Gender-affirmation surgery (GAS), permitted by Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa since 1986, has brought significant attention to trans individuals in Iran, within a repressive context upholding heteronormativity and cissexism. However, research on the marital lives of trans people in Iran remains limited. This chapter explores the dynamics of marriage and divorce among Iranian trans women, focusing on their agency within marriage, both pre- and post-transition. Based on semi-structured interviews with seven trans women conducted between 2017 and 2024, the study includes four women who married after GAS—three to cisgender men and one to a trans man following a divorce. It also includes three women who married before transitioning, two of whom became biological fathers. The chapter examines the rigid gender politics of the Islamic Republic while highlighting the non-hegemonic experiences of trans women navigating relationships.

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Trans Women in Iran: Navigating Marriage and Women’s Agency

  • Bahar Azadi

摘要

Gender-affirmation surgery (GAS), permitted by Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa since 1986, has brought significant attention to trans individuals in Iran, within a repressive context upholding heteronormativity and cissexism. However, research on the marital lives of trans people in Iran remains limited. This chapter explores the dynamics of marriage and divorce among Iranian trans women, focusing on their agency within marriage, both pre- and post-transition. Based on semi-structured interviews with seven trans women conducted between 2017 and 2024, the study includes four women who married after GAS—three to cisgender men and one to a trans man following a divorce. It also includes three women who married before transitioning, two of whom became biological fathers. The chapter examines the rigid gender politics of the Islamic Republic while highlighting the non-hegemonic experiences of trans women navigating relationships.