VOA标准英语2012--Iranian Homosexuals Speak Out About Persecution

 

Iranian Homosexuals Speak Out About Persecution¹

 

The day begins as normal for Arash and Nima. But for them, just walking out the door is a reminder² they are no longer at home in Iran.

"“The LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered people) are a part of vulnerable class of the Iranian society," Arash explained.

Arash left Iran for Turkey nine months ago. He now works as a filmmaker and shot a video to help document his new life.

Iran’s conservative Islamic laws leave little room for homosexuality. United Nations experts and rights groups have criticized the Iranian government for criminalizing all homosexual acts, making certain acts punishable by death. Iran has also come under fire for subjecting those suspected of homosexuality to arbitrary arrest and torture.

The issue is one that Iranians are slowly being forced to confront - often through film. Such films, though, are not being made in Iran.

And at least at the highest levels, denial is the rule - as evidenced by comments Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made to students at New York’s Columbia University in 2007:

“In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country. In Iran we do not have this phenomenon, I don't know who has told you that we have it," Ahmadinejad declared.

Farid, another Iranian exile living in Turkey, said on YouTube the feeling of oppression permeates⁴ Iran's everyday life.

“When you walk down the street, you feel you are being assaulted from all sides," he said. "We [gay people] are being looked at like a third gender³."

One place gay Iranians have found refuge is the United States, where despite controversy⁵, some states and even Washington D.C., have been extending more rights to homosexuals, including the right to get married.

Mali Kisagari was born in Iran in 1958… and in 2004 she married her partner, Elizabeth Kristen, in California.

“In the U.S., people’s rights are respected," she noted⁶. "When I entered the U.S., I found this is a place I can be myself.”

Such attitudes are a long way from being accepted in Iran. Still, from the Iranian diaspora, singers like Shohreh are pushing back - as in her music video.

“The reason why I used the homosexual flag in my video was to support these people,” she explained. “Families should know that their children should not be blamed for being homosexual. They have been homosexual since childhood."

For now, couples like Arash and Nima can only wonder what it would be like to live as themselves in their home country.

“I want to bring their face in front of [documentary] movie camera, so that the heterosexual class understands the gays better; so that a day may come that the two classes of people may coexist,” Arash said.

To many gay Iranians, that day still seems a long way off. 

 

1 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

2 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

3 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

4 permeates   

弥漫( permeate的第三人称单数 )； 遍布； 渗入； 渗透

参考例句：

• Studies show that water vapor quickly permeates plastic packaging material. 研究证明水蒸汽能迅速渗入塑料封装材料。
• Democracy permeates the whole country. 民主主义（的思想）普及全国。

5 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。