Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Quotes
We do not have any homosexuals in Iran.
Islam forbids homosexuality and Sharia (Islamic religious law) prescribes death as the penalty for homosexuality. At that time Iran was a Muslim theocracy and if there were overt homosexuality that was officially discovered, the heretics would be killed. The logic of the government was that since they had killed the homosexuals, there were none left. At the same time all the research showed that while Muslim homosexuality was slightly less than Christian, it was still quite significant in all Muslim cultures that had been studied. If the President was to be believed, Iran was the only exception.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, Speech, Columbia University, September 24, 2007
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This statement gave the audience quite a laugh. There has been a small percentage of homosexuals in every society known to man—especially the ones who condemn it the most. In order for those opposing societies and cultures to speak about homosexuality, write about it and pass laws against it, there must have of course been some homosexuality. In the case of Iran and its Persian tradition and the Arab tradition there has been historically not only open homosexuality in different periods as in Ancient Greece, but it is documented by some of the great Persian and Arab literature. See {624479}.
This quotation which appears absurd on the surface given Iran’s terrible record with religious minorities provides insight to Islamic orthodox thought. For the orthodox Muslim, Sharia—Koranic Law—is the basis of the society. God defines the rights of people and their obligations. Whatever rights are provided by Sharia, Khomeini and some others wished to provide them equally to religious minorities also. However, those rights do not include the right to criticize the Islamic law or the leaders who implement it. That would be heresy if done by a Muslim, a Christian, or a Jew. A Christian church may not erect a public cross or ring bells on Sunday. That is prohibited by the Koran and is imposed on all. Bahai religious adherents are tracked down in the Islamic Republic and are often executed. ‘What about their rights?’ they ask. The answer is that the Bahai were Muslims who have become “backsliders” and heretics, and under Sharia, they must be executed for heresy; they are deemed to be heretical Muslims and not members of a minority religion.
These lines illustrate a tactic of many Muslim leaders who go out of their way to make moderate statements to the Western press and media audiences while whipping up extremism when appearing on Middle Eastern media.
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This was the first political statement of either party regarding gay rights
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Persian: محمود احمدینژاد, romanized: Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād [mæhmuːd(-e) æhmædiːneʒɒːd] (listen)), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian, is an Iranian conservative politician who served as the sixth President of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He was also the main political leader of the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, a coalition of conservative political groups in the country, and served as mayor of Tehran from 2003 to 2005.
