Reply #12: Oh, I know

[alcibiades_mystery]

I'm also not sure he was saying that. He sounded like he said (given the translator as intermediary) "We don't have gays in Iran like you have here." Those of the exact words of the translator. I'd be curious to hear a Farsi expert provide the original expression and parse it. Even in the translation, it could easily mean "We don't have open homosexuality; we simply don't allow it." Of course, that parsing would make him sound NOT like a complete ignoramus and ideologue, which is not in keeping with the days flavor. It's better that we pretend Ahmedinejad simply does not believe homosexuality EXISTS in Iran than have him say something like "It is not our custom to allow homosexuality" (i.e., we don't "have it there like you have it here"), which would sound less buffoonish, if equally despicable. This latter version also makes sense in context (his discussion of the drug war and the death penalty as custom). Of course, the real danger is that if Ahmedinejad is saying "We don't allow it" rather than "It doesn't exist," that would put him in step without just about the entire Islamic world (which is why the research I mentioned in the previous post is interesting). And that's just a messy can of worms.

So, do you know Farsi? Do you have his words in Farsi? Just wondering.