A Media Artist's Response To Failing Diplomacy

When BriAnna Olson's pacifist views were confronted by an adamant American couple, she decided to heed their challenge and head to Tehran-- the epicenter of the Axis of Evil nation.

Amongst a landscape of failed diplomacy and media smear campaigns, she and fellow artist Michael Pope found a society far more alive and hospitable than they'd ever been led to believe.

Like jesters of a modern-day Magellan, they've returned with stories and insights to a culture few American's have seen first hand.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Sex Changes

During the Q&A at our 1st "Show & Tell" our friend Mika asked about our experience with transgendered folk in Iran. We had none, but we had to assume they were there... probably hiding. I told her I'd look into it, and indeed I did. It turns out that they were not hiding at all, and Iran is second only to Thailand in sex change operations. The logic there is that being gay is a sin, but switching genders is a legitimate way to correct that... the state helps to pay for operations.

Though I've only seen clips, Be Like Others is a documentary that enters the world of transgendered Iranians and their families-- it had its world premiere at Sundance this year. Woo! Media. Totally amazing.
Check out the films website for more videos.




p.s. Happy Birthday, Mika!
Posted by BriAnna Olson at 8:42 AM
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1 comment:

  1. MikaDecember 2, 2008 at 7:30 PM

    Thank you sooooo much for finding that! I did know that Iran surprisingly supported gender reassignment surgery as a way of "curing" the dreaded homosexuality, but I had NO idea it was second only to Thailand in such surgery. Wow!

    And thank you again, sweetie, for the lovely birthday wishes (and great video)! Hope to see you soon! xoxoxo

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