Iranian of the Day

Oh, let's not ignore each other. What's a little warring among

friends?

Warring mooring.  Warring shmooring.

Rosie

Rosie

I said sorry to Party girl to have confused you both; it was nothing contemptuous from me. The second term Miter in the phrase is as we iranians use to call things twice by swapping first letters of the first word by 'M'. Anyway, I'll promise to ignore you from this day.

Hajminator, with all due respect if I may toot my own horn, if I

have no education, then half of the people on this site are still in kindergarten.

It IS an INSULT to say someone is someone else without grounds.

It is one of the worst things anyone can do on this site to upset the equilibrium of the discourse.. I was one of the first people on this site to become actively involved in instituting a moderation system.  I worked on it step by step from its inception, with jj personally and with the community as a whole.  ESPECIALLY whendealing with registered users, it is a BAD thing to do, it's just BAD, I have seen entire threads, good ones, deteriorate because of those kinds of accusations. Along with baseless claims about people's political affiliations that were quite simply ridiculous. You think this video is inappropriatem  I am telling you that these kinds of accusations are more inappropriate and much more damaging than this video could ever be in a million years.  And I am right.

So let us just put this to bed. It is obvious that you and I are never going to get along, so it's probably best we ignore each other from now on.  And anyway I'll be very busy with my Dr. Seuss books tryibg to attain to a third grade reading level. I plan to start with Green Eggs and Ham.

Wish me luck.
Rosie

PS The phrase you're looking for is "writer, SHmiter."

Writer-Miter

Rosie you are a writer-miter with no education. I didn't insult you so keep words in your mouth or think before saying things. I'll finish here with another Hafez for you

حافظا علم و ادب ورز که در مجلس شاه
هر که را نیست ادب لایق صحبت نـبود

Anonymous 123,

THIS IS NOT PORN. IN COMPARISON WITH WHAT ELSE IS ON THE WEB, THIS IS NOTHING.

THIS IS NOT A CHILDRENS" SITE NEVER HAS BEEN NEVER WILL BE.

INTERNET IS NOT SUBJECT TO THE TIME RESTRICTIONS OF TV AND RADIO. IT OPERATES 24/7 JUST THE WAY IT IS.

THE CHILDREN WHOSE WORK AND/OR PHOTOS OF THEM APPEAR HERE DO SO WITH THEIR PARENTS" ENCOURAGEMENT AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE SITE.  If the parents change their minds and decide the site is inappropriate  for their children they can stop having their children send in their poems about Little Miss Muffet any  time they so desire.  I even bet you that if they really get upset enough JJ would remove the posted material for them rather than see them tortured by anxiety.

Stop being SILLY.  You sound SILLY.

JJ is not in danger of incarceration for showing Pejman's discoteque,

Hajminitor, you sound SILLY. Why are people starting to sound

so silly?

Party Girl is a photo journalist.  I am a writer.  We perceive the world differently and we express it VERY differently.  We are not each other.

You must be relatively new to the site because anyone who's been here for a whlle, despite my recent hyatus, knows me very well and knows that I don't have to pretend to be anyone, LEAST OF ALL MYSELF.

Haj don't you realize that when you make such SILLY and baseless accusations, you are talking more garbage than anything that could POSSIBLY be contained in that video, because the video is honest and fair and you are not?

Think about it. And yes, the Haafez was very nice of you.

Rosie

Anonymous123, give your self a real name

It looks like  Anonymous123, is afraid of its own shadow!! give yourself a name, this is not Iran, no big brother is watching you.

Also, JJ and the rest of us had to sit down once we read your posting, because our knees were shaking so much and because we were sooooo scared!! We are not that kind of "beeds" to be afraid of your kind of "baads." Talk is cheap, go ahead sue JJ (if you can, because no lawyer will be able to write the brief to the court since s/he won't be able to stop laughing! JJ will not be intimated by little "foot" not even a wind like you. We are here, we are queer, get used to it.

Anybody can copy and past the FCC's regulations, (as you did) but obviously you cannot understand it. Stop talking about it and "be the change that you want to see in the world."

Dear Party girl,

Sorry, Rosie is very partisan of your posts. I inopportunely confused her with you. The ryhme from Hafez poeme you nicely wrote is effectively great, it highlights our passions for things which sometimes make us blind to see the truth.

