex change surgery.
"When I left the cafe, I was no longer Amir,” she says, "I realised what my dreams were all about. I felt like I had finally been freed from my shackles.”
In Iran, same-sex relationships are punishable by death. But there is no law against sex-change operations in the Koran – and the procedure has flourished.
Grand Ayatollah Yousef Saanei says it is a case of what is not expressly forbidden is allowed:"In Islam, there is a principle which says that everything is allowed unless there are strong arguments against it or a law forbidding it.”
"I have never felt any regret, but without the support from my friends, I would not have managed the first year,” says Tarane. "My mother only called the hospital once, to find out if I had woken up from the anaesthetic, nothing more.”
Human rights groups are critical, however. They say people should not be forced to change sex to survive.
(euronews.com)
www.ann.az
Similar news
Similar news
Photo 
Video 
