“NEW JERSEY

INTERNATIONAL
ENGLISH
CENTER”.
BOOK # 3
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST
LGBT PEOPLE.

“IN GOD´S MERCY IS OUR KNOWLEDGE”

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TERMINOLOGY

BIOLOGICAL SEX: the biological classification of bodies as male or female based on factors including
external sex organs, internal sexual and reproductive organs, hormones, or chromosomes.

BISEXUAL: a person who is attracted both to women and men.

GAY: a synonym for homosexual in English and some other languages, sometimes used to describe only
males who are attracted primarily to other males.

GENDER: the social and cultural codes (as opposed to biological sex) used to distinguish between what a
society considers “masculine” or “feminine” conduct.

GENDER IDENTITY: a person’s internal, deeply felt sense of being female or male, or something other
than female or male.

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: violence directed against a person on the basis of gender or perceived
sexual orientation. Gender-based violence can include sexual violence, domestic violence, psychological
abuse, sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, harmful traditional practices, and discriminatory practices
based on gender. The term originally described violence against women but is now taken to include violence
targeted at both women and men because of how they experience and express their genders and sexualities.

HAMJENSBAZ: a derogatory but commonly used Persian term for homosexuals.

HETEROSEXUAL: a person attracted primarily to people of the opposite sex.

HOMOSEXUAL: a person attracted primarily to people of the same sex.

INTERSEX: a person who is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that does not fit the typical
definitions of female or male.

LESBIAN: a female attracted primarily to other females.

LGBT: lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender; an inclusive term for groups and identities sometimes
associated together as “sexual minorities. Generally used to refer to individuals who self-identify as either
lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

MSM: men (or males) who have sex with men. Men who have sex with men may or may not identify as gay
or bisexual.
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SEXUAL MINORITIES: an all-inclusive term that includes all persons with non-conforming sexualities
and gender identities, such as LGBT, men who have sex with men (and may not self-identify as LGBT) and
women who have sex with women. Sexual orientation: the way in which a person’s sexual and emotional
desires are directed. The term categorizes according to the sex of the object of desire—that is, it describes
whether a person is attracted primarily toward people of the same or opposite sex or to both.

TRANSGENDER: one whose inner gender identity or outward gender expression differs from the physical
characteristics of their body at birth. Female-to-male (FTM) transgender people (or transmen) were born with
a female body but have a predominantly male gender identity; male-to-female (MTF) transgender people (or
transwomen) were born with a male body but have a predominantly female gender identity.

TRANSSEXUAL: a person who has undergone or is in the process of undergoing hormone therapies and the
complex of cosmetic and reconstructive procedures usually known as sex reassignment surgery (SRS) so that
their physical sex corresponds to their internal gender identity.

WSW: women (or females) who have sex with women. Women who have sex with women
may or may not identify as lesbian or bisexual.

CAUSES OF LGBT.

This is the first and perhaps the most basic question about homosexuality. In order to understand the
phenomenon of same-sex sexual relations, we must first explore what the research shows about the origins of
such attractions. There are two main theories as to what causes homosexual attractions. One is that a
homosexual orientation is essentially dictated by genetic and or biological factors—put simply, that people
are “born gay.” The other theory is that homosexual attractions develop as primarily as a result of
psychological and environmental influences and early experiences. In the public square, the latter theory has
appeared to be in decline and the former gaining favor in recent decades. But what does the research show?
Let’s look at these two theories in turn.
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ARE PEOPLE “BORN GAY”?

While the research of the infamous sex researcher Alfred Kinsey is often used by those seeking the moral
approval of homosexuality, there is one point on which he is seldom quoted: his rejection of a biological
origin for homosexuality.
• Kinsey’s colleague and biographer, Wardell Pomeroy, reports: “By the end of 1940 he had recorded more
than 450 homosexual histories, enough to convince him that the psychologists were making matters worse by
starting with the assumption that homosexuality was an inherited abnormality which could not be cured
simply because it was inherent. Kinsey was convinced that there was absolutely no evidence of inheritance.”

ALLEGED EVIDENCE OF THE

BIOLOGICAL ORIGIN OF
HOMOSEXUALITY

A handful of studies published during the 1990s have claimed to offer evidence in favor of a biological or
genetic cause for homosexuality. Three of these in particular—a study of brain structure by Simon LeVay, a
study of twins by J. Michael Bailey and Richard C. Pillard, and a study of “gene linkage” and “gene markers”
by a team led by Dean H. Hamer—attracted considerable media attention and are largely responsible for the
popular belief that a “gay gene” has already been found. Let’s look at these in turn.

NEUROHORMONAL THEORIES.

Overview
One of the key areas in the science of homosexuality has been the investigation of the link between brain
development and differentiation and the presence or absence of different pre- and post-natal hormones. This
area has its roots in the attempts of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to correlate different aspects
of human behaviour and character to biological and neurological determinants. Beginning with crude
estimates of skull size and brain volume and continuing in the twentieth century with the ever more detailed
examination and categorisation of different brain structures. In our own time the advent of advanced imaging
technology has led to a massive expansion in this enterprise. Now for the first time, displayed upon our
computer screens in 3-D and technicolour, we can see the inner workings of the human brain and the myriad
different patterns and pathways of neuronal activation. At the same time we have also come to a much
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greater understanding of the chemical nature of the brain. The study of neuroendocrinology has revealed the
many complex links between the body’s nervous and endocrine (hormonal) systems. Hormones are chemical
messengers from one cell or group of cells to another which are secreted into the bloodstream. They work by
combining with the appropriate receptor which is most often embedded on the surface of the target cell. The
interaction between hormone and receptor triggers a cascade effect within the target cell which often has
major physiological effects. Within the brain hormones are secreted from the anterior and posterior pituitary
glands. These glands link neurons and hormones via complex feedback mechanisms and serve to regulate
important aspects of human behaviour such as metabolism and the reproductive cycle. It is for this reason
that neuroendocrinology is of particular importance in the debate over human sexuality.