Dear Hajminator

Rosie is not me.  Did you want to say something to me?  Anyhow, thank you for leaving that Hafez poem in your comment.  It is a part of what is quite possibly the most beautiful Ghazal in Hafez's collection, full of hope and optimism for me.  Here's the full poem for all to enjoy.  Thank you for my Faal! 

 دوش دیدم که مـلایک در میخانـه زدند
گـل آدم بسرشتـند و به پیمانـه زدند
ساکـنان حرم سـتر و عفاف ملـکوت
با مـن راه نشین باده مسـتانـه زدند
آسـمان بار امانـت نتوانست کـشید
قرعـه کار بـه نام مـن دیوانـه زدند
جنـگ هفتاد و دو ملت همه را عذر بنه
چون ندیدند حقیقت ره افـسانـه زدند
شـکر ایزد که میان من و او صلح افـتاد
صوفیان رقص کنان ساغر شکرانـه زدند
آتش آن نیست که از شعله او خندد شمع
آتـش آن است که در خرمن پروانه زدند
کس چو حافظ نگشاد از رخ اندیشه نقاب
تا سر زلف عروسان سخن شانـه زدند

it's not tyring to scare

it's not tyring to scare him, its warning him of the outcome of his action. there are children on this website,and he very well knows that. it's not right for him to post gays making-out or being that sexual when there are children here. it is against the law. people would be chewing the editor out if this was about how straights are good, and it was a man and a woman making-out, and feeling eachother in clubs, while dirty dancing. gays shouldn't get the privliges of being sexual on a family website, where as if straights did, they would get a whole bunch of shit about it. now be fair about this. this ain't no porno website.

Freedom

JJ is an open minded intellectual who has no boundary for individual's belief even if he might not like it. This is called freedom of choice. As far as I concern, anybody can be Iranian of the day, even a gay, lesbian, prostitute, drug dealer or even a member of MKO. I bet some one in the panel of censorship won’t publish this, in that case, long ive freedom.

internets

same sex marriage is not the answer, go see a therapist!

Anonymous123...

Anonymous123...Thanks for the laughs. You are the most ridiculous buffoon whose opinion I've had to read, regarding this thread. Good luck with that law suit which you are threatening JJ. I am sure that he is shaking somewhere under his bed now. LOL.

Rosie I know who you are

Rosie you should be 'Party girl' who have posted the video and who defend it vehemently.

Else

جنـگ هفتاد و دو ملت همه را عذر بنه
چون ندیدند حقیقت ره افـسانـه زدند

how dare you post obscenity when there are kids on this site

you post obscene videos on one hand and publish writing and blogs by children as young as 10 years of age on the other. you are well aware that a number of your members are children! you publish children's poetry on the first page, post their blogs in the featured blog column and then post obscenity?! do you realize that you are messing with the law?
Read for yourself:
"Regulation of Obscenity, Indecency and Profanity
It is a violation of federal law to air obscene programming at any time. It is also a violation of federal law to broadcast indecent or profane programming during certain hours. (See definitions}. Congress has given the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the responsibility for administratively enforcing the law that governs these types of broadcasts. The FCC has authority to issue civil monetary penalties, revoke a license or deny a renewal application. In addition, violators of the law, if convicted in a federal district court, are subject to criminal fines and/or imprisonment for not more than two years.

The FCC vigorously enforces this law where we find violations. In 2004 alone, the FCC took action in 12 cases, involving hundreds of thousands of complaints, assessing penalties and voluntary payments totaling approximately $8,000,000. The Commission has also toughened its enforcement penalties by proposing monetary penalties based on each indecent utterance in a broadcast, rather than proposing a single monetary penalty for the entire broadcast.

At the same time, however, the Commission is careful of First Amendment protections and the prohibitions on censorship and interference with broadcasters' freedom of speech. The FCC has denied complaints in cases in which we determined the broadcast was not indecent based on the overall context of the programming. Regardless of the outcome, the FCC strives to address every complaint within 9 months of its receipt."

http://www.fcc.gov/eb/oip/Welcome.html
for internet obscenity check the below link:
http://www.ic3.gov/
because you have refused to listen to the other members complaints, I have decided to let you know the consequences that could become of your action.

