Iran coerces gays to undergo sex-change surgery

Aside from imprisonment and execution, homosexual Iranians face another threat – being pressured into having gender reassignment surgery. According to a BBC Persian report, both lesbians and gay men are often coerced into undergoing the radical procedure as to “cure” them of their homosexuality, which is outlawed in the Islamic Republic.

 

BBC reports that the phenomenon is common in Iran, which has some of the world’s harshest anti-gay laws, and stems from the belief that gay people are “trapped” in the wrong body. While Iran has no official government policy to force gay people to have gender reassignment operations, state-run clinics, clerics and parents often exert considerable pressure for them to do so.

 

Homosexuals are even offered special loans to pay for the surgery, and some family members threaten to murder their gay relatives if they don’t agree to the having the operation.

 

Read More: Iran coerces gays to undergo sex-change surgery – Middle East Israel News | Haaretz