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Although Sh believes that censorship and suppression in Iran have always limited homosexual artists, forcing them to rely
on metaphor and allusion, he also feels that Janan Mirzadeh has moved beyond this. He explains that Mirzadeh is trying to int-
roduce the reader to the transition from tradition to modernity, a point of conflict in Iran’s very traditional society: “Once the
Iranian homosexual has accepted his sexual identity he can no longer return to the world of sheikhs and shaheds, even if he wants to” (Sh, 2010).
khashayar khasteh
// Mahi argues that Khashayar Khasteh’s Ghahvehkhaneh
(Coffeeshop) is a literary work of genius: “The shocking news
about acts of sexual violence, rape and other social pathologies
that we read of in Ghahvehkhaneh form are expressed in a story format that affects the reader better than any news or reports” (Mahi 2011). On a blog post in which an interview between
Daftar-e Khak and Saghi Ghahraman was published, reader
Kasra commented, “In his [Khashayar Khasteh’s] works there is a tangible sense of fear, caution and resistance, which is under-
standable, but you can tell he has created a sense of balance in his life” (Kasra 2010). Figure 3 “This weblog has
been removed on orders of
the committee determining
instances of criminal content. For further information
concerning the reasons for its filtering and removal please
contact filter@dci.ir”
// Although the Iranian government’s internet filtering
regime affects many websites (see Figure 3), the Queer Book Fair of Iran, which was forcibly removed from its Iran-based
server, provides a perfect example of how the LGBT community