PS Varjavand, there are gays and there are gays. Human

sexuality is a spectrum.  Thomas Mann expresses the HOMOSEXUAL tendencies that can come out in formerly straight men as they get older and seek a mirror of their youth, in Death In Venice.  The opposite can happen too.  A person who has been gay most of their life can change in midstream.  It's not unheard of.  But one thing I can tell you, it AIN'T gonna happen with our friend here in the disco.

There are just many people who really are at the extreme end of the specturm, they're born that way, they die that way.  Gays AND straights.  There are straight men who truly would rather DIE in a prison than have any kind of homosexual relationship.  Others are more flexible under this duress.

And there are gay men who simply CANNOT achieve an erection or even stand the smell of women's genitalia.  They simply CANNOT have sex with women.

The argument of nature vs. nurture is by no means closed. But my completely gay male friend shave told me they knew as early as FIVE YEARS OLD that they were attacted to men.  And when you look at how a gay sibling rarely emerges with other gay siblings, and it seems that their upbringings would be fairly similar, doesn't it seem that the gay child was simply BORN differently?  I mean what on earth could the mother have DONE to him that was SO different from the others that he "went" gay?

And you know, LOOK at this particular kid.  Can you really seriously presume that a person such as this had ANY choice in the matter of being gay?  EVEN if it WAS a case of early childhood whatever, nurture instead of nature, what real choice could a guy like this POsSIBLY have in the matter?

Rosie Tozih

But don't you see people, that if the pictorial is called

I'm Gay and it has a photo of two guys kissing, that is mild, one sees in the streets, it is not so offensive to see two kissing, don't you see, you KNOW what's coming next, so why click and be offended.  It is not an infringement upon your rights.  JJ didn't make you click.  Party Girl didn't make you click.  The young man in question didn't make you click.

JJ GAVE YOU A FAIR WARNING>  HE GAVE YOU A MILD TASTE OF WHAT WAS TO COME.  If you chose to click, then you were curious about male homesexual relationships and you got what you paid for didn't you?  Wasn't it fair? And then as soon as you got in and you saw the young man scantily clad, why that's REALLY no worse than ads we see at the busstop for Calvin Klein underwear.  But jj was FAIR.  It was your SECOND and MUCH more graphic warning of what was to come.  So why did you click on the video> It was not an infringement.  Forewarned is forearmed.  JJ warned you.  If you weren't forearmed, why didn't you just not watch the video?

Really, I'm serious.  I'm not criticizing.  I'm just pointing out that you didn't have to click.

See what I mean?  There was no depredation upon you.  It is fairly common knowledge that young gay men are racey and often promiscuous.  JJ was fair.  He gave you two warnings.  I don't understand why you clicked.

Varjavand, I'm happy to hear you support gay rights.  I think it's very open-minded of you.

Best,
Rosie

Rosie

i agree with shanbnam

i quite agree with you. if someone choose's to be a stripper or a whore than that's their choice, but it does not make it right. everyone in this world makes a choice but it doesnt mean that it is right. God created man and woman to naturally attract to eachother, not the man and man or woman and woman. being gay may be for many reasons that are much deeper than what they appear to be. some might be scared of the other sex. some may have been rejected or heart-broken. others may just be sick of the other sex. but either way it's not right and that's not how it was supposed to be. even though we all have freedom in this country, we should use it wisely. im not discrimating against different ideas i am against the ones that are wrong and will not do anything for anyone in the long-run.

Why is it OK for the gays to

Why is it OK for the gays to choose not to be Interested in the opposite sex but when a straight person is not interested in gays then he or she is not politically correct? It's free country so we have a right to choose. Same as hating Jews considered to be racist however being Jewish is a religion and any race can join.

To Rosie and other

To Rosie and other commenters:

I think the comments posted here by those who oppose homosexuality are not necessarily directed at any particular person or persons, they are more about the rest of us. The key point of my own comment is my concern about changing the most sacred norm of the society, the union between a man and a woman.

