The prohibition and punishment of homosexuality in Muslim societies have been given a new twist in Iran, with “sex-reassignment” surgery becoming a sanctioned means of dealing with the tendency.
Foreign Policy magazine (May/June) reports that since 2008 Iran has carried out the second-highest number of sex-change operations of any country after Thailand. These operations have been legal in Iran for more than two decades, ever since Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwah authorizing them for “diagnosed transsexuals.” But many of the procedures are now undergone by young gay men who fear imprisonment or death if they persist in seeking same-sex relationships.
The official in charge of sex reassignments recently told the BBC that when it comes to homosexuality, “Islam has a cure for people suffering from this problem.” While homosexuality goes against nature, a sex change is no more sinful than “changing wheat to flour to bread,” he said.