WHAT DO DIFFERENT CULTURES

TELL US ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY?

The huge variety of sexual expressions in different cultures sharing essentially the same genes shows genetic
influence is minimal. In 1994, an Italian-American geneticist, Cavalli-Sforza, published a huge genetic atlas1
the outcome of a monumental study of the genetic characteristics of different ethnic groups. He found that
the human race was remarkably homogeneous, genetically. The more genes his team studied, the more they
found all ethnic groups shared them. Cavalli-Sforza eventually studied fifty genes, and found that all ethnic
groups had most of them. His conclusion was that, in spite of superficial differences, e.g., skin colour, the
different races are essentially the same genetically. Later work shows in fact, that something between
99.7%and 99.9%of the genes in any two unrelated people are the same.2* If all ethnic groups share almost
all their genes, we can make two assumptions about any behaviour that is claimed to be genetically
produced:
• It will be very predictable, very specific and similar all over the globe.
• It will be present at roughly the same percentage in all cultures.

We also know that many genes, maybe hundreds, are involved in human behaviours, and that behaviours
affected by many genes will change very slowly over very many generations (Chapter One). That is, they
will be very stable for centuries, with only minimal changes from generation to generation. This is true not
only in families, but also in cultures.

* Although there is a lot of variation in DNA coding reflecting different ethnic groups, these variations
produce identical genes, so most genes remain the same. But if we look at homosexuality, we find none of
the characteristics of genetic properties.
• There is a huge variety of homosexual practices between cultures and even within them.
• The prevalence of homosexuality has varied considerably in different cultures. In some cultures, it has been
unknown; in others, it has been obligatory for all males.
• There have been, and are, rapid changes in homosexual behaviour, even over a lifetime. Not only that, but
entire types of homosexuality have disappeared over the course of just a few centuries. In fact,
anthropologists have found such huge variations in heterosexual and homosexual practice from culture to
culture, and such sudden changes in sexual practice and orientation, even over a single generation, that they
mostly want to say that all sexual behaviour is learned. In the words of one writer J. Rostand, “In the secret
coming together of two human bodies, all society is the third presence.”

VARIATIONS IN HOMOSEXUALITY

We have established that a genetically induced homosexuality would tend to be fairly uniform in expression
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throughout the world. But neglecting minor variants two entirely different types of behavior co-existed
historically—the Greek model and the Melanesian model— and three co-exist today, the Greek model
(secretly practised), the Melanesian model, and the Western model.5 The variety of practices outside these
models, and even within the Western model, are also quite at odds with a genetically prescribed
homosexuality.

THE GREEK MODEL:

At the height of the Greek culture, according to the social custom, an older married man was expected to take
a younger boy as a kind of squire and have sexual relations with him. Today, the West would call him a
bisexual pederast. The older man would act as a mentor to the young boy and train him in manhood. He
would even find the young boy a bride when he reached marriageable age. Then he would find another boy
and start the process again. As described by one scholar: This sort of Greek male’s ideal picture of himself
was that he serviced his wife, had a sexual friendship with his mistress, and did his national duty by teaching
younger men how to behave with bravery and honor which more or less frequently involved buggering them
in an idealistic manner. It was only the boy he “‘loved.’” In the Greek model, a boy starts out exclusively
homosexual in his relationship to his bisexual mentor, and then is strongly encouraged to become bisexual at
maturity. In Greek culture, homosexuality between adults—as we have it in the West today—was considered
despicable (mainly for the receptive partner). One classical writer, 5 talking of the mature male who was
also receptive, said, “we class those who enjoy the passive part as belonging to the lowest depth of vice and
allow them not the least degree of confidence or respect or friendship.” Boys were not denigrated for being
receptive—it was appropriate to their status. The Greek model 7 was found in early imperial Greece,
medieval Persia, and at various times in China and Byzantium. It was found in the Sudan, in feudal Japan
among the Samurai, and in the Libyan desert, where, fifty years ago males “talked about their masculine love
affairs as openly as they discussed their love of women.”3 The Mameluke rulers of Egypt imported young
boys from the Asian steppes. The Aztecs and Mayans also subscribed to the Greek model. According to one
account from the early 1900s, Arabic speakers in North Morocco believed young boys would not learn the
Koran properly unless they had sexual relations with their teachers. Sexual activity with boys or slaves was
sometimes regarded as a right among those with power and status. Amongst the Big Nambas in Vanuatu, a
father actively sought ‘guardians’ for his sons who would mentor them and have sexual relationships with
them.

