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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Mullahs Allow, Pay for Transsex Operations -- and Marry the Results |
| 2004-08-02 |
| From The New York Times, an article by Nazila Fathi .... But these days, Iran's Muslim clerics, who dominate the judiciary, are considerably better informed about transsexuality. Some clerics now even recommend sex-change operations to those who are troubled about their gender. The issue was discussed at a conference in Tehran in June that drew officials from other Persian Gulf countries. One cleric, Muhammad Mehdi Kariminia, is writing his thesis on transsexuality at the religious seminary of Qum. ... One early campaigner for transsexual rights is Maryam Hatoon Molkara, who was formerly a man known as Fereydoon. Before the revolution, under the shah, he had longed to become a woman but could not afford surgery. Furthermore, he wanted religious guidance. In 1978, he wrote to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who was to become the leader of the revolution but was still in exile, explaining his situation. The ayatollah replied that his case was different from that of a homosexual and therefore he had his blessing. However, the revolution intervened and men like himself or those who had already changed their sex were harassed, even jailed and tortured. "They made me stop wearing women's clothes, which I had worn for many years and was used to," Ms. Molkara recalled. "It was like torture for me. They even made me take hormones to look like a man." |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #3 the man-turned-woman divorced, and then married the cleric. ... I realy didn't need that mental picture. ick!!! |
| Posted by: N Guard 2004-08-02 5:50:47 PM |
| #2 His operation was paid for by a Muslim cleric he had worked for as a secretary. After the surgery, the man-turned-woman divorced, and then married the cleric. ... Really, Really Extreme Makeover Meets Mullah Jerry Springer |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-08-02 11:46:56 AM |
| #1 Well, that answers my previous question.... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-08-02 9:59:19 AM |