LGBT Republic of Iran: An Online Reality?
4.6. Why are lesbians less active online than gay men?
Iran-based activist blogger, Amir Hamjensgara said,
“I think the reason [that lesbians aren’t as active as gay
men] is that being a woman in Iran is basically a crime. They
have more limitations … Some issues are beyond the reach of
the homosexual community and these are macro issues. For ex-
ample, issues such as the equality of men and women, women’s
freedom and the independence of women should be solved by a majority society … When women feel empowered, their participation in society increases ... I even believe that physical power
can be effective. Physical strength increases self-confidence and audacity. In our society, when a woman makes herself visible in
public, she is construed as a sexual subject, even by other women. One of the reasons that people have this approach is because they feel that other women won’t support them”
// Lesbian Girl, a contributor to Tizbin blog, had a very
different opinion about why lesbians are less active in the online LGBT rights movement. She argued,
“Gay men are usually totally gay, but a majority of lesbians
are either not actually lesbian, or are bisexual … I’m bisexual. This is what I finally decided to call myself. For a long time, I didn’t know whether or not I was a homosexual and finally, for my
own peace of mind, I chose to call myself bisexual. I accepted it
as my identity ... When I first came into the homo-sexual society
I met some lesbians (only a couple of whom were really actually lesbian) and they were all pretty conservative. They found each other through wearing the rainbow sign. All except for one of
them agreed they had become interested in women because of
the problems they’d endured with their husbands or boyfriends. They had turned to women because they were ‘damaged’ … I
think there are more lesbians (probably not real ones though) than there are gay men, but we’re far more insecure”