LGBTQ+

On June 28th, the Center was honored to receive a special commendation from the city of San Francisco and District 11 Supervisor, Ahsha Safaí, for our work to organize Pride in the Diaspora Month!

As part of the honor, we were invited to a lovely reception at the City Hall, as well as to the in-person supervisors' meeting, where we received the commendation. The afternoon was spent in great company, with our team getting to know some of the most trailblazing figures in the LGBTQIA+ community here in the Bay Area.

It was truly humbling to be considered part of this cohort of organizers, advocates, and allies of queer and trans resistance and power. While the Center, at its core, is an academic research center that does not explicitly or exclusively serve the LGBTQIA+ community, we believe in the transformative power of storytelling. We have made it integral to our mission as an organization to carve out a niche and uplift the stories of the most marginalized groups in our diaspora, which more often than not includes queer and trans Iranians. Our culture, especially our diasporic culture, would not be the same without the massive contributions of LGBTQIA+ Iranians and we understand that they are an essential part of our community writ large. That is why we share this honor with all our queer siblings in diaspora—we love, honor, and salute you!