Hardliners Call for Celebrity to be Blacklisted after Pro-Gay Tweet

Across Tehran, billboards featuring the face of Bahram Radan are being torn down, removed from movie theater entrances and the capital’s busiest streets. People who have not had the chance to see Radan’s latest advert for Modern Leatherwear — the superstar is pictured in a leather jacket, winking a little, his head lowered slightly — are now out of luck. Not long after Radan tweeted what appeared to a pro-gay comment, hardliner media lashed out, leading authorities to order the immediate removal of the posters. Following on from this, a source from the Ministry of Islamic Guidance and Culture told IranWire that Radan could be banned from continuing his work as an actor and model.

“Yesterday’s US Supreme Court ruling to legalize gay marriage was a historic event, perhaps as much as the liberation of slaves...from Lincoln to Obama,” Radan said on Twitter, a day after the United States fully recognized gay marriage in every state. Radan also referred to the huge numbers of Iranian Facebook users who had responded to the news by posting rainbow profile photographs on their pages, proudly showing their support for gay marriage.

Those who were offended by the Supreme Court decision also spoke out on Twitter, responding to Radan's comments, with some citing the story of Sodom and Gomorrah from the Koran and the Bible.

Under Iran’s Islamic laws, sodomy is punishable by death; women who engage in a lesbian act may receive 150 lashes as punishment.

Radan’s tweet inspired comments from both sides — and generated debate across Iran’s media. “Actor Supports the Legalization of Gay Marriage” hardliner newspaper Kayhan’s headline read, reprinting Radan’s tweet as proof. “He owes most of his fame to film festivals and Islamic TV,” the paper said. “He is not a very capable actor, but he has made a name for himself because of the way he looks. He has used his looks as a tool, appearing on commercial billboards — in exchange for considerable amounts of money. It is interesting, too, to know that B.R., the actor who is so excited about the legalization of gay marriage in America, has been a Canadian citizen for many years.”

After Kayhan criticized him, Bahram Radan deleted his tweet. He offered an explanation, stating that he had not intended to support gay people and that certain media outlets had misconstrued what he said and published headlines that were designed to smear his reputation.

As part of his explanation, he wrote about his interest in cultural and social studies, and about what he had observed in his travels to other countries. “Religious people in the United States,” he wrote, “are so numerous that the adoption of such a policy by Democrats — coinciding with the final round of talks with Iran and just a year and a half before the [presidential] election —must be for a specific political reason. I absolutely did not say one word in support of it. It is quite obvious that such behavior is condemned under our religious and civil laws.”

He accused websites that had published articles about his controversial tweet of acting irresponsibly, and said Radan his only intention had been to express his “curiosity about what goes on behind the scenes and the reasons for the decision — not to approve or support it.”

But Bahram Radan’s retreat, and the incongruous link he made between the Supreme Court’s decision on gay marriage and nuclear negotiations, did not let him off the hook with Kayhan. Its next attack came in the form of a demand: it called for Iran’s cinema industry association, the authority that oversees advertising on billboards, the Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance and all national media outlets to blacklist Radan and others like him.

Someone on Twitter wanted to know whether there was a  connection between Radan going public with his views and the holy month of Ramadan, a time for fasting and praying. “First of all,” Radan tweeted back, “it’s not necessary to make a connection. Secondly, I was not rejoicing [about the decision] — I would not stand to gain or lose anything because of it...What I had meant was that a taboo had been broken.”

Kayhan saw its next move; its next headline read: “Radan: The taboo of homosexuality is broken.”

“Two days ago after a wave of criticism, Radan removed his comments and tried to soften critical responses by commenting on his motives,” the paper said. “But the point is that, not only did Radan not apologize for supporting Obama and the legalization of gay marriage — he also attacked the media for their response to his comments.” And then it stepped up its attack further: “Why is the prosecutor general silent in the face of the destructive and the immoral views of this Iranian actor — who is a Canadian citizen?”

 

Then came the apology

According to Kayhan, a deputy minister at the Ministry of Culture summoned Bahram Radan and demanded that he explain himself. He warned him that he faced a ban from working. “Removing his photographs from the side of our highways is the least that the Muslim people of Iran can expect,” Kayhan said. A ministry official confirmed reports that security forces had questioned Radan about the recent furore.

Immediately following his summons to the ministry, Radan wrote to Hossein Shariatmadari, managing editor of Kayhan:

“(1) What was published in cyberspace as my view about the ruling of the US Supreme Court in the case of gay laws was a mistake and was incompatible with the dignity of the Iranian people, for which I apologize.”

“(2) My reference to exaggeration and bad headlines was about foreign media outside Iran, which have been waiting for an opportunity to make a domestic artist into a symbol of opposition and dissent.

“(3) I live in a country where marriage follows the tradition of the Prophet and is an honorable affair. American laws have no place in the Islamic Republic of Iran and in our country, gay marriage is explicitly an obscene affair that does not agree with civil and religious laws. I hope that with more reflection and understanding we can help our dear country in achieving our sublime goals.”

On July 1, Radan tweeted again, making oblique references to what had happened over the course of the last week. “We should take care of each other and not act against each other through misunderstanding,” he wrote. “We should not play with each other’s reputation and prestige, not even as a joke! Because even a joke that may appear insignificant can inflict irreparable damage on a person’s prestige and society’s mental health. You can make more money, get new work and buy comfort. But reputation is a capital that can be blown away by the wind in a moment.”  

Now, of course, Radan is a figure of hate for those who support gay marriage. They admonish him for retracting his words, and for his letter of regret. Some say that instead of writing to Shariatmadari, he should have written to the Iranian people, or to the minister of culture, to explain his views.

Bahram Radan’s Instagram page shows a still from the Iranian movie The Swan Song, in which he starred. In the still, Radan has his back to a man who holds a gun to his head. In Iran’s arts and celebrity scene, this image is closer to reality than one might imagine. It is not the first time that an Iranian star has had to back down, forced by political pressures to change their position on a sensitive issue. 

Radan started out by celebrating a victory for gay equality. He ended up having to issue an apology, reminding the Iranian public just how dangerous free expression and dissenting views can be.

 

Related articles:

An Iranian Fundamentalist’s Handbook on Sex in the West

Human Rights Head Larijani Accuses West of Hypocrisy on Gay Rights

 

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