(Iran) - Homophobia runs deep into Iranian society. This, of course, partly reflects the influence of the conservative Islamic legal and religious standards promoted by the government. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini notoriously called for homosexuals to be extirpated as "parasites and corruptors of the nation" who "spread the stain of wickedness." It also reflects a patriarchal social system in which sexuality is controlled and feared, except when at the service of reproduction. The death penalty for lavat is not merely a paper punishment in Iran: it is enforced.
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