Homophobia
 as 
a 
Tool
 of
 Statecraft:
 Iran
 and
 Its
 Queers

Homophobia 
as 
it 
relates
 to 
the 
politics 
of 
the 
Middle 
East 
is 
seen
 as 
a 
legitimate 
response,
 indeed
 the 
only 
one 
available
 to
region’s 
governments 
faced 
with 
the 
concerted 
‘incitement
 to
 discourse’ 
of 
western 
human 
rights 
groups
 (Massad
2002
and
2007);
or
 a
 result 
of
 the
 dissemination
 of
 homophobic 
norms 
from 
anti‐gay
 networks 
in
 the
 West
 (Kaoma,
 this
 volume);
 or
 as
 a 
function
of
 religion,
Islam
 in
 particular. As
 probable
 as
 the
 first 
two
 explanatory
 factors
 may
 be,
 they
 overestimate
 the 
power
 of
 human
rights
 and
 homophobic
 networks, 
and
 underestimate
 the
 reach
 and
 agency
 of
 Middle
 Eastern 
states.
 We,
 therefore,
 want
 to
 “let
the 
state
 back in”
 (Skocpol
 1979).
 To
 do
 this,
 we
 treat 
anti‐gay 
rhetoric
 as
 an
 analytical
 category, 
and
 examine 
the 
content,
 the
 productive
 force
 and 
the
 work
 it
 does 
for
 the
 deploying
 power.
 As 
such,
 we
 see 
religious 
anti‐ homosexual
 prejudice as
 a
convenient
 frame
 to
 be
 used
 by
 states
 when
 it
 suits 
their
 purposes,
 not
 as
 causally 
independent
 factor.