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LGBT Refugees and the Public-Private Divide in Iran and Turkey

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LGBT Refugees and the Public-Private Divide in Iran and Turkey Silencing Sexuality: LGBT Refugees and the Public-Private Divide in Iran and Turkey Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Jafari, Farrah Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 24/09/2021 04:04:27 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/311697 1 SILENCING SEXUALITY: LGBT REFUGEES AND THE PUBLIC-PRIVATE DIVIDE IN IRAN AND TURKEY by Farrah Jafari __________________________ Copyright © Farrah Jafari 2013 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF MIDDLE EASTERN & NORTH AFRICAN STUDIES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2013 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Farrah Jafari, titled "Silencing Sexuality: LGBT Refugees and the Public-Private Divide in Iran and Turkey" and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 11/26/2013 Anne Betteridge _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 11/26/2013 Leila Hudson _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 11/26/2013 Brian Silverstein _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 11/26/2013 Kamran Talattof Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: 11/26/2013 Dissertation Co-Director: Anne Betteridge ________________________________________________ Date: 11/26/2013 Dissertation Co-Director: Leila Hudson 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: Farrah Jafari 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the assistance, support, and patience of many individuals and institutions. I would like to thank the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, School of Anthropology, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and the University of Arizona. These institutions and their directors, faculty, and students have been central to my development as a researcher and scholar. In particular, I would like to recognize my terrific committee. I thank Kamran Talattof his for his experienced input on ‘modernity’ and in seeing this project to its fruition, despite all of the changes along the way. I would like to acknowledge Brian Silverstein whose suggestions on ‘translating’ many of my disciplinary concepts in order to make them more tangible to a wider, non-Middle East Studies-based audience provided the varied nuances in the dissertation which have truly enriched it. Committee co-chair, Leila Hudson—one of the most candid and remarkable people I have met in academia or any other dimension of life. I will always treasure our lunches in the desert. And, finally, committee co-chair, Anne Betteridge—whose patience, encouragement and integrity, both as scholar and mentor, were, and remain, invaluable. I wish to thank the friends who became an amazing team of editors and supporters, for comments on earlier drafts of this dissertation: research assistant Stacy H. Rapoport, M. Schwester Jafari, Dr. Neda Raymond, Laura LFD Weinhardt, and Skye Louise Perske. I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge my fieldwork companion, Mija Sanders. This project benefited greatly from her guidance and 5 friendship. Roxanne, you remain the bright star in my hazy sky. And to Johann C. Chacko: despite our whirlwinds and geographies, you’ve been an indispensable well of encouragement, kindness and wisdom. You truly are a scholar and a gentleman. I am also thankful to Arsham Parsi from the Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees (IRQR), an organization fighting for the human rights of the very people on which this project is based; Hayriye Kara from Kaos GL; UNHCR Executive Director Metin Corabatir; and, Bican Sahin of the Association for Liberal Thinking in Ankara. I would be remiss not to thank the Iranian asylum seekers and refugees who kindly welcomed me into their [temporary] homes to retell their haunting stories. 6 DEDICATION To Nasser Jafari—father and hero and To my sister, Marjan—thankful that we finally stopped grieving over Goldengrove unleaving 7 Table of Contents ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... 9 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 11 The Situation ............................................................................................................................ 11 The Question ............................................................................................................................ 13 The Population and Methodology ............................................................................................. 16 Themes ..................................................................................................................................... 21 Synopsis of the Chapters........................................................................................................... 24 Literature Review ..................................................................................................................... 28 Feminism and Subjectivity in Iran ..................................................................................... 28 The Construction of Sexuality ........................................................................................... 30 Migration and the UNHCR ............................................................................................... 31 Foucault and the UNHCR ................................................................................................. 33 CHAPTER ONE....................................................................................................................... 39 Representations of Queerness in the Literary Tradition of the Medieval and Safavid Periods (10th-16th centuries) ...................................................................................................... 41 Objects of Affection ........................................................................................................... 41 Male Love as Muse ........................................................................................................... 43 Dimensions of Queerness in the Qajar Era (1785-1925) ............................................................ 46 Negotiations of Queerness in the Pahlavi Era (1925-1979)........................................................ 50 Queerness and Punishment in the Islamic Republic of Iran (1979-present) ................................ 53 Foucault, the Romantic Revolutionary ...................................................................................... 59 The Power of Positions ............................................................................................................. 61 CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................................... 63 CHAPTER TWO ...................................................................................................................... 70 QUEER SEXUALITY IN IRAN: THE FAMILY & SOCIETY CHALLENGE ........................ 70 Family Ties that Bind ............................................................................................................... 73 Society and the Sexed Body...................................................................................................... 79 Clothing ............................................................................................................................ 83 Cohabitation ..................................................................................................................... 85 The Power of Language and Silence in Iranian Society ............................................................. 87 CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................................... 93 8 CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................................. 97 QUEER SEXUALITY IN IRAN: THE GOVERNMENT AND CLERGY CHALLENGE .........................................................................................................................
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