THE MELANESIAN MODEL:

The Melanesian model 8 is not well known in the West. In it, men pass through three compulsory and
sequential stages: passive exclusive homosexuality, active exclusive homosexuality, and exclusive adult
heterosexuality. Many of the cultures practising it were in Papua New Guinea, and perhaps the best known
group was called the Sambia (a pseudonym). The Sambia believed that boys were naturally girl-like and
would not develop manly qualities and sexual maturity unless they ingested semen. The culture required
adolescents to fellate regularly (often daily) young boys after they were taken from their mothers at about
age seven. When the boys reached the initiation rite at puberty, they then had to repeat the process with
younger boys as their social duty. They continued to do this throughout adolescence, until they reached
marriageable age. Then they had to stop all homosexual activity, become exclusively heterosexual, and
marry. Any man who still wished to engage in homosexual activity with those of his own age or younger was
considered aberrant, a “rubbish man.” (About 5% continued with the practice.) However two such radical
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shifts in behaviour in one lifetime would not be possible if homosexuality were genetically mandated. One
missionary familiar with the New Guinean tribal cultures (Don Richardson) suggests the prescribed
homosexual behaviour among youth might have been insisted upon by polygynous older men to keep youths
away from the young girls they wanted as their own wives. Many anthropologists believe an extraordinary
fear of contamination from women in this culture may have contributed to the practice (i.e., marriage was
considered highly dangerous). Whatever the cause, anthropologists agree that it was culturally mandated.

THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIETY ON QUEER

IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
AND CLASSIFICATION.

To outline the history of homosexual identity classification and the societal contexts that influenced the
development of several commonly used queer identity models. The emergence of the term “homosexual” in
1869 reflected an increased interest in identifying, defining, and regulating queer behavior and identity
(Sullivan, 2003). Since then researchers, scientists, doctors, and queer rights activists have clamored to
develop ways of contextualizing homosexuality with various, and sometimes horrific results. Exploring the
history and impact of dominant heterosexual culture on homosexual identity will provide student affairs
professionals with a more complete understanding of the systemic legacy of challenges that queer college
students face.
As ways of classifying people’s sex, these apparently neutral terms (“homosexual” and “heterosexual”) are of
relatively recent vintage, and only make sense against a certain cultural background. So, however much they
might involve genetic or biological factors, they also involve changes in consciousness and culture.
In many ways identity is a social construct, defined and given value only when evaluated in relative terms to
a specific cultural context. As student affairs professionals, it is important to keep this in mind when utilizing
queer identity development models. Many of the models used today, although helpful, are products of the
societal and cultural framework in which they were conceived and thereby reflect the biases of those times.
In addition, most of the models were constructed using White gay men as participants, rendering the
relevance to queer people of color, women, and transgender individuals as questionable.

Kirsten E. Fricke is a second-year student in the HESA Program. Prior to moving to Vermont, she spent
many years in Baltimore where she received a B.F.A. from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2003.
Throughout her career she has sought to explore the intersections of identity, culture, privilege, and power.
This journey will hopefully lead her back to the classroom as faculty working with an art student population.
And she says:

Supporting students in their identity development is central to the field of

student affairs. For student affairs professionals, a critical understanding of
queer identity development is integral to successfully working with queer
students. This article will explore the evolution of queer identity
development theory, outline several key homosexual identity development
models, and examine the impact of dominant culture on identity.
development.
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CONVERSION THERAPY: CASTRATION,

LOBOTOMIES, AND ELECTROSHOCK THERAPY.

Discussions on homosexual identity are often centered on the nature verses nurture debate. Many people have
believed, and continue to believe, that homosexuality is either a choice or stems from the environment where
the individual was raised (e.g. bad parenting). The research of Sigmund Freud has often been interpreted and
used to support the “nurture” argument (Yoshino, 2006). Freud believed that all people were inherently
bisexual, but that homosexuality and heterosexuality were “culturally determined” (Yoshino, p. 36). After
Freud’s death in 1939, many doctors, therapists, and researchers disputed Freud’s theory of innate bisexuality
and adopted the assumption that if homosexuality was a learned behavior it was only natural that it could be
unlearned (Yoshino). This shift in thought led the American Psychological Association (APA) to officially
classify homosexuality as a psychiatric disease in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (DSM) in 1952 (Yoshino). Viewing homosexuality as a disease supported the practice of
conversion therapy. Conversion therapy was a method used to convert homosexuals to heterosexuals, thereby
curing their perceived disorder. There is evidence of the use of castration, lobotomies, and electroshock
therapy as tools for the conversion of homosexuals (Yoshino, 2006). In addition, lesbians were often forced
to undergo estrogen therapy and hysterectomies (Burr, 1997). Yoshino discussed one particular case in 1894,
where an individual named Guy T. Olmsted underwent voluntary castration as a way to get over his love for
another man:

Olmsted states, “Since the operation there has never been a day that I have
been free from sharp, shooting pains down the abdomen to the scrotum.”
Nonetheless, he deems the operation a success: “I have absolutely no passion
for other men, and have begun to hope now that I can yet outlive my desire
for Clifford.”

The lobotomy, invented by Portuguese neurosurgeon Egas Moniz in 1935, was another method used by
doctors who treated homosexuality as a mental disorder (Johnson, n.d.; Yoshino, 2006). On her website,
Johnson described the barbaric process:

The infamous transorbital lobotomy was a “blind” operation in that the surgeon did not know for certain if he
had severed the nerves or not. A sharp, ice-pick like object would be inserted through the eye socket between
the upper lid and eye. When the doctor thought he was at about the right spot, he would hit the end of the
instrument with a hammer. There were other types of lobotomy as well … as many varieties as there were
imaginative neurosurgeons. (About Lobotomy, n.d.) Lobotomies were used liberally until the 1970s
(Johnson; Yoshino). The APA also endorsed electroshock therapy to treat homosexuality. Yoshino (2006)
recounted a 1935 APA presentation that “cautioned that electroshock treatment would not convert
homosexuals unless shocks were administered at “intensities considerably higher than those usually
employed on human subjects” (Yoshino, p. 33). There has never been viable evidence to support the claim
that conversion therapy works to cure homosexuality (Yoshino, 2006). Freud even stated, “In general, to
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undertake to convert a fully developed homosexual into a heterosexual does not offer much more prospect of
success than the reverse” (as cited in Yoshino, p. 36). Freud even doubted whether they should be converted
(Yoshino). In a1935 letter to a concerned mother, Freud wrote the following:

Homosexuality is assuredly no advantage, but it is nothing to be ashamed of, no

vice, no degradation, it cannot be classified as an illness; we consider it to be a
variation of the sexual function produced by a certain arrest of sexual
development. Many highly respectable individuals of ancient and modern times
have been homosexuals, several of the greatest men among them (Plato,
Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, etc.). It is a great injustice to persecute
homosexuality as a crime, and cruel too.
THE PROBLEM WITH THE BELIEF THAT CHILD SEXUAL
ABUSE CAUSES HOMOSEXUALITY
/ BISEXUALITY.

