Despite Denials, Gays Insist They Exist, if Quietly, in Iran

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/world/middleeast/30gays.html?th&emc=th

Despite Denials, Gays Insist They Exist, if Quietly, in Iran

TEHRAN, Sept. 29 — When Reza, a 29-year-old Iranian, heard that his president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had denied in New York that homosexuals were in Iran, he was shocked but not surprised. Reza knows the truth. He is gay.

Leaning back in his black leather desk chair at home in Tehran, he said there were, in fact, plenty of gay men and women in Iran. The difference between their lives and those of gays in Europe and North America is one of recognition and legitimacy.

“You can have a secret gay life as long you don’t become “You can have a secret gay life as long you don’t become an activist and start demanding rights,” he said, speaking on the condition that his family name not be used because he feared retribution.

Welcome to the future.

Ok, this is either Don't ask, don't tell or Admit it, and you're dead.

I don't think anyone actually believed that there are no gays in Iran.

Probably Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that there were no living gays in Iran, gave everyone a meaningful look, then nodded to himself in satisfaction.