BE LIKE OTHERS

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, a country with strict social mores and traditional values, gender-affirming operation is legal. Over twenty years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa (religious edict) making gender transition permissible for “diagnosed transgenders.” Yet same-gender sexual orientation is still punishable by death. Highly feminine and attracted to members of the same sex, yet forced to live in secret for fear of retribution, a generation of young Iranian men are adopting an identity legally allowed to them– transgender. In pursuit of what one man calls simply, “a decent life,” they flock to the country’s best-established gender-affirming surgeon, Dr. Bahram Mir Jalali, and are counseled by 24-year-old Vida, a post-op woman who claims to be “reborn” but warns of dangers that still await. Be Like Others is a fascinating look at those on the fringes of Iranian life – those looking for acceptance through the most radical of means.