Noteworthy
2009 -
On this date a sociologist at an Iranian university presented a study showing high levels of homosexual experiences among the country's population.
Iran has strict laws against sex outside marriage and other sexual acts
such as masturbation. Adultery and same-sex acts are punishable by
death. Startling new research from sociologist Parvaneh Abdul Maleki
found that 24% of Iranian women and 16% of Iranian men have had at least
one homosexual experience. 73% of men and 26% of women surveyed said
they had masturbated.
Ms. Maleki presented her findings at the Third Conference on
Well-being in the Family and the story was reported in the Iranian
press, albeit as a report on sexual deviance in need of treatment. The
report also revealed that more than 75% of those who grew up in a
conservative religious environment have watched pornography, 86% have
had a heterosexual relationship outside of marriage and just over 4%
have had Gay or Lesbian relationships. Since Iran's Islamic revolution
in 1979, human rights groups claim that between 3,000 and 4,000 people
have been executed under Sharia law for the crime of homosexuality. The
President of Iran admitted in an interview that there may be "a few" gay
people in his country, but attacked homosexuality as destructive to
society.
In an interview with U.S. current affairs TV program Democracy Now,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also rejected criticism of the execution of
children in Iran. During a visit to the U.S. in 2007 he said in reply to
a question posed about homosexuality during his speech at New York's
Columbia University: "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your
country… In Iran we do not have this phenomenon, I don't know who has
told you that we have it." In his TV interview he condemned American
acceptance of gay people. "It should be of no pride to American society
to say they defend something like this," President Ahmadinejad said.
"Just because some people want to get votes, they are willing to
overlook every morality."
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