News :: GLBT
Questions Fly About Meaning, Translation of Iran President’s "No Gays" Remarkby Kilian MelloyTuesday Sep 25, 2007 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly claimed that there are "no gays in Iraq." At issue is what he meant by that--and whether he said what the translator claimed he said.
In an appearance yesterday at Colombia University, Ahmadinejad faced questions about Iran’s human rights record and his own declarations that the Holocaust did not happen, but he also questioned the official version of events regarding the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, according to an account published by the Associated Press.
But it was the Iranian President’s comments on gays in Iran that raised eyebrows among GLBT Americans.
Asked about reports of a program of extralegal executions targeting gays in Iran, Ahmadinejad made a remark that was translated as, "In Iran we don’t have homosexuals like in your country."
The question now flying around the blogosphere is what, exactly, this translated comment was intended by Ahmadinejad to mean, with interpretations varying from a flat-out denial that homosexuality exists within Iran’s borders, to fine-point distinctions between "homosexuals" (men with same-sex urges) and "gays" (men who act on same-sex urges), to the claim that what Ahmadinejad actually said in Farsi was a denial of any executions of gay men.
Queerty.com received a detailed comment from a user identified as bigsmiles who claimed to be a Farsi speaker, and who said that what the Iranian president actually said was, "We do not have any execution of gays our country." Said bigsmiles, "His translator really screwed him."
The translator’s version said, "In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals like in your country. We don’t have that in our country. In Iran, we do not have this phenomenon. I do not know who has told you that we have it."
The Human Rights Campaign’s executive director, Joe Solmonese, issued a statement in which he said, "Today’s assertions by President Ahmadinejad that there are no homosexuals in Iran would be simply absurd were it not for the fact that international human rights watchers have long documented some of the most horrific acts of persecution and violence committed against gay people in Iran."
Solmonese continued, "These acts of terror have included incarcerations, beatings, and brutal executions. Ahmadinejad’s denial that there are gay people in Iran shows the extent to which he devalues the lives of the many citizens his government has and continues to violate."
Colombia University President Lee Bollinger said to Ahmadinejad, "Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator."
Outside, in the streets of New York City, protesters--many of them Jewish and outraged by Ahmadinejad’s denial of the Holocaust--jammed streets, sang, and carried placards.
Said New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who was present in the crowd, "We’re here today to send a message that there is never a reason to give a hate-monger an open stage."
Those sentiments were echoed by members of Congress. Said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, "[T]here is a world of difference between not preventing Ahmadinejad from speaking, and handing a megalomaniac a megaphone and a stage to use it."
Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor.
|
|
|
Email
Print
Share