sooreh hera portraitYesterday I read an interesting story here about an Iranian exile that goes by the pseudonym of Sooreh Hera. Hera is a photographer in the Netherlands who’s on a dangerous mission to expose the “hypocritical” attitude towards homosexuality in countries such as Iran, where men can be hanged for homosexual conduct.

There were probably a few different ways in which Hera could have approached the subject. She could take a subtler politically correct route or she could skip the foreplay and get right down to business. Hera chose the latter.

Being a photographer, and having balls of steel apparently, Hera decided to go for broke. She photographed gay Iranian exiles wearing masks of the Prophet Muhammed and his cousin Ali. She also created a video featuring hard rock, Iranian clerics, and gay men. Then to top things off she made it an exhibit at a local museum!

As expected, the local Muslim extremists were none too pleased. Hera has received several threats and recently went into hiding. Furthermore Hera’s exhibit, which was initially praised by the museum’s director, has been forced to remove the photographs because “certain people in our society might perceive it as offensive”. Hera’s response was to pull her entire exhibit in protest.

Below you’ll find a few photos from the exhibit along with the video. Be warned, as the video is a little racy.

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sooreh gay muslim exhibit

sooreh gay muslim exhibit

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