Religious views of trans people in Iran are particularly interesting. Though it is an Islamic theocracy where being gay is explicitly against the law, being trans is narrowly accepted. Gender reassignment surgery is legal and formal gender recognition after the procedure is supported by the theocracy. The fact that being gay is potentially punishable by death can lead to people choosing gender reassignment rather than execution. The government’s strict belief that there are no sexual minorities in the country leads to an oddly absolute acceptance of the gender of trans people.
This reminds me of Japan. I’ve not confirmed this myself, but it jives with my understanding of the culture. Binary trans people are generally less ‘disruptive’ to society and less of a perceived ‘problem’ to the mainstream because hey we can fit you into a box and its associated social roles. They really like their boxes and roles. But if you are queer in other more visible ways, like gay people trying to get married or be accepted socially, then that gets frowned upon for upsetting the apple cart.
Religious views of trans people in Iran are particularly interesting. Though it is an Islamic theocracy where being gay is explicitly against the law, being trans is narrowly accepted. Gender reassignment surgery is legal and formal gender recognition after the procedure is supported by the theocracy. The fact that being gay is potentially punishable by death can lead to people choosing gender reassignment rather than execution. The government’s strict belief that there are no sexual minorities in the country leads to an oddly absolute acceptance of the gender of trans people.
This reminds me of Japan. I’ve not confirmed this myself, but it jives with my understanding of the culture. Binary trans people are generally less ‘disruptive’ to society and less of a perceived ‘problem’ to the mainstream because hey we can fit you into a box and its associated social roles. They really like their boxes and roles. But if you are queer in other more visible ways, like gay people trying to get married or be accepted socially, then that gets frowned upon for upsetting the apple cart.