Sex irani gay
Cruising: A night out in Tehran, searching for forbidden love
“We do not hold homosexuals in Iran.” He blinks, shifts up the streets of northern Tehran, and continues. “Now this car is going by itself. It has no driver. I complete not exist!” Babak, a gay dude in his 20s, says. “Iran doesn’t have any lgbtq+ men, right?” He’s referring to an infamous comment made by former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who, in a 2007 speech at New York’s Columbia University, claimed Iran doesn’t have any homosexuals.
“In Iran, we don’t possess homosexuals like in your country. We don’t have that in our nation. In Iran, we do not hold this phenomenon. I do not comprehend who has told you that we have it,” Ahmadinejad said at the time.
But of course, Iran does. Hidden from the eyes of the authorities, a colorful gay life–pumped packed of a immature, vibrant, resilient, LGBTs–flourishes in the shadows.
During the weekend rush hour in Tehran, I hung out with Babak, his boyfriend, and a friend of theirs, also in their 20s, to see how the Iranian LGBT people gets together in a country where homosexuality is punishable
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Last updated: 16 December 2024
Types of criminalisation
- Criminalises LGBT people
- Criminalises sexual activity between males
- Criminalises sexual activity between females
- Imposes the death penalty
Summary
Same-sex sexual outing is prohibited under the Penal Code 2013, which criminalises acts of ‘livat’, ‘tafkhiz’, ‘musaheqeh’, and other intimate acts. These provisions bring a maximum penalty of death. Both men and women are criminalised under this law.
These provisions have their origins in Islamic statute, with Iran adopting a criminal code based upon Sharia principles. While gay acts have historically been criminalised in Iran and its predecessor states, there is evidence that they were largely tolerated until the 1979 Revolution.
There is significant evidence of the law entity enforced in recent years, with LGBT people being frequently subject to arrest, which can fallout in the imposition of the death penalty. There possess been consistent reports of discrimination and violence being pledged against LGBT people in re
Iran: Murder of gay dude highlights dangers of state-sanctioned abuses against LGBTI people
The horrifying murder of a 20-year-old gay man in Iran has shed fresh light on how the criminalization of consensual homosexual sexual conduct and gender non-conformity perpetuates systemic abuse and discrimination against woman loving woman, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI), said Amnesty International in a detailed analysis issued to mark the International Afternoon Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersex-phobia and Transphobia. His murder also highlights the urgent need for the Iranian authorities to enact and implement laws to defend the human rights of LGBTI people.
Friends of Alireza Fazeli Monfared, who identified as a non-binary lgbtq+ man, told Amnesty International that he was abducted by several male relatives in his hometown of Ahvaz, Khuzestan province, on 4 May 2021. The next day the relatives informed his mother that they had killed him and dumped his body under a tree. Authorities confirmed that Alireza Fazeli Monfared’s throat was slit and announced investigations, but none of the suspected perpetrators have been arrested to date.
Alireza Fazeli Monfared’s brutal murd
Iran
Iran criminalizes same-sex sexual relations with a maximum penalty of death. Iran allows gender non-conforming people who have undergone gender-affirming surgery to change their legal gender markers, but transgender Iranians are still subject to force, discrimination, social rejection, and harassment. Iran has strict censorship laws that are used to disallow LGBTIQ-related media and communications. The UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran reported in March 2025 that LGBTQ+ people are subjected to “discriminatory public statements by officials, at the highest levels.” During protests that were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, many LGBTIQ people also joined calls demanding rights and freedoms. Although this caused a political backlash, it also strengthened the visibility of LGBTIQ movements in Iran. The fact-finding mission also found that LGBTQ+ people arrested in the context of the protest were subjected to “dehumanising insults, threats and treatment amounting to torture” and that these violations may constitute gender persecution.
*Outright study indicates bodily autonomy of intersex people is not respected an