Transexuals in Iran

I recently watched a programme re transexuals in Iran- apparently it is the only Islamic state where sex change operations are permitted (due to being predominantly Shia). Now although this might appear to be progressive or 'enlightened' to many of us in the West, homosexuality is still punishable by death. Which seems like a paradoxical state of affairs to me! I watched with interest as the documentary followed a seemingly gay guy who clearly had a sexual preference for men have to go undergo a sex change op so he could then have his birth certificate changed to a woman, and for all intents and purposes be a woman in the eyes of the state. Essentially his homosexuality is seen as a disease which must be cured, and once performed, be 'stomachable' by society at large. Apparently this chap couldn't get work as he would be ridiculed (or worse) working with men, and not allowed to work with women as he was still classified as being a man. Got me thinking once again about how much freedom we have in Britain. And also ties in nicely with recent debate sparked by the Archbishop of Canterbury about whether Muslims in this country could be self-goverened under Sharia Law. As a progressive Muslim, I think this is a terrible idea and believe we should have one set of rules under which everyone must adhere to.

After a 4 month hiatus from this blog, I feel that it's time to vent spleen, and share with the world my inner thoughts once again. Currently employed by The Institute of Business Consulting where I am a 'Commercial Activities Manager'. Kind of fell into the role after some really harsh luck recently. Not exactly what I want but the money is fairly good, my colleagues are really sound, and it's not far from home. Still want to get into something science-based, and ironically, management consultancy.

Music: Recently dowloaded Autechre's new album, Quaristice, which I've listened to just over once. Being a recent convert to Ae, I'm still finding it hard to get into their sound. Apparently, this is one of their most 'instant' albums since LP5, though I think I need to persevere! Otherwise, just picked up Hot Chip's new album which sounds quite good, though not blowing me away. Really want to download Carl Craig's new 3 hour retrospective, entitled, rather imaginatively, 'Sessions', though trying to hold back as been spending too much recently! And Allez-Allez are consistently churning out top-notch mixes. The Moroder's most recent mix is pretty good, though not quite up to the AA residents' standard.

Anyway, gonna check out now. The next blog will probably revolve around a book I've just bought on Amazon entitled 'How Sadness Survived: The Evolutionary Basis of Depression', written by this interesting English psychiatrist and academic.

Hopefully won't leave the next blog for so long!

Currently listening to the BBC World Service.

Peace,

F.