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Assignment: Iran's Gay Refugees

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Iran's Gay Refugees

06/11/2014

BBC World Service - Assignment, Iran's Gay Refugees

The Iranian gay and lesbian people forced to flee or face pressure to change their gender

Ali Hamedani has been to Turkey to meet the Iranian lesbian and gay people who have fled home after facing pressure to change their gender.

Being homosexual in Iran can be punishable by death. But the Iranian state is tolerant of those who undergo clinical procedures to change their gender. Now, many gay and lesbian people say they face overwhelming pressure from the authorities and even from their own families to have the surgery as a "cure" for their sexuality. Many decide to leave the country.  

For Assignment Ali Hamedani has been to neighbouring Turkey to meet some of them as they attempt to start new lives overseas. 

Produced by Mike Gallagher

(Image: Raha, an Iranian gay on a train fleeing Iran. BBC copyright)

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