"Emotional relations are very different. Men and women both may become exceptionally attached to people of the same sex, to the point that Westerners would swear that they must have a sexual relationship. It is not necessarily so. Kissing, holding hands, weeping, jealousy, physical contact and all the signs of partnership can exist without any sexual activity or, indeed, with an undercurrent of absolute horror that it might take place, because of the active-passive split in sexual classification and men's fear of being pegged as a passive partner. A man who truly loves another man doesn't want to degrade him by making him a passive sex partner."

"Iranians who come to Europe and the United S...

"Emotional relations are very different. Men and women both may become exceptionally attached to people of the same sex, to the point that Westerners would swear that they must have a sexual relationship. It is not necessarily so. Kissing, holding hands, weeping, jealousy, physical contact and all the signs of partnership can exist without any sexual activity or, indeed, with an undercurrent of absolute horror that it might take place, because of the active-passive split in sexual classification and men's fear of being pegged as a passive partner. A man who truly loves another man doesn't want to degrade him by making him a passive sex partner."

"Iranians who come to Europe and the United States may "discover" that they are "gay" once they are liberated from the rigid cultural system that binds them into these polarized active-passive roles.

"To be sure, sodomy is punishable by death in Iran, but such executions have been historically extremely rare compared with the routine incidence of same-sex sexual behavior in Iran. Much was made in the United States of two boys who were executed in the city of Mashhad a few years ago for "being homosexual," as the Western press put it. However, they were executed because they had essentially committed what we would call statutory rape on an under-aged boy. The boy's father was beside himself with rage and grief, and pressed charges. In many such cases, the shame of the family and the victim himself is so great that no one ever finds out. "


Different strokes for different folks. Most noticeable is..

"Same-sex relations between females are undoubtedly practiced, but this is the deepest secret in Iran, and rarely talked about at all."

Same-sex relations between females are undoubtedly practiced, but this
is the deepest secret in Iran, and rarely talked about at all.

Wow, I wouldn't want to be a bisexual or gay woman over there.

Emotional relations are very different. Men and women both may become
exceptionally attached to people of the same sex, to the point that
Westerners would swear that they must have a sexual relationship. It is
not necessarily so. Kissing, holding hands, weeping, jealousy, physical
contact and all the signs of partnership can exist without any sexual
activity or, indeed, with an undercurrent of absolute horror that it
might take place, because of the active-passive split in s...

read more»

Same-sex relations between females are undoubtedly practiced, but this
is the deepest secret in Iran, and rarely talked about at all.

Wow, I wouldn't want to be a bisexual or gay woman over there.

Emotional relations are very different. Men and women both may become
exceptionally attached to people of the same sex, to the point that
Westerners would swear that they must have a sexual relationship. It is
not necessarily so. Kissing, holding hands, weeping, jealousy, physical
contact and all the signs of partnership can exist without any sexual
activity or, indeed, with an undercurrent of absolute horror that it
might take place, because of the active-passive split in sexual
classification and men's fear of being pegged as a passive partner.

This is so interesting. It's ok to kiss and hold hands with a same-sex member but it's not ok to go further. It's also ok for men to have sexual relationships with other men as long as they are not in a "passive" role. Great clip, Righty!

A couple of facts have been omitted on William O.Beeman. For the past 30 years he has been a vocal and constant critic of Western policies towards Iran ... .... interestingly he has never criticized or choose to point out anything that is critical in a serious way with or on Iran. If anything .... he has always acted as an apologist for Iran.

The world has instituted sanctions against the Iranian regime for a reason .... hhhhhmmmm ..... maybe there is more truth to Iran's behavior than what William Beeman is letting on.

The International Herald Tribune has the following article that pretty well sums up on what happens to people who are gay in Iran.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/11/a...

A couple of facts have been omitted on William O.Beeman. For the past 30 years he has been a vocal and constant critic of Western policies towards Iran ... .... interestingly he has never criticized or choose to point out anything that is critical in a serious way with or on Iran. If anything .... he has always acted as an apologist for Iran.

