Lesbian Iranian seeks outlet in film

Iran doesn't officially have gay citizens, but then nobody asked Kiana Firouz.

"I am an Iranian lesbian."

It seems an introduction designed to shock anyone who knows anything about official Iranian attitudes to such admissions.

After all, it was the country's own president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who in2007 confidently stated during an address at New York's Columbia University that Iran did not have any gays.

But Kiana Firouz, a 27-year-old writer, actress and gay rights activists, is not only real she's out, and proud, having adopted London as her hometown almost 2 years ago.

Until then, Kiana lived in the Marzdaran neighborhood west of Tehran. She went to school and studied cinema. It was during her time at school that she became a member of an underground network of lesbians who gathered frequently to talk about their problems. She says each of the women had their own tragic stories to tell. One of the girls told the group of her mothers reaction when she told her she was a lesbian.

"She told me 'I would have been less devastated if you had told me you have cancer.'"

Life is far from easy for gays and lesbians in Iran. The issue is a taboo and the government is determined to brush it aside, or following Ahmadinejad's lead pretend that it doesn't exist. As a result of lack of awareness in the society, gays and lesbians are usually marginalized, and many suffer depression.

Kiana recalls the story of another well-educated lesbian living in Tehran who wanted to set up her own publishing company but needed permission from the Ministry of Culture and Guidance and was told she needed to be married. "There was no way she would enter a forced marriage," Kiana said, "in the end she just decided to give up on her company."

And while Iran might not officially have gay citizens, it does have 3,000 "patients with sexual orientation complications," according to Hassan Mousavi Chalak, head of the Iranian Welfare Organization.

Men caught for a 2nd time having gay sex face the death penalty according to the law in Iran, and women receive 100 lashes on the second conviction. 4th-time offenders face the death penalty.

Source: Global Post, April 19, 2010