From the New York Times: As Repression Lifts, More Iranians Change Their Sex

Fascinating article about the status of transgendered people in Iran. Although homosexuality is still strictly forbidden, sex-change operations are actually subsidized in some cases by the state, and clerics give their blessings.

Say what you will about fundamentalist Iran (and there are many, many negatives), their enlightened approach to this issue is probably the first time I’ve noticed something anti-medieval as a notable characteristic of modern fundamentalist Islamic theology. It is a striking how a religious movement with a reputation for rigidity and anti-modernity can adapt itself to a new and challenging realization about the human condition.

It gives me hope about the theological future of Islam, a future that I, until now, had considered very bleak indeed.