Male Homosexual Identity And The Middle East

Male Homosexual Identity and the Middle East: Cultural and Religious Perspectives at Odds with the West
 
    December 4, 2008

      The visit to Columbia University by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in September of 2007 was bound to cause political controversy for a variety of reasons.   His country was in the middle of a political confrontation with much of international community over the motivations behind its nuclear program.   Ahmadinejad is notorious for his views that the Holocaust’s impact has been exaggerated so that western countries remain sympathetic to the existence of Israel.   His trip even included a stop at Ground Zero so that he could pay his respects to the victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center, something that outraged many political groups around the country.   Of all the statements and photo ops of his trip, his answer to the question of how Iran treats its homosexual citizens was arguably the one most derided by the western media.   He claimed "in Iran, we don't have homosexuals, like in your country."   The audience reacted with howls of laughter and the Iranian President was even caricatured the next week on the cover of the New Yorker magazine in a pose similar to the one that recently caused legal problems and public embarrassment for conservative Idaho Senator Larry Craig.   Many were incredulous that he had the temerity to make such a statement but once one becomes more familiar with how homosexuality is viewed in the Middle East, the president’s proclamation can be put into a better context.   In this paper, the origins of homosexuality and its interactions Islam will be explored.   The culturally specific view of homosexuality and what it means will be examined, particularly how it differs from the western view.   The hope is that exposing these differences might help craft a culturally specific strategy of resistance that can be utilized for political gains in Arab countries.
      The topic of homosexuality has...