Transsexuality in Shia Islam

In a previous post I mentioned that in Shia Islam it’s permissible to get a sex change. Yesterday I came across a very interesting documentary about it, if you have an hour, it’s highly recommended. [Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, HT Renee].

A meaty topic which combines religion, fundamentalism, sexuality, human rights, societal relations & medical ethics — it’s enough blogging material to last weeks! But I’ve forced myself to list only what I found most interesting:

• This was implemented by the Ayatollah Khomeini himself, who ruled it permissible and integrated it within the legal system.
• 50% of the operation is subsidised by the government (but you need to prove yourself “worthy” of course)
• The sex on the birth certificate is changed. Not sure if secular countries do this but it seems in Iran this a case of religious cognitive dissonance. Just like the insistence of all the people interviewed that this is perfectly normal and fine “unlike the abomination of homosexuality”.
• The cleric interviewed gave a seminar to pre-op patients and made 2 arguments (1) anything not specifically forbidden by the Koran is permitted by Islam (2) if this is unlawful changing of nature as God made it, we’d all be guilty of the same 100 times a day with cooking, cleaning etc. On point 1, I’m pretty sure neither the Koran nor the Hadith mention lesbian relationships at all (if you know please comment), so the Ayatollahs should have no problem with lesbians.
• There is immense ostracism from some families and support from others. Terrible but not much different to the west. The main difference is that if you’re male-to-female you have to follow the Sharia for women post-op, which means it’s very hard to live independently if your family dispose of you like rubbish.
• Some of the male-to-female patients went to the ministry of health to get a special letter permitting them to wear female clothes before the operation. This is apparently a controversy because pre-op you must follow the Sharia for your birth gender. Anyway, with said certificate, when the Islamic morals police stop you, you can flash it as a get out of jail free card.
• One of the women interviewed a year after the operation lived with other m-2-f transgender people and they all made a living as prostitutes to men. It’s convenient because there’s no chance of pregnancy, they said. It was all halal, with the standard temporary marriage trick. This I find the most enlightening of all, in terms of both religious inconsistency AND cultural diversity: in Shia Islam a man can become a woman and then a prostitute all within the boundaries of religion. But showing a woman’s hair, now that’s steamy…

This doco showcases the contradiction within the fundamentalist mindset perfectly. On the one hand Iran is centuries ahead of its Sunni neighbours on this issue. On the other hand, the most tragic part was that it’s the backward harassment that prompts people to get the sex change in the first place. Two patients were asked (after they talked about the benefits the operation might bring) “if this wasn’t the only way for you to get your rights, would you still have the operation?” From memory, both said no immediately. ‘Tis a cold heart that can hear that “no” and not shudder.