No one, of course, disputes the rights of gays and lesbians to pursue happiness the way they think fit and choose whom they want to kiss or have sex with. However, undermining the life style of the majority under the cover of granting and protecting the civil rights to a very small minority of people is the issue at stake.  Given the fact that we have blessed only the union between a man and a woman as the most sacred, God-given, institution for thousand years, any attempt to alter that will be certainly met by widespread criticism and resistant. If they want to educate us about their life style, they should do it via reasonable, rational, and scientifically acceptable ways. Slogans, rhetoric, and posting disgusting images may be counterproductive and do not change the known facts.

And, one question, if they are born this way and die this way, why some of them change their mind suddenly and decide to become straight,  get married with someone of opposite sex and have children (Anne Heche for example, a well known celebrity who has admitted that her lesbian inclination was, in fact, the result of abusing father)

Varjavand

No, JJ is NOT trying to make a point about his power on this

websit here. He is NOT trying to flex his muscle.  From time to time he does that in other contexts on this website, because he is not USED to being a moderator, But that is beside the point of this disucssion..

The point is the editorial content of this video.  I know jj well, and I DON'T know Party Girl except from threads but from the MOMENT I saw her postings I KNEW that they were some of the FINEST material on this website.  JAHANSHAH JAVID AND PARTY GIRL ARE FIRST AND FOREMOST JOURNALISTS WITH A DECIDEDLY IMAGISTIC BENT.  THey are not polemical or ideological journalists.  Nor should they be.  It is not WHO THEY ARE..  They are interested in REPORTING life not as they think it should be or even CAN be.  They are interested in reporting life as it IS.

I thoroughly conccur eith you, Nooshoo. The child is insipid.  He is INFANTILE.  And he is twenty.  And if he were in EUROPE or IRAN or LATIN AMERICA he would be at twenty thoroughly BACKWARD.

Unfortunately he has had the dubious privilege of growing up in these United States where we suck at the tit of rampant addictive consumer capitalism and most of us don't grow up until we're forty and I can SWEAR to this because I am an American and because I am a college teacher.  And my studants are INRANTS.  And this kid is infantile..  And THAT is NOT his FAULT.  It is the fault of his society. And it is NOT restricted to the gay community. 

He IS what he is.  In all his VACUOUSNESS and all his VIBRANCY.  And I can thoroughly assure you that jj is NOT flexing his muscle here. His agenda if you will, is SIMPLE and honest and transparent.  He is THROWING this out at you out of a PASSIONATE commitment to gay rights, out of an EMPATHY for this benighted child who is an IRANIAN and that is ALL that is required to be Iranian of the Day,  And he is THROWING it out to you so that you will all have an opportunity to discuss it, in the sincerest hope that some of you will be swayed to be bit more tolerant of people like this disco kid. Because jj isn't interested in changing HOW people live.  He doesn't CARE how people live.  He is ONLY interested in opening dialogues and minds.

Do not hypothesize much about jj.  As far as this website is concerned, he is a fairly simple and straightforward. Trust me. .

(Now, as a friend, jj, if you're there, you're a big f-ing pain in the ass And DON'T get pissed at me for putting words into your mouth. I must defend your integrity while you are out shooting photos).

And PARTY GIRL is also transparent and straightforward, and I think she is a FABULOUS Journalst.

There IS NO OTHER AGENDA here.

The point is...

I think by this video JJ is trying to show that after all he runs the show (website) and he is in charge, therefore he will do as he wants! with all the people who were sickened by this video being posted as "Iranian of the day" if JJ had any sense he would have removed it by now...what are you trying to prove? who are you trying to impress?

If you put up such a sick video of another mentally ill Iranian man/woman talking about their life as a straight person and how/what/why they choose to live their lives I'd be writing the same comment!

-by "mentally ill" I'm not talking about his sexual orientation but rather his childish and backward way of speaking. He is 20 but speaks as if he was a 5 year old spoiled child defending/making the case about why he should eat candy!

Mr. Varjavand:You are not

Mr. Varjavand: You are not the voice of decent Iranians in disapora. Please refrain from talking as if you are. The key to having the best of both worlds is in not bringing our prejudices and ignorances from the old world into the new. If we insist on keeping those thoughts and feelings which you call decent and old-fashioned, we would never embrace change.

