That’s like saying “In America, we don’t have idiots.”
Welcome to a train-wreck of foreign relations.
Iranian President Ahmadinejad Denies Gay Existence - GenerationQ
Columbia University, New York, NY (USA) Today [9/24], President of Iran, Ahmadinejad spoke to faculty, staff, and students at Columbia University in New York, NY . Amid quite a bit of protest, this controversial speaker not only questioned the legitimacy of Jerusalem , argued for the proliferation of nuclear armaments and even denied that gay men and lesbians exist in an Arabic state. During the speech, a questioner asked him why does his country deny women and homosexual’s rights. His answer was not only startling in this day and age, but it was disgusting:
QUESTION: Mr. President, the question isn’t about criminal and drug smugglers. The question was about sexual preference and women.
(APPLAUSE)
AHMADINEJAD (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals, like in your country.
(LAUGHTER)
We don’t have that in our country.
(AUDIENCE BOOING)
AHMADINEJAD (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): In Iran, we do not have this phenomenon. I don’t know who’s told you that we have it.
Since the year 1979, over 4000 gay men and lesbians have been put to death in Iran.
No one will deny that the culture of a foreign country will be markedly different from that of your homeland. You’ll find everything from different religions to different clothing - traits as superficial as different spices in the food, or as telling as an entirely different set of physical characteristics.
What you will not find, though, is a deviation from the basic tenets of human existence. Bipedal, four fingers and an opposable thumb, one head, two eyes, two genders…and diverse sexuality among those two genders.
So for the president of Iran to boldly state that Iran has no homosexuals would be like President Bush standing in front of the population of a nation and declaring proudly, “We have no idiots in America.”
Where there are humans, there will be idiots. (Some days I’m one of ‘em.) And where there are humans…you will find homosexuality. Let’s face it, homosexuality occurs in nature; it’s been documented in countless species of animals and even finds its place in the social hierarchy of the pack/herd/flock/etc.
We are animals. Evidence grows almost daily to support a biological trigger for homosexuality, whether it’s wired in genetically from the start or some chemical released by the brain. It happens in every country; to claim that it doesn’t happen in Iran is like saying that Iranians are somehow more human than human (hello, White Zombie) and evolved beyond natural occurrences of homosexuality. Of course there are homosexuals in Iran; I can’t believe I even have to state this as an obvious fact. In fact, if you do a Google search right now, you’ll find recent documented evidence of gay Iranians in many venues. You can’t just say that they don’t exist.
Unless you intend on proving that true by executing them all. 4,000 dead gays and lesbians…
So are we vermin now, to be exterminated?
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran, Columbia University, Homophobia, Anti-gay sentiment
September 26th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
[...] The Situationist Staff wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptColumbia University, New York, NY (USA) Today [9/24], President of Iran, Ahmadinejad spoke to faculty, staff, and students at Columbia University in New York, NY . Amid quite a bit of protest, this controversial speaker not only … [...]
September 26th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
I pledge to do my part and pick up the slack for Iran. If I have lots of gay sex, early and often, then things should even out.
God, he’s such a moron. I was in Tehran for 3 days in 2004, and there are gays … you just have to be _very_ careful or suicidal to try and approach one. If a member of the morality police catches you, the penalty is death.
September 27th, 2007 at 9:40 am
He’s not a moron; he’s a professional liar in charge of an oppressive regime. Of course he’d rather say: “We have no homosexuals” to “We’re killing people for being what they are.”
It’s still a mystery to me what he expected by coming here. My instinct says “troll.” I need to get off the internet.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:30 pm
“Where there are humans, there will be idiots” pretty much sums it up. I, too, thought the ‘dinner jacket’s’ remarks were post-worthy. It’s laughable, just not in a funny ha-ha way. Okay, maybe, but sad, too. Extermination, here I come.
November 29th, 2007 at 9:40 am
[...] arrested by the morality police in his own country for having a relationship with another man (but homosexuals don’t exist in Iran, do they, Mr. President?) and now, after struggling to make a life for himself as a business owner, [...]
December 6th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
[...] victim, and thus possibly spared the death penalty? Regardless, the entire affair is sickening. No homosexuals in Iran, eh? One way or [...]
March 12th, 2008 at 9:38 am
[...] They must be reading the same book as Iran’s president, who is still convinced that they don’t even have gays in [...]