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The study explores how Iran’s Shia Islamic context treats transgender identities differently from Western and broader Muslim-majority perspectives. It argues that Iran distinguishes transgender identity from lesbian, gay, and bisexual identities by treating gender variance as a medical/psychological condition and permitting legal and medical gender transition — rooted in fatwas like that of Ayatollah Khomeini. This has created one of the few legal frameworks in the Middle East where transgender people can access state-sanctioned sex-reassignment surgery and change legal gender, although non-binary identities are not recognised and social stigma remains high. The authors also criticise the common Western practice of lumping transgender issues together with LGB issues, saying the categories are distinct and conflating them leads to misunderstanding.
The study explores how Iran’s Shia Islamic context treats transgender identities differently from Western and broader Muslim-majority perspectives. It argues that Iran distinguishes transgender identity from lesbian, gay, and bisexual identities by treating gender variance as a medical/psychological condition and permitting legal and medical gender transition — rooted in fatwas like that of Ayatollah Khomeini. This has created one of the few legal frameworks in the Middle East where transgender people can access state-sanctioned sex-reassignment surgery and change legal gender, although non-binary identities are not recognised and social stigma remains high. The authors also criticise the common Western practice of lumping transgender issues together with LGB issues, saying the categories are distinct and conflating them leads to misunderstanding.