We have to re-examine our old ways of thinking, keeping the good, and disposing of the bad. Our sexist attitudes will have to be disposed. Our racist attitudes will have to be disposed. There is no way but to do this, otherwise we would remain a community that only interacts among itself, never learning and never growing and never developing tolerance towards different points of view. You or your children will not become gay by seeing a videoclip about a gay young man. You won't contract AIDS and die. Believe me. Stop with the assenine arguments all covering up your age-old insecurities and bigotry. Homosexuals exist and they have a right to a decent life. We must defend human rights of all. We must love all Iranians. We must include people with different lifestyles in our thinking if we are to have a way forward. "I'm an old-fashioned guy" is the lamest excuse for improper social thinking and behavior I have ever heard. I am probably older than you and I wouldn't dream of stating such an irresponsible statement as an excuse for my ignorance. Pejman Mokhtari exists whether or not a videoclip showing him and his lifestyle is posted on Iranian.com.

Stop over-generalizing. People have said: "too much Bahaii propaganda--might as well call it Bahaii dot com." Some have said: "too much MKO literature--might as well call it MKO dot com." Another group have said "too much pro-IRI literature--might as well call it IRI dot com." Others have said: "too much monarchist literature--might as well call it Shahi dot com." Some say: "too much NIAC literature--might as well call it NIAC dot com."

None of that is true, nor will it work, because each and every one of those groups and many more make the mosaic of the Iranian identity in diaspora as reflected on our beloved Iranian.com. Therefore, it will never be Gay Iranian dot com either, just by showing that gay Iranians exist, too. Don't get your knickers in a twist, sir! By tomorrow, another scientist will replace this Iranian of the Day. Let yourself be tolerant of other Iranians for just one day without dispensing passe and groundless logic to us, Sir. Try it for just one day.

didn't

ahmadinejad say that there are no gay Iranins? what's happening. i am confused!

Kaveh, Varjavand HE IS HERE BECAUSE HE IS AN IRANIAN

He has your BLOOD. Your beautiful Iranian BLOOD. Your PERSIAN, KURDISH, ARMENIAN, BAKHTIARI, LORI, QASHQAI, GILAKI, AZERI, JEWISH, MANZANDANARI, ARAB, SELJUK, BALUCHI, PASHTO, QAJAR, GEORGIAN, SYRIAC, BANDARI, MONGOL, GREEK, TATAR, TURKMEN BLOOD.

And he is beautiful  because he is alive. Because he is like a moth flickering into a flame for this one brief moment in time, just like you, like me, and him, and her, and them, and us.  Just like US. And this is the way he lives NOW.  And just like us, HE IS DOING THE BEST HE CAN.

And he is GAY.  He was born that way. He will DIE that way.  Moth to a flame. He is gay.  He is your son. Your brother. Your nephew. Your cousin. Your uncle. He is your granchild. Your friend. Your neighbor. Your colleague at work. He is the schoolmate of your youth.  He was your favorite teacher. He is your children's teacher.  He is your favorite poet, painter, dancer. He is your delivery boy. He is your store owner.  He is your politican. He is GAY.

And he is a PARTY BOY because he is YOUNG.  He will grow up one day.  He will GAIN a lot and he will LOSE a lot.Right now, he dances. THIS IS THE WAY HE LIVES NOW. Don't you remember when you DANCED?

And he is beautiful in every single way. And so are you. And so are we all.

STOP IT! STOP IT NOW!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-USUDzycRvM

GAY and LESBIAN IRANIANS . . . STAND TALL!

Gay and Lesbian Iranians need to stand tall! It is  so important for you to LET PEOPLE KNOW THAT YOU EXIST. As you can see from these posts, many of our ignorant, chauvinistic, sick fellow Iranians cannot accept you. This, despite the fact that many of them are "educated". So much for education . . .

 The best slap in the face  is for you to come out, and speak out! Do not let your voices be drowned!

Many in the  community support our LGBT fellow Iranians. We accept you as a normal member of our society.  And we, too, speak out against the violence (mental, emotional, and physical) perpetrated against you both here, and by the Islamic Republic.