There is an assumption among some people that the reason people become homosexual or bisexual is because
of trauma resulting from sexual abuse in childhood. Understandably, the majority of LGBT people, when
coming to terms with their sexual orientation or trying to understand it, will ask the inevitable question,
"why?" or, more specifically, "why me?". I personally have heard many LGBT survivors question whether
their sexual orientation is a direct consequence of their earlier sexual abuse (Dimock, 1988). Within the
scientific and social science literature, there is a myriad of research claiming to have identified the direct
cause for homosexuality. One of the hypotheses regularly tested is that of whether sexual abuse itself can be
the cause of homosexuality in adult life. The results of this research is inconclusive since some research finds
a direct correlation between child abuse and homosexuality (Macmillan, 1997; Tomeo et al, 2001; Holmes et
al, 1998; Doll et al, 1992; Soukup, 1995; Shrier et al, 1988; Dickson; Finkelhor, 1984), whereas other
research expressly denies any correlational link (Ridley, 2003; Balsam et al 2005; Bell et al, 1981;
Hammersmith, 1982; Peters & Cantrall, 1991; Slap, 1998). Clearly, the jury is still out! The intention of this
article is not to question why someone becomes homosexual or heterosexual as despite there being many
theories focussing on the nature verses nurture debate, there is no universally acknowledged conclusion. In
the presence of such conflicting research, we are no closer to conclusively understanding whether a persons’
sexual orientation is determined or strongly influenced by a history of child sexual abuse. However, leaving
contradictory statistics aside for the moment, the aim of this article is to identify how problematic it is to
claim or jump to the conclusion that anyone is LGBT as a direct result of sexual abuse experiences. Its just
some food for thought! SO - why is it a problem to claim that CSA causes a person to become GLBT? The
numbers don’t add up!: The National Health and Social Life Survey (NHSLS) 1.51% of the population of the
US identify as GLBT, whereas other studies put this figure as high as 8% (Fay et al, 1989). However,
statistics for people abused in childhood are significantly higher that this, with reliable estimates given for
child sexual abuse to be 16% for males and 27% for females in the USA (NRCCSA, 1994). Therefore, if
there is a causal link between childhood sexual abuse and identifying as GLBT later in life, then why aren’t
the figures for the number of GLBT people in the population reflected by the abuse statistics? There are
significantly more cases of sexual abuse than there are people that identify as GLBT (Macmillan, 1997), and
furthermore, the vast majority of persons sexually abused as children are heterosexual (Keith, 1991). In
addition to this, virtually all statistics agree that females are more likely to be sexually abused in childhood
than males are - and yet, and yet there are proportionally more men that identify as being gay than there are
women who identify as lesbian (Hite, 1991; Janus, 1993, Jefferson, 2001). Isn't it just too simplistic? Some
claim it is impossible to develop universal theories about the origins of homosexuality because there is no
theory that is going to fit for every individual and every situation (Moberly,1983). As human beings, we are
very complex, and it is far too simplistic to say with any certainty that A caused B to happen. To use an
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analogy, you can teach someone who is left-handed to write with their right hand, but they will forever remain
naturally left-handed. One neuroscientist wrote, “Any human behavior is going to the result of complex
intermingling of genetics and environment. It would be astonishing if it were not true for homosexuality”
(McFadden, 1998). The discrepancy between genders: Some people question whether it is the fact that they
were abused by a man / woman that results in their being GLBT. Female children are statistically more likely
to be abused by a male. Lesbian survivors may question whether the reason they are a lesbian is because they
fear men as a result of their abuse. This could make sense until you consider the gay male argument related to
this. Male children are also statistically more likely to be abused by a male. Some claim that a man may
become gay because he has been abused by a man and therefore identifies sex with men. In effect, this
proposes that a female becomes a lesbian as she is so scared of men because she relates all men to her male
abuser. BUT a male actually becomes gay, and hence seeks relationships with men, because he had a male
abuser? Homosexuality itself could increase the chance of abuse: There is one interesting theory put forward
by Wachob (1999) that children who grow up later to identify as LGBT are more at risk of sexual abuse as
children. She stipulates that being abused does not cause homosexuality, but rather that children who will
later identify as LGBT are more vulnerable to child abuse. The reasons she gives for this is that LGBT adults
report that their behavior and interaction with others was often atypical in childhood when compared to their
peers. Being or feeling “different” can result in social isolation / exclusion, which in turn can lead to a child
being more vulnerable to the instigation and continuation of abuse (Gracia, 2003). In addition to this, many
gay men in particular, report that they remember feeling dissatisfied or uncomfortable with their body as
children, and as young teens they sought out situations in which to try to make sense of their sexual feelings
(O’ Leary, 2006). Unfortunately, therefore, abuse could occur in this situation because abusers take advantage
of the child’s uncertainties and insecurities. Being GLBT is not dysfunctional! Claims that GLBT can be
“caused” by child sexual abuse are troublesome because this implicitly implies that being GLBT is not a
positive thing, but something that has occured as a result of serious trauma. Therefore are we not comparing
being GLBT to suffering from PTSD, DID or depression? Being GLBT is not an illness! In fact, talking of
illness, according to the American Psychiatric Association (2000), a history of sexual abuse does not appear
to be more prevalent in children who grow up to identify as GLBT that in people who identify as
heterosexual. Of course, sexual abuse can interfere with a survivors sexual development, sexual enjoyment,
the way they engage in sexual behaviors, the ability to know and voice what they want – but it seems unlikely
that it would play a role in creating passion, attraction and love for another person. It just feels “right” For
many LGBT people, they just feel that their sexual orientation is “right” for them. Like it just clicks in with
who they are and that it is naturally how they identify with themselves, with others and with the world. As
one woman said “I know I was predestined to be a lesbian. If I wasn't, it wouldn't feel so perfect”
(anonymous). "The truth is that sexual abuse and sexuality are a million miles apart; they truly have nothing
in common. Something as wonderful and beautiful as our sexuality could never have arisen out of something
as ugly and painful as sexual abuse."
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For years, I believed the lie, too, that I was born “gay.” I was always told by my “gay” friends, as well as
society, that my homosexuality was unchangeable – just as one’s height or skin color. I was told this was how
God made me and I just needed to accept the hand that I was dealt. Yet as much as I tried to accept this belief,
deep inside my heart I knew something was wrong with me – desperately wrong.

