<p>IBClass,</p>
<p>The translation I have heard is “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals like you do in your country. It is not a problem there.” If this isn’t a blatant refusal to accept the presence of homosexuals within Iran, I don’t know what is. Of course, translations could differ - I will probably never know EXACTLY what he tried to say. But even if we were to go with the translation you provided, there is still a problem: there are still homosexuals, but yes, the BEHAVIOR of the homosexuals differs between Iran and the U.S. </p>
<p>Yes, the Iranian government not only encourages transexuality for gay men, it requires by law that all openly gay men undergo surgery to “become” women. This plays into a larger issue, which is the faulted but intricate association of femininity with homosexuality. </p>
<p>I would have to agree though, that heckling a guest speaker before he even speaks is a bit rude.</p>