Iran

Demographics

Estimated Total Population:

81.8 million

World Bank, 2018

Estimated SGM Population:

N/A

N/A

Estimated Total SGM Adult Population:

N/A

N/A

Estimated % of SGM Adults (18+):

N/A

N/A

A harsh interpretation of Sharia law, penalizes and forbids same-sex consensual acts; Tehran “criminalizes and harshly punishes same-sex intercourse and treats same-sex attraction as a disease” (United Nations) Systemic oppression of LGBTQ+ individuals began in the 1979 with the Iranian Islamic revolution and the rise of power ofAyatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. There are reports that “LGBT children in Iran have been forced to undergo forced “therapy”—including the administration of electric shocks, hormones, and psychiatric medication”(United Nations); although Khomeini issued a legal fatwa permitting legal sex reassignment surgery, de facto ultimately policies result in authorities pressuring LGBTQ+ citizens to undergo unwanted surgery that allows individuals to enter same sex relationships.

Iran's Laws and Policies from ILGA World Report (2019)

RECOGNITION
Marriage for Same-Sex Couples
No
Civil Unions
No
Joint Adoption
No
Second Parent Adoption
No
PROTECTION
Employment Nondiscrimination Laws
No
Broad Protections
No
Criminalization of Violence
No
Ban of Conversion Therapy
No
CRIMINALIZATION
Consensual Same-Sex Acts are Legal?
No
Gender
Any Gender
Max Penalty (Yrs in Prison)
Death

Selected Published Studies, Reports, and Other Documents

Ahmadzad-Asl, M., Jalali, A. H., Alavi, K., Naserbakht, M., Taban, M., Mohseninia-Omrani, K., & Eftekhar, M. (2010). The epidemiology of transsexualism in Iran. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 15(1), 83-93. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19359705.2011.530580
 
Ardebili, M. E., Khoo, S. S., Bidokhti, N. M., & Mehrabi, F. (2008). T11-O-04 The relations of sexuality, sex addiction and AIDS anxiety in homosexual and transsexuals in Iran. Sexologies, 17, S156. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1158136008729505?casa_token
 
Khoshnood, K., Hashemian, F., Moshtagh, N., Eftekahri, M., & Setayesh, S. (2008). T03-O-08 Social stigma, homosexuality and transsexuality in Iran. Sexologies, 17, S69. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1158136008727051
 
Korycki, K., & Nasirzadeh, A. (2016). Desire recast: the production of gay identity in Iran. Journal of Gender Studies, 25(1), 50-65. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09589236.2014.889599?casa_token=eRiGnqYZCngAAAAA%3Av7lB7tEFTkIAB2wqnwkK_Cdj23HzHc2ut7YmKoztn0dQ6nQ_m-HRuYVgTlRjWvOZmf4F_m_rcwf-Sg
 
Moayedi-Nia, S., Taheri, L., Rouzbahani, N. H., Rasoolinejad, M., Nikzad, R., Ardebili, M. E.,& Mohraz, M. (2019). HIV prevalence and sexual behaviors among transgender women in Tehran, Iran. AIDS and Behavior, 23(6), 1590-1593. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10461-018-02380-w
 
Mofradidoost, R., & Abolghasemi, A. (2020). Body Image Concern and Gender Identities between Transgender and Cisgender Persons from Iran. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 46(3), 260-268. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0092623X.2019.1683665
 
 
Najmabadi, A. (2011). Verdicts of science, rulings of faith: Transgender/sexuality in contemporary Iran. Social Research: An International Quarterly, 78(2), 533-556. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/528139/summary?casa_token=89CMBZa-o5sAAAAA:3QlFdW06xufW6I3hKsn5GUf0bCtyN52CaTT2WuabqMVU4O0IPnlpmM3fF8q1EHofZ9UlQ-Af1oA
 
Nematy, A., Fattahi, K., Khosravi, Z., & Khodabakhsh, R. (2014). A comparison of early maladaptive schemata among homosexual, bisexual and heterosexual people in Iran. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 18(4), 361-374. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19359705.2014.908334