I ALWAYS FELT DIFFERENT

I can never remember a time not feeling this way. I always felt “different” from the other boys. I was never
athletic. I was more sensitive and into the arts. In fact, other boys felt like a threat to me. They were masculine
and I was not. I wished I had what they had and I wanted it more than anything. They rejected me from the
start and I was made fun of – even by my own father. The hurtful names – queer, faggot, sissy, “gay” – along
with the bullying, the mocking and the teasing became unbearable.
I TRIED TO FIT IN
More than anything, I wanted to fit in and be “one of the guys.”
I tried playing different sports, but it just wasn’t me. So, I hung around with girls. They felt safer. I tried
dating girls in my teen years, yet no matter how hard I tried, it seemed my “natural” attraction and desire was
toward men – not women. I couldn’t help these feelings – I never chose them. Then where did they come
from? I tried to force myself to “like” girls and I even tried to date again, but nothing worked. I continued the
heterosexual charade until I couldn’t take it any longer.

I FINALLY “CAME OUT

One night as a freshman in college, away from my home, family and friends, I had a homosexual encounter
with another student. I decided I needed to be who I really was.

THE TRUTH ABOUT BEING “GAY” OR LESBIAN

Friend, no one is born “gay.” No one. Homosexuality is not biological. There is no “gay” gene. The truth of
the matter is, in most cases, the roots of one’s homosexuality can be tragically traced back to one’s childhood
and youth. Homosexual feelings can develop out of rejection, a real or perceived lack of love, dysfunction or
some form of tragedy, molestation or abuse.
(even something as tragic as the death of a parent, divorce)

remarriage, adoption or more), homosexuality can stem from an unhealthy, broken or nonexistent
relationship with one of the parents: usually the same-sex parent. The homosexual person is a broken
individual – an individual that Jesus Christ deeply loves and cares for, one He’s created for His glory and is
ready and willing to completely forgive, save and set free. Sexual abuse in childhood can play a major factor
in many homosexual men and women’s lives. Statistics show as many as 75% of “gay” men have been
prematurely sexually active or abused as a child, usually involving another male (sometimes a female.) Even
higher percentages of lesbians have been molested or abused by a male or female close to them, usually
followed by some type of female sexual abuse.

Homosexuality is an outward expression of an inward conflict – a conflict usually with a root or root causes.
Many times, unless there was molestation, a premature sexual experience, an early exposure to pornography
or some other type of childhood trauma
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Homosexual Law
Reform in Australia
Melissa Bull, Susan Pinto and Paul Wilson

Over recent years there has been a great deal of discussion concerning the appropriate role of the state in the
regulation of private lives. Nowhere is this discussion more obvious than in the area of homosexual law
reform. At times, in both Queensland and Tasmania, an acrimonious public debate has occurred as a result of
attempts to reform the laws relating to homosexual behaviour. Queensland has already passed legislation
reforming its laws, and Tasmania, the last state or territory in Australia with strict legislation criminalising
homosexual acts between consenting males, is expected to make similar changes in 1991. This Trends and
Issues examines the community's response to homosexual law reform and towards homosexuals generally. It
is clear that even with law reform, significant discrimination still exists towards those who identify with the
gay community. The upsurge in public violence and discrimination against homosexualsis a deplorable
feature of contemporary urban life. It reaffirms the need to monitor laws and social practices in this area
continually.
Paul Wilson
Acting Director
Homosexual behaviour between males has been illegal in most countries for several centuries. It was
only in recent decades that a number of nations began to implement legislative reforms which allow for
certain consensual homosexual acts. In Australia, most jurisdictions have responded to this trend and
have decriminalised homosexual acts between consenting adults in certain circumstances. Most recently
the Queensland State Caucus approved the amendment of legislation proscribing homosexual practices;
however, in Tasmania the passage of this type of reform is still a matter for debate. This Trends and
Issues focuses primarily on issues surrounding the current status of laws addressing homosexuality
throughout Australia. As in most countries throughout the world, the law relating to homosexual
behaviour has traditionally applied only to males. Females have never come within the ambit of
Australian statutes, nor has there ever been any attempt in Australia to introduce penalties for consensual
lesbian behaviour. Lesbian acts with females under the age of consent are covered by provisions
proscribing heterosexual acts with females under the age of consent. For this reason, the following
discussion relates primarily to male homosexuality. It is important to note at the outset that to identify as
homosexual has never been an offence in any Australian jurisdiction; it is homosexual acts which have
been outlawed, and indeed remain criminal offences in Tasmania.
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A 25-year-old gay Iranian man stands on the roof of a house in Turkey, where he now
lives as a recognized refugee. He is one of several hundred Iranians who in recent years
have sought protection in neighboring Turkey due to the discrimination they face based
on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
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“WHEN YOUR FAMILY DOES NOT ACCEPT YOU AND
WISHES THE WORST FOR YOU, WHAT
CAN YOU EXPECT FROM SOCIETY?
Knowingly, family is where society starts from”

