Iranian of the Day

COMPLAINT TO FARHANG HOLAKOUEE

To whom it may concern:

Please forward the following email to Dr. Holakouee. This email refers to Dr. Holakouee's statements on homosexuality.  For your reference, please see:

//iranian.com/main/2010/aug/farhang-holakouee

Dr. Holakouee wrongfully attributes the causes of homosexuality to
some sort of childhood or other trauma, implying that homosexuality is an illness.  According to the American Psychological Association, homosexuality is not an illness or emotional problem.  Rather, "psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals agree that homosexuality is not an illness, a mental disorder, or an emotional problem. More than 35 years of objective, well-designed scientific research has shown that homosexuality, in and itself, is not associated with mental disorders or emotional or social problems."
(//www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation.aspx).

I hereby request that Dr. Holakouee publicly retract his statements on homosexuality and conform his views with those widely accepted among the psychological community. Please advise when and where this public retraction will take place so I can be sure to watch/hear it.

Failure to do so in a timely manner will result in a complaint with
the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.

Awaiting your response,

Muddy answer on homosexuality

Perhaps because Farsi is muddy on the subject.

"Wrong body" comment by Holakouee made me check with a couple of experts. Homosexuality is viewed in terms of sexual orientation. Heterosexuality and homosexuality have to do with which gender you
find erotically attractive. The concept has nothing to do with feeling like you're
in the wrong body. The Farsi translation of this seems to be hamjens garaaee.

A separate concept, gender identity, covers the phenomenon where a person feels that the gender assigned to him/her by society--often because of the genitals-- doesn't match how he/she feels on the inside. These people can be heterosexual or homosexual. If Farsi calls this hamjens garaaee also then it has failed to differentiate this not so subtle distinction. Any one know if Farsi has a separate word for the "gender identity" concept?

This is important because the IRI too fails to distinguish between the concepts, offering to pay for gender reassignment surgery whereas a homosexual may be perfectly comfortable with his body just the way it is.  The gender indentity issue gets compassionate treatment; homosexuality on the other hand is considered enheraaf. A word Holakouee uses in his answer apparently with a similar view on the issue.

Intresting but not fully convinced!

Could he do some checkings for example on the boys with single moms? It should be pretty easy to do a statistic on gay guys being raised by both parents relative to by mom, also check if the reverse is true for girls. If a study has not been done then he should not make up statement, we are not living in Ahmaghinejadia.