If you sit on a bench and have a certain look, eventually someone will sit next you and offer a knowing “khaste nabashi” - a common greeting - that depending on your mood and the moonlight can lead anywhere.ĭown Revolution Street, men lean against the shuttered store front of the Institute For The Compilation and Publication of the Works of Imam Khomeini making eyes at passing motorists. Sometimes I don’t even see them until I’m alerted by their giggles. Gay couples recline in remote corners, arms around each other, stealing kisses. They come to trawl the park, to look, to show off, exchanging furtive glances in the dark, occasionally meeting for a few minutes in the public facilities or heading to some third location for more comprehensive interaction. Most nights a well known park near the City Theatre and the university of Tehran becomes a vibrant cruising ground for gay men. In recent years small pockets of gay public life have established themselves around the city. They classify it as a mental illness, but at least this is an acknowledgement. The government even offers an exemption from compulsory military service for men who have sex with men. Gay hook-up apps like Grindr, Scruff, and Hornet are easy to access and increasing in popularity. Transgender individuals live and work openly in Tehran, the government will even pay for sex reassignment surgery for those who want it. More and more, I see gay and lesbian couples being openly affectionate on the streets. My friends tell me that since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - who infamously denied the existence of gay people in Iran - left office, there has been a thaw in official policy towards LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people. Curiously, “lustful” kissing between two men is punishable by only 60 lashes.ĭespite this draconian statutory prohibition, homosexuality is an open secret. If two men not related by blood are found “under one cover without necessity” they can be given 99 lashes (for some reason the same offence with two women is 100 lashes).