God help the ones that you "counsel"

Please apply some of your "expertise" (the nature of which is not clear to us) to yourself and "counsel" yourself. Read your blog and see in what area you need counseling. Stop spending your life hating other people, and start doing what you love. I guess I had to counsel you a little bit! Your points are made out of other parts of your body, not from your brain nor any point of logic nor scientific studies. There are hundreds of books written on human sexuality and how same-sex coupling exists in nature (different rate among different species.  I studied physical anthropology at UC Berkeley). Please don't shove your selective ignorance down our throats and address your own homophobia. In other words, clean your own mess before judging other people! Instead of harassing people that are different than you educate yourself so you don't sound so ignorant. The information on homosexuality and the scientific theories are out there for those who choose to educate themselves, but then again it might be easier for some to rant about something they don't understand rather than actually making the effort to educate themselves! 

The only gay in the village

I'm guessing he's the only gay in his village... saaaanap!

This Has Nothing To Do With Being Iranian

I go away from this website for a few weeks to cool off and the moment I log back on the first thing I see is THIS????

Who this kid shtups is his business but what does this have to do with being Iranian? He can't even pronounce his own name correctly!! And if you listen to the entire 3 minutes, he doesn't mention being Iranian even once. He makes a comment about homosexuality in Middle Eastern culture, but that's the extent of it.

Rosie...you KNOW that you can only be considered for Iranian of the Day if you have THIRTEEN PhDs. I'm sorry, but the rules are the rules. Twelve? If we allowed exceptions, there will be anarchy.

Malihe khanoum, with all respect, one's right to take their place in society does not have anything to do with sexuality. It has to do with character. I also disagree with you in the matter of homosexuality not being advertised. It most certainly is being advertised. This kid is not only advertising it, he is throwing it in everyone's face with his "what are you going to do about it?" mentality. This isn't a simple case of some guy coming out of the closet. This kid has torn the closet door from the hinges and knocked down the bedroom door and all of the drywall on top of it so that everyone can see. It's one thing to say that he's refusing to hide. But this guy wants everyone to watch. I showed this video to a co-worker of mine who is gay. Even he has nothing positive to say about it.

Lastly, this same co-worker agrees with me that pride month is a nonsensical concept. It's nothign more than a marketing ploy. You want to celebrate life? Celebrate it. Where does it say you need to have a parade permit to be happy? One must validate their own life before they can expect the rest of the world to validate it.

Really unsuitable

For an old fashioned guy like me, opposition to gay or lesbians is obvious, sincere, and perfectly understandable. The gay and lesbian sex is, to me, immoral and an impediment to the continuation of human generation. I suppose this site should promote the issues related to typical Iranian living in US and elsewhere. In what respect this is related to any issues of concern to Iranian community in the US?  How many Iranian gays and lesbians live in this country? I don’t know any gay or lesbian, even haven’t met any in my life and wonder where all these supposedly Iranian gays and lesbians are? 

Those who decide to post the video clips like this on this site do nothing than to disrespect and agitate many of us who may not be able to overcome our emotions and our resolute to defend our values and the sacred institutions that have shaped our personality and life for so long. You posted this knowing that some would get upset and with angry reactions. This is an Iranian site its participants are mostly decent people who are concerned with the issues involving us as Iranians in Diaspora. It is not a gay or lesbian site. We are all obsessed with our culture, moral values, social institutions, family values, and more importantly our religion, whatever that may be. And almost all religions from Buddhism to Islam cherish life and oppose anti-life activities, homosexuality. 

It was in the news just a few days ago that a TV advertisement for mmayonnaise was pull out because it showed two men kissing, a substantial number of viewers, 200 according to the reports,  complained immediately after they saw it, that it was offensive. “Viewers said it was 'offensive', 'inappropriate' and 'unsuitable to be seen by children', while some parents were angry that they had been forced to explain same-sex relationships to their youngsters who asked them about the ad”. Events like this are indicative of the disapproval, anger of the concerned parents that exposing their children to such unorthodox events may be indeed harmful to their kids. If such foolish images are withdrawn from American public media why they should be shown in this site?

I understand many of you either do not raise your voice or pretend to be supportive because you think it is so unfashionable in this country to oppose gays and lesbians. How would you like your kids to see two men or two women romanticizing and kissing and walking hand in hand in your neighborhood?

It is really degrading is to include the name of an openly gay or lesbian person in the list of the Iranian of the day. Come on, what have they done to deserve that designation?