As in many other countries, Iran’s sexual minorities suffer much harassment, discrimination, and abuse at the
hands of private actors, including members of their family and society at large. An overwhelming majority of
the individuals interviewed by Human Rights Watch during the course of its investigations maintained that
many of the problems suffered by sexual minorities stemmed from abuse and neglect at home. Many LGBT
Iranians interviewed by Human Rights Watch maintained that they felt “different” from others at an early
age. Depending on their personalities and family situations, some were more comfortable in expressing their
differences, while others shied away from social interaction. Most felt that this “difference,” often made
them the targets of harassment and abuse, including sexual abuse, by both immediate and extended family
members.

Hossein M., a 26-year-old gay Iranian in exile, describes a pattern of harassment and abuse experienced by
many LGBT persons at the hands of family members: Problems arise when family members start to realize
that you are different from them because of your appearance, the way you act, or the things you say. They
can’t accept this, and your problems begin.

. when I was a child, the older cousins and children would always make fun of me and call
me bachehsusul [mama’s boy] sometimes. They would even take me to an empty room and
sexually violate me. After they were done they would call me a kuni [faggot]. My parents
eventually became aware of this. They treated me very badly. My mother would say, “What
have I done to deserve having a sick child?” She then threw me out of the house.

Human Rights Watch found that family restrictions and monitoring were generally more severe against girls
than boys. Not surprisingly, families ratcheted up the pressure once they suspected their daughters of
showing too much interest in other girls. Roodabeh, a 30- year old lesbian, recounts a fairly typical story of
a mother’s horrified reaction when she discovered her six-year-old playing with a girl cousin:

My first experience of liking a female was when I was six-years-old. I liked my girl cousin. We were always
together. And sometimes we played doctor in their kitchen, during the afternoon while our mothers napped. I
always liked to touch her. I would pull her shirt up and rest my head on her chest. And sometimes I would taste
her breasts. One day my mother walked in on us. As Roodabeh got older, problems with her mother continued: My
mother would always say that I am “sick.” She would ask, “Is it possible for a woman to like another woman in
such a way?” And she was always surprised by my friendship with some of my female friends. She would always
fight with me about this. I remember the first girl I fell in love with. Her name was Fatemeh…. My mother found
out. When Fatemeh called she would not give me the phone. And when I used to pick up the phone she would come
on the line crying and saying, “You are a hamjensbaz! You are ruined! Now what should I do with you?”
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A large number of LGBT persons interviewed by Human Rights Watch indicated receiving beatings from
their parents or siblings either because they acted on their sexual desires, or because they revealed their
sexual orientation or gender identity to their parents. Saeed H. describes a fairly typical incident of abuse
suffered at the hands of his father:

In ninth grade [where students are typically 15-16-years-old], when I first had a PC and
access to internet, I would go into straight chatrooms and chat with boys. Eventually I
found gay chatrooms. I met a boy in one of these chatrooms and he became my
boyfriend. We started off by talking on the phone and after a while began seeing one
another. Around this time my father found some gay pictures on my computer. He
confronted me and severely beat me. I went home one day and he just started beating
me. I managed to get out of the house and went to a friend’s house…. I left home and
went to live with my boyfriend in a small town near Mashhad called Shahr-e Golabad,
where my boyfriend went to university. I lived with him for eight to nine months. During
this time I tried going back home but my father would not allow me inside the house. I
talked to my mother occasionally from Shahr-e Golabad but had no contact with my
dad.

Interviews also revealed a common pattern of abuse suffered at the hands of older
brothers. This abuse included harassment and threats, constant monitoring, and violence.
Several interviewees recounted instances of violence perpetrated by siblings who
allegedly worked with members of Iran’s security forces, including the police, basij , or
Sepah.108 Ali, a 25-year old gay male, recalls:

For me the biggest problems were within my family. As I got older, because of my appearance and behavior, things
became worse. My older brother is very conservative and also religious. He works for the Ministry of Guidance. I was
very different from my brother. You see, in conservative Iranian families like my family if a boy wants to change his
appearance by plucking his eyebrows or growing his hair long, there are bound to be many problems. They don’t
understand these things. They think that being a homosexual is only about sex—a physical need. And this really hurts
me. They see me as sick or crazy. When your family does not accept you and wishes the worst for you what can
you expect from society?
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Ali went on to describe how his brother later found a video of him and his boyfriend,
Sohail, sharing intimate moments:

I hid this film at my house and would watch it from time to time when I missed
Sohail … One day I took the film out from its hiding place and was watching it on a
small handy cam. The film was only recorded on the handy cam and not on video. I
did not know that my brother was at home. While I was watching the film my
mother called me to come downstairs. I left the handy cam next to my computer.
While I was downstairs I suddenly heard my older brother screaming upstairs:
“What have you done? What filth have you been up to!” He was in my room. I knew
he had seen the film. He came downstairs and started beating me, saying that he
would kill me. I managed to escape out of the house. I was very scared. My brother
is connected to the Sepah.
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DISCRIMINATION USING

MEDICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT.

