Medicalization of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Iran

“LGBT individuals who do not conform to culturally approved models of femininity and masculinity have to choose between risking harassment, persecution, arbitrary arrest and detention by police and paramilitary Basij forces because of their actual or perceived homosexual orientation, on the one hand, and seeking a diagnosis of gender identity disorder (GID) with a view to undergo sex reassignment procedures on the other.”

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The second UPR on Iran took place on Friday 31 October 2014 at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.  During this session, 50 recommendations directly addressed the issue of forced and early marriages, as well as the rights of women, transgender and homosexual citizens.  In this video, WELDD partner, Justice for Iran (JFI) give a presentation to a pre-UPR session.  The presentation covers the human rights violations happening in Iran due to the medicalization of sexual orientation and gender identity in Iran.  

Shadi Amin, co-founder of JFI discusses the corporal and capital punishment that LGBT people are subject to, as well as arbitrary arrest and harassment.  Amin also discusses the way sex reassignment procedures are being misused to 'cure' lesbian and gay individuals, and gives details of the lack of clinical and ethical standards in the carrying out of such procedures.  

This was a ground-breaking occasion, where this little-known but extremely important topic was being discussed at the international level.