EDGE Boston

A human being is never more magnificent but when that human stands alone for what is right.

Such is the case of Arsham Parsi, a refugee from Iran who left for fear of his life when the government discovered he was an LGBTQ activist. But Parsi didn’t just run and hide. Once he got to Canada, he regrouped.

Parsi began working for LGBTQ rights in Iran, this time right out in the open. He founded a group called the IRanian Queer Railroad (IRQR) to help Gay refugees leave Iran and settle in new homes abroad. Since then, he has received countless calls and emails from Queer Iranians- he doesn’t talk much about the hate messages he receives. Why sweat the small stuff?

Parsi is every bit as gracious as he is brave. Although deeply concerned for his family and friends back home as the situation in Iran gets increasingly volatile, he nevertheless granted me a series of interviews, which we finalized last night (June 21, 2009).

Here is the railroad conductor himself, Arsham Parsi.

MW: Tell us about the route you took to get from Iran to Canada.

AP: I was forced to flee Iran immediately on 5 March, 2005 because I feared persecution. I took a bus from Shiraz to Tehran [both cities in Iran] so I could take the Tehran-Istanbul [Turkey] train, but I missed it, so I took the Tehran-Tabriz [Iran] bus and caught the train to Turkey from Tabriz the next morning. I was able to register as a refugee at the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Ankara, Turkey. Three months after arriving in Turkey, my case was accepted. 10 months after that, I arrived in Canada. Though I now live in a safe country, I still consider myself Iranian and never forget that I am in exile for my sexual orientation.

MW: The evolution of your organization: how did the IRQR start?

I began secretly working for the advancement of civil rights for Lesbians and Gays in 2001. In 2003, I helped organize a clandestine Yahoo chat group for Gay Iranians. We called it Voice Celebration. In total, there were 50 participants, making contact with each other and exchanging views on how best to achieve civil rights. What was most striking about these exchanges is that, while people were emailing contact, they were typing under false names, and nobody dared to actually speak out in public under their real names. We all feared arrest, torture and even execution if we were discovered.

As I passed the border out of Iran, I promised myself and my country that I would one day return to a free, open Iran. Until that time, I work to achieve that goal.

I founded the Persian Gay and Lesbian Organization (PGLO) in 2004 before I left Iran, and the IRanian Queer Organization in 2006 after moving to Canada. In August 2008, I traveled to Turkey to meet with Iranian LGBT refugees and plead their case with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR). As the result of that trip, I concluded that a new organization dedicated exclusively to helping sexual dissidents flee persecution in Iran was necessary. The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th century Black slaves in the United States to escape to Canada with the aid of abolitionists. In Canada, they had their freedom. We focus on a similar thing: creating a basic support structure for Iranian Queers on their journey to freedom.

MW: What are the routes by which Iranian Queers can seek asylum?

AP: There are 2 ways. 1) Refugees leave Iran for Turkey or other transit countries to apply at the office of the UNHCR and claim refugee status on the basis of their sexual orientation. If they are granted refugee status, they will resettle in Canada, USA and Australia. 2) They leave Iran for European or North American countries directly and claim refugee status. If they are accepted, they can live in that country.

MW: Turkey and Malaysia seem to be 2 places that many Iranian refugees go. Why not stay in those countries?

AP: The UNHCR has offices in most countries. Some nations, including those in North America and Europe, can accept refugees directly. Turkey, Malaysia, and other countries do not accept direct refugees and UNHCR processing their application. They just give temporary permission to refugees to stay there. Refugees have no status and should leave the country when their process has been finished. Other countries, such as central Asian ones, may grant temporary status, but may not be the safest places for Queers, or may not have active UNHCR offices.

MW: Iran has a rich literary history that includes plenty of references to same-sex love. But you told me that it is better to use Straight scholars rather than Gays to argue Gay rights in terms of Iranian culture and literature. Your own strategy is to argue universal principles of human rights rather than Iranian culture. Why?

AP: We ask Straight scholars on Iranian culture to speak out on our behalf to Straight Iranians because it is more effective for us when a heterosexual talks with other heterosexuals about homosexuality. If the scholar were Gay, people would just say that scholar was biased.

I used to do research on religions and theology when I was at high school. I learned that all religions are the same: they all about controlling people. I had lots of arguments with religious authorities that religion and homosexuality do not oppose each other. I do not need to do this now- I am more effective in the spotlight as a Queer who says Queer rights are human rights.

MW: It is legal in Iran to get a sex change, in part due to the work done by transwoman Maryam Hatoon Molkara, who convinced Ayatollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa (theological legal opinion) supporting the procedure for those who feel they have been born with the wrong genitalia. But you disagree with Molkara about LGBTQ rights.