The world has instituted sanctions against the Iranian regime for a reason .... hhhhhmmmm ..... maybe there is more truth to Iran's behavior than what William Beeman is letting on.

The International Herald Tribune has the following article that pretty well sums up on what happens to people who are gay in Iran.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/11/africa/11iran-web.php

Amnesty International also contradicts what William O.Beeman is saying. http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.amnesty.org%2Fpages%2FAIDS_regions&ei=A78HR5X9H4G4jgGGv5iHDg&usg=AFQjCNEZtalG_CWTD_vUGwPmigOiELYnAg&sig2=rM6TC0wA3po75o2ZqPZZWg

Not from this item,but from other sources, I have learnt some other interesting data.

One is the 'pleasure marriage', that I had known about for some time. I might find something interesting to clip on this.

The other is how important female virginity is in Arab society. It is not that many generations ago when this standard or double standard was not the norm in the West too. They appear to have an interesting solution to this problem. Sex between males is acceptable in lieu of a female. If you reread the main article with this in mind, the main article makes even more sense.

Who are we to judge their society? Personally, if I had gay tenancies, I'd prefer their solution. The notion of ...

Not from this item,but from other sources, I have learnt some other interesting data.

One is the 'pleasure marriage', that I had known about for some time. I might find something interesting to clip on this.

The other is how important female virginity is in Arab society. It is not that many generations ago when this standard or double standard was not the norm in the West too. They appear to have an interesting solution to this problem. Sex between males is acceptable in lieu of a female. If you reread the main article with this in mind, the main article makes even more sense.

Who are we to judge their society? Personally, if I had gay tenancies, I'd prefer their solution. The notion of being prayed over by my community to a god for to straighten me out, is abhorrent to me. Also, why did nature place the prostate at that exact depth in that place. It ain't exactly obvious, is it. Remember, after all this time, they now believe that know why we have the appendix. Then there's bi-sexual, which we don't explain to well.

Thank you for your generous comments. I'm a huge believer in the sharing of knowledge and ideas in an international community. Our ClipMarks gang ring my bells. (mostly, 99.5%, honestly.Ha ha)

Amnesty International also contradicts what William O.Beeman is saying.

This item is titled ...

World AIDS Day - December 1st, 2003
Overview of the Situation of HIV/AIDS in Different Regions of the World

NOTE report of 2003, some time ago. I must check updates. Iran is mention 3 times in an exceptionally long report. Not once is ther anything that contradicts Beeman.

[url=http://web.amnesty.org/pages/AIDS_regions]A significant increase has been documented among infecting drug users. In Iran, one percent of the 200,000-300,000 drug users, most of whom are men, are living with HIV. Many share in...

Amnesty International also contradicts what William O.Beeman is saying.

This item is titled ...

World AIDS Day - December 1st, 2003
Overview of the Situation of HIV/AIDS in Different Regions of the World

NOTE report of 2003, some time ago. I must check updates. Iran is mention 3 times in an exceptionally long report. Not once is ther anything that contradicts Beeman.

A significant increase has been documented among infecting drug users. In Iran, one percent of the 200,000-300,000 drug users, most of whom are men, are living with HIV. Many share injection equipment and it is believed that many have extra-marital sexual relations. Condoms are rarely used. Ten percent of the prisoners in Iran are believed to inject drugs, with many sharing needles.

In Iran, homosexuality is criminalized and those convicted may be subject to the death penalty.

This is in agreement with Beeman ...

"To be sure, sodomy is punishable by death in Iran, but such executions have been historically extremely rare compared with the routine incidence of same-sex sexual behavior in Iran. Much was made in the United States of two boys who were executed in the city of Mashhad a few years ago for "being homosexual," as the Western press put it. However, they were executed because they had essentially committed what we would call statutory rape on an under-aged boy. The boy's father was beside himself with rage and grief, and pressed charges. In many such cases, the shame of the family and the victim himself is so great that no one ever finds out."


You accusation is WRONG, plain and simple WRONG. You are either an incompetent clipper or a very mischievous one with an outside agenda or lobby.

Beeman is author of Language, Status and Power in Iran and The "Great