With the indelible ability to make provocative statements to a world audience, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had a gem while speaking at Columbia last week. The Iranian president claimed that there are no homosexuals in Iran and that they (Iran) don’t “have that problem.”
Apparently, the state run television and print media in Iran have obsessively curtailed those comments from the eyes and ears of their citizens. A social taboo in Iran, homosexuality is rarely discussed and is even prohibited in the country to the level of capital punishment i.e. execution.
Ahmadinejad’s exact comment was, "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 don't know who's told you that we have it." In addition to this provocative statement, Ahmadinejad spoke at the United Nations with similar anti western fervor.
Ahmadinejad's appearance at Columbia does show that Universities can actually be more important on a world stage. They can make a difference and are not always about the NCAA Tournament sports hype that they normally get news coverage for.
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