[R-G] Ahmadinejad's Gay Denial Must Occasion Caution

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

<http://www.gaycitynews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18884273&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=585504&rfi=6>
Ahmadinejad's Gay Denial Must Occasion Caution
By: KOUROSH SHEMIRANI
10/04/2007

Following the recent trip of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the US
and his remarks at Columbia University where he denied the existence
of homosexuals in Iran, the issue of Iranian gays is now in
international public view.

Whether this newly gained global visibility marks a step in favor of
improving the situation of gays in Iran or leads to a deepening of
their plight has as much to do with internal Iranian society as with
the actions of the international community. There are dangers and
possibilities in this incredible turn of events that Western gay
activists have to consider carefully.

No matter what anyone thinks of Iran, its regime, or its president,
the fact is that Ahmadinejad's trip was a conscious change in policy
by the Iranian government aimed at reaching out to the US and the
American people. The Bush administration and the mainstream media have
downplayed this fact and have even increased the same rhetoric that
they developed before the invasion of Iraq - WMDs, state-sponsored
terrorism, etc.

None of us can know what the outcome of these diplomatic maneuvers
will be. But now that the issue of gays in Iran has become front and
center, there is little doubt that it will work into the propaganda
wars of both the Bush and the Ahmadinejad administrations.

In Iran, the president's comments denying the presence of homosexuals
have been generally ignored or censored in the mainstream media;
however the issue is debated and discussed publicly and on the
Internet. It remains to be seen if activists and progressives in Iran
will make any inroads in gaining greater public visibility and support
as a result of this discussion.

This issue could easily become a major ideological and political test
for a regime that rests on the basic notion that Iran is a proud
independent nation resisting Western and especially US imperialism.
The idea that homosexuality is a Western phenomenon is, of course, the
main government line on the issue, and if the movement for gay rights
is seen as a Western agenda, or a part of Western imposition on Iran,
it will make it that much harder for the many brave gay activists
inside Iran to continue their struggle for visibility and acceptance.

In the US, on the other hand, Ahmadinejad's comments regarding gays
have been blown up and discussed ad nauseum to the point of becoming
one of the primary ways that he is being increasingly discredited and
vilified. And here is the danger that we in the West can easily fall
into - if this issue is used to further antagonize Iran, it could mean
a disaster for the situation of gays in Iran.

The sudden emergence of sympathy, even love, for gays by the likes of
Fox News is not just cynical, it is dangerous. If left in the hands of
those who couldn't care less about gay rights, the situation of
Iranian gays will become a part of American war propaganda that aims
to create justifications for military intervention and deepen the idea
inside Iran that gays are a dangerous fifth column.

For the many well-meaning gay activists in the US who have been facing
great challenges and setbacks here under the Bush administration, the
idea that the LGBT community can have influence on public policy -
especially foreign policy - seems farfetched. But what we say and how
we relate to this moment can have repercussions beyond our own
struggling community. I hope this essay will serve as a beginning of a
constructive dialogue that helps us think and take proper action
regarding the situation of gays and all sexual minorities in Iran.

Kourosh Shemirani lives in New York City and is a member of QIAM, the
Queer Iranian Alliance. Contact him at: qiam2006 at yahoo.com.


--
Yoshie