The National Post opines: “Of all the provocative things for the Iranian president to say in his rambling address, the strangest has to be his contention that there are no gay people in Iran.”

Yet not so strange, if you understand his point of view. In Iran, you see, homosexuals are thought of as women trapped in male bodies. That’s why they offer free operations for those who want to change their sex (from male to female, that is. Women into men would be too much for them to handle.)

In the Persian mindset—and in much of the Muslim world—anyone who wants a man is, in essence, a woman. That’s why there’s so much more sodomy in that part of the world than even in certain English boarding schools—coupled with unrelenting hostility to homosexual identity. After all, if women are veiled and generally unavailable, and, furthermore, men who have sex with men are perceived by the Persians as really women, then … well, why not?

So, it’s a trade-off: the Persian gay boy gets laid by a lot of “straight” guys, but unless you’re willing to (literally!) become a eunuch, you’re taking a really really big risk.