Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: 'In Iran, we don't have homosexuals'
Mikey 10 comments
All this time I honestly thought G.W. Bush had copyright ownership on idiotic presidential statements. Clearly I was wrong, as Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears to have obtained a licence to to sound off accordingly.
When asked a question regarding gay executions in Iran, Ahmadinejad said:
"In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country. We don't have that in our country. In Iran, we do not have this phenomenon. I do not know who has told you that we have it."
Perhaps what he meant to say was "We have a way of dealing with it".
Update: Once you see the video, it is difficult to tell if he was joking or not as the interpreter did a poor job of conveying any of Ahmadinejad's emotion. Half the audience thought it was funny and the other half didn't. See the video below and judge for yourself.
Laiste
Tuesday 25th September 2007 | 03:49 PMHmm. I wonder if he protests too loud?
/\/\@ximus
Tuesday 25th September 2007 | 10:03 PM"In Iran, we don't have presidents with a brain cell like in your country"
Jake
Wednesday 26th September 2007 | 08:18 AMIn all fairness, what he said is that we don't have homosexuals in the SAME WAY ay as you do here, we don't have that same phenomenon. It is basically true, one could make the argument that he was not denying homosexuality in his country, but more reflecting on the lack of flamboyantly or overtly gay persons.
Amazing how easily a transcript can be taken out of context. I have updated with a video in the article.
Klinger
Wednesday 26th September 2007 | 08:44 AMJak may be right but there is still room for doubt. If it makes you feel any better there are hundreds of news sources reporting the same story. Search Google news for 'Mahmoud Ahmadinejad homosexuals'. I personally am not sold on it being an innocent joke.
/\/\@ximus
Wednesday 26th September 2007 | 08:47 AM"In Iran, we don't have Youtube"
Jake
Wednesday 26th September 2007 | 08:52 AMI took it as being serious. In the west we do have that phenomenon he was referring to of flambouyancy with a percentage of the homosexual population. I have no idea what percentage that might be, but typically, as with any country where media supremacy rules, the 20% of the population who are considered weird and wacky end up representing the other 80%.
In truth, I have no idea of what context the speach was made in, even though I've watched it several times since it was made on various news sources. I would assume that he will be asked to clarify his statement in the coming days.
Kluger
Wednesday 26th September 2007 | 03:58 PMIn Iran, homosexuals drive you!
Kelly
Tuesday 25th September 2007 | 03:18 PMnot surprising coming from a holocaust denier