Silent Voices - L(G)BT+ Iran

This project reflects on the vulnerable and dangerous circumstances of lesbian women in Iran. The series owes much to the brave LGBT+ women in the country, who - despite the risk to their personal safety - were willing to work with me in Tehran to raise awareness about their lives in Iran. The courage of these strong women is truly inspirational. Under the Iranian penal code, homosexuality is a punishable crime. Furthermore, the Iranian regime denies the existence of homosexuality, evidenced by the famous remark by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: “We don’t have homosexuals, like in your country.” In order to deny and eliminate the existence of homosexuality, LGBT+ people are often pressured to undergo unnecessary sex-reassignment surgeries - which are permitted in Iran - with devastating physical and psychological results. The situation of lesbian rights in Iran is particularly complex, since Iranian lesbians face double discrimination - first as women and then as lesbians. Women’s rights are restricted in terms of their freedom of movement and expression, and the strictly patriarchal structure allows male kin to assert direct control over women. Many LGBT+ girls are desperately fighting to escape forced marriage. Under Iranian law, girls, sometimes as young as nine, can legally be married. These girls generally never find a chance to discover their true sexual orientation. Under Iran’s civil code, a wife must submit to the will of her husband (tamkeen), which includes always being sexually available to her husband. Resistance by women to these power dynamics may be met by abuse and violence, which can be perpetrated with impunity. Often, women are unable to escape these dire conditions, as many are economically dependent on their husbands or other male guardians. The crime of marital rape does not exist under Iran’s penal code because the women is not allowed to say no. In addition to forced marriage and legal marital rape, lesbians face arbitrary arrest and detention, and they suffer further human rights violations at the hand of police while in detention, ranging from homophobic assaults to physical torture. But even though mosaheqeh (literal translation: rubbing of female genitalia between two or more women) is punishable under Iranian law by flogging of 100 lashes and can lead to imprisonment, abuse and even torture, the lesbian women I’ve met in Iran shared with me that they are more afraid of their families than the government. This is also reflected in the report of OutRight International, an LGBTIQ human rights non-governmental organization that addresses human rights violations and abuses against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, intersex people, and transgender people. LGBT+ women told OutRight Int’l that parental domestic violence was a frequent occurrence in their lives. The violence usually resulted when parents accidentally discovered their sexual orientation. The constant fear of being disowned, rejected and/or assaulted by their families often leads to depression, drug abuse and suicide attempts. Traditionally Iranian society regards problems and violence within families as a private matter. Safeguarding or restoring familial honor and washing away shame are seen as social obligations, therefore abused LGBT+ girls have nowhere to turn. Many Iranian lesbians ‘go underground’ and lead secret lives out of fear. Due to their invisibility, LGBT+ women in Iran are not receiving the (international) support their situation deserves.