Human Rights Watch interviewed a number of LGBT persons who were directed, usually
by their parents, to undergo medical and psychological treatment either because of their
parents’ suspicion or concern regarding their child’s sexual or gender expression, or after
the children revealed their sexual orientation or gender identity to family members.
Families sought the assistance of a variety of health care providers, including family
practitioners, gynecologists, neurologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists. Human Rights
Watch also interviewed individuals whose parents had taken their children to “sexologists”
and psychiatrists, mostly in Tehran, who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of
sexual and gender issues. Treatment options ranged from psychological counseling and
testing, prescription medication such as hormone therapy, and the recommendation that
patients consider sex reassignment surgery.
Another gay male, Saeed H., a 24-year-old gay male told Human Rights Watch that his
parents checked him into a psychiatric hospital that subjected him to shock therapy when
he was 20-years-old:

One day my parents came to my grandmother’s house and forced me to leave with them. They took me to a
psychiatric hospital called Dehkadeh Olumi located in Tehran. They checked me in against my will. The first day I was
screaming and protesting so they gave me a shot, which made me very sleepy. The next morning and every other
morning that I was there I was woken up early in the morning and given electric shocks. They would first give me an
anaesthetic before shocking me. The doctor said that it would cure me. Each time they applied electric shocks to me
my brain would slow down and my memory would get blurry. I was really depressed. My mother got upset because
she realized that I was getting worse, not better. She begged my father and they stopped shock therapy. After a few
days my parents agreed to have me released. I was at the psychiatric hospital for eight days. They gave me electric
shocks five out of the eight days I was there. After I was released I did not return home. I cut all relations with my
family. I was only with friends. I stayed with several of them. During this time I started to cut myself because I was
severely depressed. I even had to go to the hospital a few times because of this.
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The provision of medical care to children and the right of parents to decide what is
best for their children is a complex issue beyond the scope of this report.
Notwithstanding these complexities, international law provides that a child has the
right “to express his or her views and to participate … [in] individual health-care
decisions,” and that “children, including young children, should be included in
decision-making processes, in a manner consistent with their evolving
capabilities.”
In addition, Article 18 of the Yogyakarta Principles provides:

No person may be forced to undergo any form of medical or psychological

treatment, procedure, testing, or be confined to a medical facility, based on sexual
orientation or gender identity. Notwithstanding any classifications to the contrary, a
person’s sexual orientation and gender identity are not, in and of themselves,
medical conditions and are not to be treated, cured or suppressed.
Article 18 specifically addresses treatment of children, and calls on states to “take
all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to ensure that no
child’s body is irreversibly altered by medical procedures in an attempt to impose a
gender identity without the full, free and informed consent of the child in
accordance with the age and maturity of the child and guided by the principle that
in all actions concerning children, the best interests of the child shall be a primary
consideration.”118 It also calls on states to “establish child protection mechanisms
whereby no child is at risk of, or subjected to, medical abuse.

HARASSMENT AND ABUSE AT SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY, AND

SOCIETY AT LARGE.

Many LGBT people interviewed by Human Rights Watch indicated that primary
school was one of the most traumatic periods in their life. This is the first time
many were exposed to the harsh realities of the outside world, where looking,
acting, or feeling different often meant ridicule, harassment, and at times, abuse
suffered at the hands of classmates, teachers, and others. Many interviewees told
Human Rights Watch that they were the victims of sexual harassment and abuse
at school perpetrated by both classmates and teachers.

Mani, a 29-year-old gay male from Tehran, said:

In primary school, we realize we are different from our peers, and because of
this we become the focus of ridicule. The [kids] call us names like khaleh zanak
(literally “auntie lady”) because we appear more feminine and because we don’t
like to play like other boys. It is from this time that we begin to think that there is
in fact something wrong with us.
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In addition to the pressures at home and school, sexual minorities endure harassment and
abuse from society at large. Hossein M. described his life:

From the time I started school up until university I had problems with other students and my teachers. As I
got older I had problems when just walking in the streets. I took care of my appearance. For example, I
plucked my and styled my hair. These sorts of things are not accepted in Iranian society. I was often called
names like bacheh kuni (young faggot). If I took a taxi, I was often propositioned and even molested. In stores
the shopkeepers would jokingly say, “You don’t have to pay now. You can pay us in other ways later.” These
things would really hurt me. I felt like I was a whore. My family would really restrict me. One time my father
caught me in an intimate situation with another boy and as punishment he made me stick my hands in the
toilet. At university many of my peers wondered why I didn’t look at the other girls. I was blackmailed a few
times because some of my classmates suspected that I was into boys.

GOVERNMENT HARASSMENT AND ABUSE

IN PUBLIC SPACE.

I mean, how could you just pick someone up in the streets, take them away, rape
them, and then just drop them back off as if nothing happened?

–Saba, gay Iranian in exile, September 28, 2007

Abuse against sexual minorities on Iran’s streets can range from verbal insults and
harassment to beatings, arbitrary arrests, and even sexual assault. Roundups of
individuals hanging out in parks and suspected of being gay have been reported.
Sometimes sexual minorities are taken to detention facilities run by the basij or
police, processed, and forced to sign a document called a ta’hod (promise), in
which they pledge, for example, not to congregate in specific areas or appear in
public wearing makeup. They are then released, but may be subjected to verbal
harassment and physical assault by the officers. However, most times security
forces stop short of actually arresting or transferring the individuals to formal
detention facilities, but harass or abuse them on the streets.

