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The history of LGBT people in Iran spans thousands of years. Homosexuality has been viewed as a sin in Islam, and is outlawed in almost all Muslim-majority countries, including Iran. In pre-Islamic Iran, a tradition of homosexuality existed, however most were intolerant of pederasty and sexual activity between two men, especially the Zoroastrians. According to Ammianus Marcellinus, Iranians were “far from immoral relations with boys”. In fact, most were not tolerant of homosexuality until the invasion of the Ghaznavids and Seljuks.
Beginning in the mid-1980s, with the Islamic Government in power, as many as 7,000 homosexuals were hanged, shot, stoned, or burnt to death. Since the revolution, the punishment for homosexuality has been based on Sharia law, with the maximum penalty being death. Transgender people have never been officially addressed by the government leading up to the 1979 revolution, but, after the Islamic Revolution sex reassignment surgery has been allowed, and the government provides up to half the cost of the procedure for those needing financial assistance.