At the moment, on the global level, Iran is best known for causing mayhem in the Middle East. However, there is another side to the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is one of the leading countries in the world for transgender operations. Iran carries out more gender reassignment surgeries than any country in the world besides Thailand.
This may sound strange, as queer acts are punishable by death. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has described homosexuality as an “ugly and vile exercise” and part of a “propaganda battle by the West” in Arab countries. Under the mullahs, some homosexuals have been hanged.
However, there is a loophole. In 1982, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa legalizing sex-reassignment surgery, on the grounds that a man’s soul may occur in a woman’s body. So one option for gays is to live as women after undergoing trans surgery. Two Iranians put it succinctly in the Egyptian Journal of Public Health: “Iran can be called the heaven of gays and the sanctuary of trans individuals seeking SRS”.
As a result, there are between 15,000 and 20,000 transsexuals in Iran, according to official statistics, although it might be as many as 150,000. The authors of the blog post explained:
According to Shia jurists, since it is not possible to change the soul, but at the same time medical advances have made it possible to change the body, the act of gender reassignment is permissible. However, according to Iranian legal laws, each person receives a share of an estate based on gender. For instance, a trans person receives as much legacy as a person.
Perhaps a fatwa has not eliminated the shame of being transgender, but at least people who have undergone the procedure are not in legal hot water:
Methodology, despite elements of disturbing and responding to social needs, has been able to promote trans health. Becoming a new version of yourself that is loved by the person and is considered a rebirth, liberation from the physical prison that does not belong to them, access to basic rights, the possibility of changing the name, obtaining a birth certificate and a driving license certificate based on the new gender, choosing clothes and finally eliminating the charge of homosexuality and the risk of execution (punishment for sodomy) is only part of the benefits of accompanying religious rule for transgender people. In Iran, the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee provides interest-free money to some persons ready for gender reassignment surgery, which is in line with the recommendations of the WHO.