Saba, a 32-year-old gay male from Tehran, was not so lucky. He told Human
Rights Watch that security agents raped him several times following what
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appeared to be random street stops. He explained an encounter with plainclothes
security forces in Tehran:

I was walking in the streets one day with my friend when two men in civilian clothing stopped us and asked us for our
identity cards. I was surprised and asked him why he wanted to see my card. He said he was police and showed me an
official-looking government ID. I don’t remember exactly what was written on the card. I was so scared, I asked what we
had done wrong. He said, “Don’t act stupid. You know and we know what has happened.” I said, “No, I don’t understand.
Please explain!” He said, “We have been keeping an eye on people like you.” I understood what he meant. He told us that
we had to go with them and that if we complied then we would not be harmed. He said, “Come with me I will bring you
back here I was scared. I thought he was going to kill us. He kept saying things like “listening to me is in your best
interest.” He hailed a private taxi. My friend and I got in the taxi. The other man, his colleague, followed our taxi on his
motorcycle. They took us to an empty house. When we arrived [one of them] said, “This is it. See, I told you you should
believe me.” One guy took my friend to another room and the [other] man raped me. While he was doing it he kept telling
me that if I cooperate with them they will not make trouble for us. Afterwards they put us back in the car and returned
us [to our initial location]. I could not believe it. I went home, and I was sick. I had nightmares. I was just walking in the
streets doing nothing. It was as if he did this routinely. … I can never accept that this happened to me. I thought they
were going to kill us…. How could you just pick someone up in the streets, take them away, rape them, and then just
drop them back off as if nothing happened?

ILL-TREATMENT AND ABUSE BY SECURITY

FORCES DURING DETENTION.

Security forces have used verbal, psychological, and physical abuse to harass and
intimidate LGBT people, and to extract from them confessions and ta’hods. A
majority of LGBT individuals interviewed by Human Rights Watch who had
experienced altercations with the security forces complained of some form of
verbal abuse or harassment during their arrest, transfer, and/or detention. Several
detailed abuse severe enough to constitute torture. This abuse included sexual
assault or rape.
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I was still blindfolded when they took me into a house. I later found out it was a sort of school. They took off my
blindfold. I saw that there were about eight to ten people there, including the person I had arranged to meet
[online]. They started to beat me and call me the worst names possible until they broke my pride. They threatened
to kill me and hang me, and then they beat me. … A person came … He said, “You’re very lucky that we didn’t catch
you in the act, because if we had we would have made sure that you received the death sentence.” He placed a
paper in front of me and tried to get a confession out of me. He asked for my name. The paper indicated that I had
been in a chat room, and I had to swear never do this again. … I told him I will not sign this. So they laid me down
on a kind of bed and with a watering hose they started to whip me. My hands were tied to the bed while they were
doing this. It was as though smoke were coming from my back. They were saying the worst things to me. I felt that
my back was bleeding. After about 30 to 40 minutes I decided to sign the piece of paper. But when they put the
paper in front of me I told them I would not do it. There was no reason for me to sign it. After I said no, they tied me
up to the bed again and resumed whipping me. After this, the same men took Farshad in a car, blindfolded, to an
area outside the city. They pushed him out of the car. He waited until he heard the car drive away before taking off
the blindfold. He found himself in the middle of nowhere. It was dark.

AFSANEH’S STORY

Afsaneh, a 42-year-old transwoman, described the difficulties of living as a transgender and transsexual in Iran. She
had SRS and legally changed her identity and began to look for a job. She told Human Rights Watch that she went to
several places to work, but found it extremely difficult to hold down a job. Her coworkers asked her boss to let her
go from the first job despite the fact that she was legally recognized as a women by the state. Afsaneh told her
next boss the truth. He proposed to her. She was in no position to get married, but felt obliged to carry on a sexual
relationship with him for a while until she could no longer take it. Money became tight, and several of her friends
suggested that she consider other ways to make ends meet: “I went down a path I shouldn’t have gone. I completely
changed. I got rid of my maqniyeh230 put on a rusari,231 and colored my hair.”
She continued:
About a year later I met a rich man who wanted to siqeh me. He was about 60 years-old, and I was about 23 or 24.
I was at a party with two other transwomen and three women. He started talking to me and asked why I’d decided to
go down this path. “Nowadays people don’t ask us these types of questions,” I explained. “It’s a shame you decided
to take this path,” he said, “what do you want to do with your life?”
Afsaneh continued:
He eventually got me a very nice place close to his own home. I was there for about a year and a half. He even got
me a car. He would come over at certain times and then go to work. We had completely separate lives. I never asked
him questions about his other life. Then one day his wife found out and came over to my place. I allowed her in. As
soon as she sat down she said, “My dear, do you know that Haj Agha is married?” I said yes. She asked me how long
I’d been with him. I answered. She told me that she had hired a private investigator to follow him around and found
out about me around two weeks ago. She had become suspicious. “Do you know I have kids your age?” she asked me.
Afsaneh said that at some point the wife became very angry and violent. But Afsaneh kept her calm and cooperated,
so she eventually calmed down. She asked Afsaneh if she was Haj Agha’s wife and Afsaneh replied that she was only
a temporary wife. Then Afsaneh revealed her secret. The wife made Afsaneh promise to annul the siqeh. She had no
choice but to comply.
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