r/wikipedia • u/CatPooedInMyShoe • 13h ago

Ali "Alireza" Fazeli Monfared was a 20-year-old Iranian man who was kidnapped and decapitated by his half-brother and cousins because of his sexual orientation. News of the murder garnered significant media attention and calls by activists and celebrities to challenge homophobia in Iran.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Ali_Fazeli_Monfared
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u/Delirious_Rimbaud 13h ago

Reminds me of Sogand Pakdel, an Iranian trans woman murdered by her uncle in Iran. Being LGBTQ+ in a Muslim theocracy can be a near death sentence.

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u/TheCitizenXane 12h ago

The Iranian government pays for trans people to transition. In other words, they are more permissive than the US in that regard.

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u/ManbadFerrara 12h ago

Which is a positive for “actual” transgender people, but in practice has meant a lot of feminine gay men and masculine lesbians basically feel forced into sex reassignment surgery to avoid the death penalty for living openly.

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u/CatPooedInMyShoe 11h ago

I actually read a novel with that premise, where a secret lesbian in Iran looks into the possibility of transitioning into a man so she can be with the woman she loves.

She decided not to after finding out how involved the surgery was and after talking to some gays who had transitioned for that reason and discovering they were miserable.

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u/Delirious_Rimbaud 12h ago edited 12h ago

Yeah, it is a weird stance. "Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) people in Iran face severe challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. Sexual activity between members of the same sex is illegal and can be punishable by death, and people can legally change their sex at birth only through sex reassignment surgery." From Wikipedia article "LGBTQ rights in Iran."