The Ayatollah‘s Gaze

This powerful memoir, written under a pseudonym, is an unflinching exploration of what it means to be gay in a society where homosexuality can result in the death penalty. The dawn prayer calls echo through the streets. But for some it signals the end of another illegal gay party. Under the cover of darkness, smiles on lips and sweat on foreheads, the gays of Tehran blend back into daily life. Hidden in plain sight, they plan when and where they will meet again. Despite being in his late 40s, Majid Parsa, a senior sexual health physician, remains closeted to his religious family back home in Iran. He recounts how a childhood of war, prayer, and obedience was upended by a teenage sexual awakening in a dangerously hostile society. He pulls back the curtain on the fabulous and flamboyant gay scene right in the heart of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which flourishes under the ever-present shadow of the grand Ayatollah and morality police. Heartbreaking, ironic, and at times laugh-out-loud funny, Majid‘s journey through the complex intersection of faith, identity, and pride is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.