We mentioned this in class briefly, but in Iran homosexuality is punishable by death while their society seems to be more accepting of transgender identity. These articles offer some accounts of gay individuals that felt pressured to transition.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29832690
http://www.afterellen.com/people/231442-lesbians-in-iran-are-being-asked-to-get-sex-changes-or-die
The Afterellen article cites one activist as suggesting that as much as 45% of Iranians that transition are actually gay, not transgender. I'm not sure that that figure could actually be proven or disproven, but it's something interesting to think about.
Thanks for getting these pieces on the blog. This is really troubling in a few ways: Iran regarding sexual difference as unfathomable and upholding such strict regulatory constraints on gender; the governmental encouragement of undergoing surgery; the obligatory focus on the a person's genitalia/material conditions of one's body as opposed to the experiences, thoughts, and feelings of that individual. On the other hand, it seems important to open myself up to the choices individuals make (even among very limited options such as undergoing surgery, migrating, facing harassment, or others) to negotiate their intimate lives. I wonder if what NGOs or human rights groups (perhaps beyond arms of the UN) are working on this issue and the frameworks they are employing in understanding the difficult situations in which many of these people must find themselves.
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