When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Columbia University last September, he declared that Iran had no homosexuals .
That is because according to Islamic law, which rules in Iran, homosexuality is punishable by death.
Yesterday morning I saw Tanaz Eshaghian's documentary "Be Like Others," which reveals, quite ironically, that while homosexuality is outlawed, sex change operations are both legal and embraced by a society that accepts male and female, but nothing in between.
This powerful film explores the intersection of religion, law, culture and the struggle for freedom with respect to gender and sexuality. In fact one of the principal "characters" says in the film that he is getting the operation so he can get full rights. Another says: "after surgery my identity will be defined." Many get the surgery to stop being harassed by the public and arrested by the police.
Unfortunately, there are not many happy endings. Some turn to prostitution, many admitted that if they weren't in Iran they would not have had the surgery, and a vast majority is shunned by their families.
The film looks primarily at male to female sex changes, but the filmmaker said that women to men have much easier transitions. It is not as offensive to Islamic culture.
International TV rights to "Be Like Others" have been sold; Eshaghian is still shopping the film around for domestic and theatrical distribution. The film will also show next week at the Berlin Film Festival.
