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Isn't Iran a strange place?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7259057.stm
"Sex changes have been legal in Iran since Ayatollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution, passed a fatwa - a religious edict - authorising them for "diagnosed transsexuals" 25 years ago.
Today, Iran carries out more sex change operations than any other nation in the world except for Thailand.
The government even provides up to half the cost for those needing financial assistance and a sex change is recognised on your birth certificate.
... Yet homosexuality is still punishable by death."
"Sex changes have been legal in Iran since Ayatollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution, passed a fatwa - a religious edict - authorising them for "diagnosed transsexuals" 25 years ago.
Today, Iran carries out more sex change operations than any other nation in the world except for Thailand.
The government even provides up to half the cost for those needing financial assistance and a sex change is recognised on your birth certificate.
... Yet homosexuality is still punishable by death."
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the local government were giving them passes to be able to cross dress in public, then once they had been labelled "insane" they would get 50% funding for the op.
Their logic was that changing how god made them wasnt against the Koran, but being a homo was.
all very odd, but quite interesting.
well there were claiming in Iran that it was a psychological disorder, which im not too sure about, they also DNA tested one of the people going for the surgery and had no out of place genes for a standard man.
i honestly dont know, its one of life's little quirks, i guess its something that occurs from a early age or something. god knows.
I've never heard of any evolutionary strategies that hinder our reproduction for the survival of the species
Does it matter though?
However, not really talking about sexuality here, just that it's important not to imagine evolution is some journey towards perfection - it's all random.
I would take any Iranian theory on medical matters with a handful of salt.
Although there is no conclusive proof as to why people are attracted to the same sex, the secularist medical view is leant very much towards the idea that there are biological explanations.
Recent studies have found that, for instance, the average size of the INAH-3 in the brains of gay men is approximately the same size as INAH 3 in women, which is significantly smaller, and the cells more densely packed, than in heterosexual men's brains - all the way through to studies which evidence that gay men tend to have more older brothers than do non-gay men (known as the fraternal birth order effect). There is a long list of more such research theories.
As I have mentioned in other posts, just because there is no external evidence of a quirk of nature, does not mean that there is nothing going on, unseen, inside the brain. An external example of gender confusion by the body, would be something like hermaphroditism - or intersex. Some children have been operated on as babies to set their sex, there and then, but as they grow into adults, unaware of their birth scenario, have grown up feeling like they are actually the opposite sex.
And use a bit of imagination. I look at some gay men and women and even under the most intense imagination, I just cannot 'see' them as being happily married heterosexuals - if indeed, homosexuality was 'psychological' and they just need to be 'cured'.
How often do you see straight men with slim, female-like bodies and chiselled features? Many gay men look like women - not because of what they are wearing - but because of their skeletal structure. And likewise, many gay woman are far more male in their builds. I, for instance, think I fit in somewhere in between.
It is only Judeo-Christian/Islamic propaganda that has hounded people for being different which has set the tone for homophobia in the world today. Other religions and civilisations took homosexuality as just being part of life's rich and diverse tapestry.
Hehehe ... no, it doesn't offend. And having seen some of your other posts, I know that your questions are asked in genuine interest.
But - hopefully, gay people have contributed more to society than just producing good nightclubs!
The worlds population is growing far faster than the amount of homosexuals being born every year so it's a moot point imo.
Which all boils down to the fact it's an Islamic Republic in which the Koran presides over any basic common sense.
Tha fact that sex change is tolerated in Iran, really seems strange for me, though I don't think it has anything same with homosexuality...
maybe they consider sex-change as a cure of some disease, while homosexuality a sin...
Hah! Next you'll be saying Oscar Wilde was gay.
An 'overpopulation' argument does seem offensive, though perhaps unintentionally. It seems much more likely that heterosexuality and homosexuality - and all the shades in between - have always been present, as a product of genetics and experience (nature/nurture), and not that being gay kicked in as something aberrant to keep the population in check. Remember that in other epochs homosexuality was considered the highest form of love, so the general idea nowadays of 'straightness' as 'the norm' doesn't necessarily reflect reality.
God no, why would anyone even consider it that?
Well what counts as a disorder? "Disorder" would presumably refer to any genetic (or otherwise) condition, which lessens a human's chances of passing on their genes. On the face of it, this is certainly the case with homosexuality (though I have read studies that suggest that a woman who has had more children is more likely to give birth to a homosexual son, as a way of ensuring the survival of her own genes - can't remember the exact description, but that was the general jist). Obviously, it's probably not the best choice of words on a forum such as this, but as you've pointed out previously, something being natural doesn't necessarily mean that it's beneficial in an evolutionary perspective (I happen to believe homosexuality is, but that's not the point).
Incidentally, do people have a problem with referring to paedophilia as a sexual disorder? Because there is just as much occurance in nature of that little phenomenon. I mean I don't know the answer for either, but I think the possibility should be addressed.
It is rampantly homosexual ...the Taliban soldiers wear dresses and makeup and behave realy camp ...while pointing a Kalashnikov at your head.
Again, yes, I think it's a bad choice of words.
We have criminalised paedophilia but that doesn't make it a "disorder".
I would say 'yes'. Paedophiles use either their size, strength, authority or power. Because children are weaker, less mature, and have less cognitive ability than adults, and, the way our society is set up, a child can't really refuse to do something an adult wants them to do.
Humans (and other species) can be attracted to members of the same sex and can have sex for recreation as well as for reproduction. Nothing wrong or unnatural about it.
Time some people got that into their heads.
Im not sure how to go about proving this odd thing to you ...go ask a diplomat or something.
Here's an intro on an article covering it that I can't actually see all of
http://tornafghanistan.tripod.com/id16.html
Who said anything about it being unnatural? I just said that it seems on the surface detremental to the passing on of genes, which is after all, the whole reason that animals exist. And in any other situation, (someone born blind, for instance) we would refer to such an instance as a "disorder." I admit it's not an especially useful term socially, but scientifically, it could be accurate (but like I said, I happen to believe it isn't).
I find the use of 'disorder' to describe gay sex not only incorrect but also disturbing.
I couldn't find a thing to back up what i said and being me ...people would pressume it was my usual flippancy as it's not the kind of thing the public get told about is it.
Thankyou.
Lots o muscle!