AP: Maryam Hatoon Molkara believes that homosexuality is immoral behavior and transsexuality/transgenderism is a sickness. The result is that Gays are strongly encouraged to undergo a sex change or hormone therapy. She keeps saying that transpeople must avoid any contact with homosexuals. I do not agree with what she says because we all suffer from the same thing and we should be united. What she says is exactly what government wants her to say, and that translates into un-unity for the LGBTQ community.

MW: Describe the difference in reaction that Iranians tend to have with transmen as opposed to transwomen.

AP: Transmen are more acceptable in Iranian society because it is all about being macho. Men have more power in most of the Middle Eastern countries. Becoming a man is more acceptable than becoming a woman. I believe that the Islamic punishment for Gay men, which is execution, is based on this belief. They think if a man lets another man fuck him, it is an insult against men’s honour and they should kill him.

MW: Is it true that there are no gender markers in Farsi (the Persian language)?

AP: We do not have he/she. We just have "ou." When you read something you must find out its gender within context. This ambiguity affects legal documents. According to Article 10 in the Iranian constitution before the Islamic revolution, marriage was an agreement between 2 people. They did not mention genders. But after the revolution, they added a sub-article and limited it between man and woman.

MW: You said you call refugee’s families in Iran to explain to them that their daughter or son is Gay because everyone is afraid to do so.

AP: I will contact families in Iran to help them accept their Queer children if I am asked. If families find out about their kid’s sexual orientation and make hard rules for them, I can call them and talk with them to solve it. Sometimes I will ask my family members in Iran to help me.

MW: Is it true that you are the only "out" representative of Iranian Queers?

AP: So far, I am the only out Iranian Gay activist, which is hard for me because I must take care of most of the responsibilities for IRQR. I wish that I had lots of friends who could go in front of cameras and support this cause, but they cannot risk it and I have to speaking out on behalf of them as well. I totally understand their situation, and there is no pressure from me. I will continue my support, and I hope one day they will feel safe enough to come out.

MW: How bad is the problem of suicide for the Iranian LGBTQ community?

AP: The rate of suicide in our Queer community is not low, especially for transpeople because there are lots of social pressures on them. I know some transgenders who committed suicide even after their sex change because they were not really transgender. They were homosexual and decided to undergo the operation to have a little bit more freedom in Iran. But they did not know that it would not make much difference.

MW: Is what you do spiritual?

AP: Sort of spiritual. I use to feel like a sinner when I was kid, but now I want to tell all my Queer fellows that we are not sinners, there is nothing wrong with us. I used to practice religion and I stopped because I believe what I am doing now and helping others is more important. It is more acceptable to God when compared to going to church or mosque and repeating some words from holy books.

MW: What is your impression of Toronto’s Pride parade?

I like it. I believe that Pride use to be a social statement of defiance, but now it is a commercial tour. In general, I think Pride is a fun week in North America these years, and is more political and social in eastern countries now.

MW: You do your best to present a positive image of Iranian homophobes, and from that, their potential for change.

AP: They are homophobes because they have no true information about homosexuals. It is absolutely possible for them to change when they have proper information. I have many heterosexual friends who use to be homophobes and hated Gays. When I said that I am Gay, when they find out that I am not suddenly a stranger, that I will not force them to have sex with me, but also I would not allow them to disrespect me, they do not become abusive. Then they asked me many questions mostly on sexual relationships, and most of them were surprised that we feel the way they feel. We are good friends now. Homophobia is all about ignorance.

MW: Tell us one good story that illustrates what you do.

AP: There are lots of stories, but I like to share this one:
A few months ago in Toronto, I was in the subway, tired, and on my way back from college. Someone called out for me in Persian and said "Are you Arsham Parsi?" Upon hearing my affirmative response, he slapped me hard in the face and said, "I hate you and the organization for which you work and all the lies you say about the situation of queers being bad in Iran." I understood the rest of what he wanted to say. I told him, "I can call the police, and I hope you know that to slap someone for their sexual orientation can result in imprisonment here, so I hope you have a good reason for doing it." He asked, "Have you ever heard of the tribe of Lut [story of Lot in Sodom] who were stoned by God for committing sodomy?" That question resulted in us standing and talking in the subway for about two hours. It might surprise you that after that, he hugged me, kissed my face, apologized and said, "If queers are the people you are talking about, I have no problem with them." We are now friends, and speak over the phone every few weeks, and sometimes treat each other to coffee.

This experience had another meaning for me besides being interesting and somewhat funny. That is that in order to fight homophobia, we cannot just write articles, have news items, write books, or have campaigns. Parallel to all these things, we have to roll up our sleeves, we have to stand on the streets, and fight against it even if we get slapped because there is no guarantee that homophobic people will read these materials.

We do not want big things. We just want our rights. Those who accept us as homosexuals have not done something magnificent. If they do not accept homosexual rights, then there is certainly something wrong with them. We should challenge people, especially Iranians, because Iranian regime regulations do not allow them to think about these things.