November 6, 2014 – Reported by Pink News – Gay Iranians are being pressured into gender reassignment treatments due to the country’s draconian ban on same-sex relationships, doctors in the country have said.

A BBC documentary has revealed many gay Iranians end up fleeing the country in order to avoid the practice.

Iran reportedly carries out more gender reassignment operations than any other nation in the world except for Thailand, although the numbers cannot be independently verified.

Khabaronline, a pro-government news agency, reports the numbers rising from 170 in 2006 to 370 in 2010. But one doctor from an Iranian hospital told the BBC that he alone carries out more than 200 such operations every year.

In the 1980’s the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa allowing gender reassignment surgery – apparently after being moved by a meeting with a woman who said she was trapped in a man’s body.

Iranians that wish to undergo surgery must apply to the courts for a permit that is signed off by the state medical office…

via Report: Gay Iranians pressured into gender reassignment by doctors · PinkNews.co.uk.